Jaw hard, Brandt didn’t seem to want to forgive him. But after a glance at me, he turned back and said, “It’s all in the past.”
Aspen was next to hug him. For a moment, I thought all she was going to do was hold him, but after an infinity of keeping him close, she pulled back, tears glistening in her eyes. “I know I’m only your sister-in-law, but after nine years of helping raise you—”
“No, Colton was right,” Brandt assured her. “You are our mom.”
Her tears fell a little faster as she smiled. “Well, I must say, I have a mother’s pride every time I look at you. You’ve become the noblest, kindest, most compassionate man I know. No matter what happened to you in that hellhole before Noel brought you to me, you haven’t let it mar your integrity or keep you from being happy. I know you think us finding out was the worst thing that could happen to you, but you’ll find out soon, it’s actually the best thing. We love you. So much. You’ll get past this.”
After another quick hug, she stepped back, leaving only Noel to speak. With a helpless shrug, he shook his head. “Well, hell. I don’t know what there is to say after that.” But then his eyes filled with tears as he studied Brandt’s face. “Except, I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry. I’ve failed you.”
“No.” Brandt shook his head and yanked Noel in for a hug. “No. You saved me. You saved all of us. And I never thanked you for showing up when you did and bringing us here.”
“Dammit,” Caroline muttered. “Now you two are making me cry.” Hurrying forward, she joined their hug. A second later, Colton announced he was feeling left out.
The four siblings hugged in a group, all of them crying until they began to laugh weepily at themselves. Finally, when they pulled apart, Brandt immediately sought me out, and he seemed to release a relieved breath when our gazes met.
I’d never seen him look so vulnerable, so serious, so beaten. It broke my heart. But knowing I was the one he depended on most also emboldened me. He wanted to escape this moment, so I was going to help him.
Pressing a hand to my abdomen, I said, “You mind if I sit down? Feels like my legs are about to wobble out from beneath me.”
“Shit, sorry.” He leaped forward and then steered me toward a chair at the table. Then he hovered next to me and set a warm hand on my shoulder before glancing at his siblings. “I’m going to take Sarah home. I’ll probably stay there tonight.”
No one had a problem with that, so...it was settled. Brandt was coming home with me.
BRANDT
I felt drained, exhausted, and sore. For a moment, I wasn’t sure why I was so sore, but then I realized I’d been holding myself tense for the past couple hours. My muscles were probably screaming for a little relaxation.
When the door to Sarah’s bedroom opened, I turned my face on the pillow where I’d been resting my head and staring up at her ceiling to watch her roll into the room. My chest tightened with emotion as she smiled at me. But my muscles, they seemed to let out a sigh of relief.
I was so fucking glad she’d been there tonight.
The first moment I’d seen her wheelchair in the kitchen, I’d thought my life had ended. I was ready to wilt away into nothing, because I hadn’t trusted our friendship the way I should have. I was certain I was going to lose her.
But Sarah had ended up saving me instead of leaving me to drown in the horror.
I didn’t think I could love her any more than I did in this moment.
“Hey,” she murmured brightly, dressed in her nightclothes and ready to sleep.
Shifting under the covers to make room for her, I smiled back. “Hey.”
After everything that had happened tonight, all the shit we’d been through lately, the drama that had seemed to take over our lives, all we had to say was “hey” and it covered everything.
“You look beat,” she told me as she climbed onto the mattress with me and settled the blankets in around us before lying down with her head on my shoulder instead of on her pillow.
I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her more snugly against me. “I am beat,” I admitted, “But my brain is fucking wired. I doubt I’ll get much sleep tonight.”
“That would actually work great for me. You can rub my back while I sleep.”
When Sarah fluttered her lashes at me in a begging manner, I chuckled. “Oh, is that how’s it going to be, huh?”
“Sure. You can get started now if you like.” She even tried to roll away from me so I’d have full access to her back, but her bare shoulder where her tank top wasn’t covering her soft, sleek flesh had my body sparking with awareness.
“I don’t think so, smart-ass. Get back here.” Rolling her back so that she was once again facing me with her breasts and warm belly pressed into my side, I tucked her against me. Her cheek settled back onto my shoulder, and I closed my eyes, content.