Chelcie pulls away after another thirty minutes of crying and settles back against her chair. I keep my arm around her shoulder, hoping that what little comfort I can offer helps whatever she’s fighting.
Dee lifts off my chest and turns her red-rimmed eyes my way. I try to give her a smile, but she just shakes her head. “Don’t think you have to act a certain way for me, Beck. Let me be your rock. Let me be there for you because, Baby, I know you’re hurting right now, and I’m here.”
Her words rock me straight down to the floor. I’ve been so worried that if I let my grief show, it might trigger something in her. For about two seconds, I think about how fucking proud I am that in the middle of tragedy, my Dee is back and stronger than ever. Those two seconds end, and all of the fear, pain, and distress I’ve been feeling come rushing to the surface. She notices my break, winds her arms around my neck, and pulls me into her body. I give myself a few minutes to let it out before I take a few deep, calming breaths and pull back. She gives me a wobbly smile and a small kiss against my lips.
“Someone needs to call Ash,” Greg rumbles from where he and Melissa have taken a seat across from us.
I look over where Chelcie has stiffened again before looking back at Greg. “Yeah. You want me to do it?”
He shakes his head at me before kissing Melissa, rubbing her belly, and taking off to the corner of the room so he can have some privacy to make one hell of a hard call.
I keep my eyes on Greg the whole time he’s on the phone. His body language is telling me enough. Ash is flipping out, and Greg is doing his best to stay calm. Five minutes later, he closes the phone and turns back to the room. I’m sure that my eyes are just as wet as his are right now.
“Ash is luckily about forty-five minutes outside of Atlanta. My guess is that door will be experiencing one hell of a tornado in about fifteen minutes, though.”
I nod and we all settle back in. Chelcie lets out a sob before rushing from her chair and into the connecting bathroom.
“What’s that about?” I whisper to Dee.
“I’m not sure. She’s been acting really weird ever since her and Coop… yeah, it’s just been weird.”
I don’t say anything, because I’m not exactly sure what to make of this now. I know for a fact that Coop hasn’t hooked back up with Chelcie. Last time I talked to him, he told me that it was just that once and even Chelcie had agreed that it shouldn’t happen again. Either way, I can’t worry about that shit right now.
Twenty minutes is all it takes for the door to slam against the wall, and a six-foot-five inch carbon copy of Zeke Cooper to rush into the room. Asher Cooper, Zeke’s older brother by ten months, and the only family he has left. I feel Dee gasp when she realizes just who Ash is.
“Holy shit,” she whispers.
“Any news?” His voice, deeper and grittier than Coop’s, booms through the room. He’s not addressing anyone in particular; he’s just as desperate as we are for some answers.
“Nothing yet.” Maddox breaks his silence to answer him.
“Ash.” Axel gets up and pulls him in for a hug. They have a few words before Asher pulls away, and looks over the room before his eyes settle on me. I’ve always been closer with Coop than the other guys have, so I know before he starts walking that he’s headed to me.
Asher walks over and sits next to me in the seat that Chelcie vacated. “Please tell me what happened, Beck. I got just enough to stop my fucking heart before I jumped in the truck and headed this way.”
I give him a run down on what happened, pausing to let Dee fill in the blanks that I didn’t know, and watch as the hope Asher had when he walked in the door disappears.
“Don’t fucking bullshit me, Beck. How bad is it?” His eyes, darker than Coop’s light blue, are begging me to tell him it’s just something minor.
“It’s bad, Ash. It’s real bad.”
He nods his head and leans back. I watch him pull it together and harden his heart, preparing for the worst.
Not even a minute later, Chelcie finally comes out of the bathroom, and she just stands there staring at Asher as if she’s just seen a ghost. All of the color, or what little is left, drains from her face, and a shaky hand slaps against her mouth.
“What the fuck?” Asher grunts next to me.
“Chelc?” Dee’s soft voice snaps her out of the shocked daze she’s in, and her eyes bounce between Dee and Asher.
“Who… who are you?” she asks, with a hint of fear in her voice.
“Asher Cooper, who are you?”
She doesn’t even answer. I can hear her gag before she runs back into the bathroom where the sounds of her heaving come through the door.
“I’ve got it,” Dee whispers and climbs out of my lap for the first time since we arrived over five hours ago.
I stretch my legs while she shuts herself in the bathroom with Chelcie. Not much that I can do about chick problems when the chick isn’t mine.