Page 253 of Tell Me Something True

She knew from being on both sides of it that the system was far from perfect. Now, though, she saw that most people in her line of work truly did want to help. To bring change.

But there was too much bureaucracy. Too many loopholes. Too many people who needed help and not nearly enough case workers.

“I promised myself I wouldn’t ask you this,” she told him. “I never want to put either of us in the position where we feel like we must choose between our jobs or each other, and I swear, I won’t repeat anything you say to me, but I… I need to know.” She licked her lips. “Do you think Reed’s guilty? That he did that to my mother?”

“That’s not up to me to decide,” Miles hedged, going into full-on cop mode. “The D.A. will decide whether or not to go forward with pressing charges. A jury will decide his fate. I’m not even working the case. I didn’t want there to be a conflict of interest considering he was arrested in my sister’s bedroom.”

But he must have seen the disappointment on her face because he sighed and tugged her closer. Ducked his head and lowered his voice.

“If I was working the case, and if I was asked, under oath, right now, if I thought Reed was guilty, the answer would be no.”

Her eyes stung and she sniffed. Seemed her depleted well of tears had refilled over the past two hours. “I don’t think so either,” she whispered. “I didn’t before I knew my connection to Reed, though I wouldn’t have let my biases affect how I did my job. But after finding out he’s my brother, I didn’t want to believe it.”

“That’s understandable. You want to believe in the best of him. Not the worst.”

“I do,” she rasped, her throat tight. “I want so badly to believe that he’s decent and kind and would never do anything to purposely hurt someone.” She gave a helpless shrug. Exhaled. “But not because he’s my brother. Not because he’s family—not when the only family I’d ever known was the one person who’d hurt me the most.”

Her palms were damp, so she tugged free of Miles’s hold and wiped her hands down the front of her leggings. Tucked her hands into her sleeves and crossed her arms. “I want to believe it,” she continued, her tongue slick with shame, “because if it’s not true, then I’m partly to blame.”

Straightening, he frowned down at her, concerned. Confused. “How do you figure?”

“I should have gotten him away from the Walsh’s—”

“You didn’t know he was your brother until this morning.”

“I should have tried to find my mother when I aged out of the system. If I’d looked for her, if I’d found her and knew about Reed, I could have tried to get custody of him. I could have saved him.”

“Hey, hey,” he said, cupping her face in his hands, holding her still while he bent down to meet her eyes. “You were a kid yourself. One trying to get past her own trauma. And even if you had looked for her, there’s no guarantee you would have had any luck. Not when she’s successfully hidden her past and true identity for twenty years.”

Tabitha curled her hands around his forearms, the warmth of his skin, seeping into her fingers. “I could have helped him. I could have saved him.”

One side of his mouth lifted in a small, sad smile. “You can’t save everyone. You can’t fix everything.”

She shut her eyes as she realized those had been her words to him last night.

And that she’d been right.

Now so was he.

She couldn’t go back. Couldn’t save Reed from his past. Just as she couldn’t go back and change any parts of her own past, including the mistakes she’d made with the man in front of her.

She could do what she’d promised Miles she was going to do.

Move forward.

Turning her head, she kissed Miles’s hand. Nodded. “I would have fought for him,” she said unsteadily. “If I’d known about him. That he’d needed me. I would have fought for him.”

He pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her as he held her, his heart steady beneath her ear. “I know. But you can fight for him now.” Leaning back, he met her eyes. “He’s going to need someone in his corner. And I can’t imagine anyone I’d rather have in mine, than you.”

This man and his simple statements that went straight to the heart of her. Making her seem so much braver, so much better than she was. Capable of all good things. Worthy of them.

Making her believe it.

“Could you have someone check on him? Not Verity,” she added quickly, not wanting him to think she was suggesting they involve his sister in this mess. At least, not more involved than she already was. “Maybe Hayden? Or Patton?”

“I’ll ask Willow to get me Hayden’s number.”

That would work. Hayden might not know where he was right now, she could reach out to him.

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