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“That’s working very well,” I say with a straight face. “It’s been terribly romantic so far.”
He sputters a laugh.
I sober. “I’m sorry you were dragged into this.”
“I’m not.” He holds my gaze. “Whatever happens, there will never be one moment where I wish I hadn’t come. Where I would have rather you faced this on your own.”
“On her own?” Madison says behind us. “Hey, watch it, Kit. She has me.”
Madison walks in, followed by Jayla.
“For the record,” Jayla says, “I am definitely wondering why the hell I agreed to come along. Love you, girl, but the next time you want an excuse to mend a rift with me, let’s fly to a beach somewhere, okay?”
“There’s a beach here,” Kit says. “Also,you’rethe one who asked to come along to mend that rift.”
“No, I wanted to make sure you didn’t do anything stupid.”
“Mmm, no, pretty sure you said you wanted to talk to—”
“Enough.” Jayla waves her hand. “The kid and I are sorry to interrupt your moment, but the light in the fridge is flickering. Are we in danger of losing our electricity? I don’t know how this solar shit works.”
“That’s just the fridge,” I say. “It does that. The storm means the system didn’t recharge much, but we have a huge bank of batteries. I checked a couple of hours ago. We’re at seventy percent.”
“Whew. Okay, then, so—” Jayla turns to the window. “And it looks like Sadie is regaining consciousness. Let’s hope Garrett got those meds into her, and she’s not strung out on a fever.”
Garrett is leaning over Sadie, who has lifted her head. She’s on her back and trying to prop herself up on her arms. He takes hold of her shoulders, obviously telling her to lie down and rest.
From here, she looks fine. There’s a bandage wrapped around her head to keep her cheek in place, but that’s facing the other way, so all we see is the clean bandage. Above it, her eye is fixed on Garrett and her chin bobs, listening to what he’s saying.
She starts falling back onto the deck, and he gets his hand in behind her head to lower it down.
He’s a good brother.That’s what Madison said, and it’s absolutely true. Garrett isn’t a monster. I never mistook him for one. People are never that simple. He did a monstrous thing to me, and I do not for one second believe I am the only person who has ever suffered at his hands. But he loves his little sister as much as Jayla loves her little brother, as much as Anna loved me.
Garrett protects Sadie and takes care of her, and right now, I am seeing the best of him, and I’m glad Madison is seeing it, too. I do not want her to be fooled, but she’s too smart for that. I just want her to realize that her father—the person who contributed half her DNA—is more than what she’s seen so far. She needs that.
Sadie is on her back again. Garrett bends over her, talking and smoothing her hair. Then she convulses, her back arching so fast her body strikes his, sending him toppling.
We all scramble to the door. My instinct is to block Madison’s view, but she stays on Jayla’s other side, thwarting me and Kit—intentionally.
Do not try to shield her. Protect her, yes. But don’t shield her.
“She’s having a seizure,” Madison says.
Sadie’s body jerks and spasms, every muscle tightening and contracting. Her heads slams into the deck before Garrett can get his hand behind it to cushion her.
“Watch her tongue,” Jayla says. “Tell him to hold down her—”
“No!” Madison cuts in. “They don’t do that now. A friend of minehas epilepsy. You’re supposed to just let it run its course while making sure she doesn’t get hurt.”
Garrett has his hand behind Sadie’s head, and his gaze swings up. When he sees us, his face contorts in rage and he jabs a finger at the door.
“I need to get her inside,” he shouts. “Open the fucking door!”
Nobody moves. I meet Kit’s eyes.
“No,” Jayla says, too low for Garrett to overhear. “I’m sorry, but no.”
“Jayla’s right,” Madison says. “The seizure isn’t dangerous. It looks awful, but Sadie’s okay.”
