Page 120 of The Bridges I've Burned

He held out his hand to silence me. “It’s okay, Zander. You don’t have to feel guilty for having a life and a career. We’ll always be here.”

I swallowed down the jagged lump in my throat. I hoped he meant that.

I had to hand it to Billy and Eli—they sure knew how to throw a party.

Even a sober one.

The boat, the ink shop, the food—it was all top-notch. We’d even managed to pull Dean to the dark side at the very last minute when he finally caved and got some old-movie quote scrawled across his collarbone.

When I’d thrown a confused look at his brother, Taylor had just shrugged and said, “It’s a Cora thing.”

We thanked Dave and Mark profusely and tipped heavily, so they made off with a killing. They took tons of pictures for all of us, and by the time we headed back to the boat, we had just enough sunlight to make it back to Ocracoke.

It was exactly what I’d needed with my brother—time.

Every moment we spent together felt restorative, like the wounds of our past were knitting back together, and I no longer saw him as the man who’d left me.

I saw myself.

An eighteen-year-old kid who would have done anything to get away from a terrible situation, even if it meant leaving everything and everyone behind. I realized now that I’d unfairly placed the blame on my brother, but in reality, our father was the root cause of our pain. His neglect and abuse had driven us both to make decisions we were too young and unprepared to make.

But we’d survived. Life had driven us apart, but we’d survived nonetheless.

And now that we were back together, I’d do anything for this family of mine.

When we docked in the harbor, I drove back to an empty house. Elena wasn’t back from the bachelorette party yet, so I used the free time to take a quick shower. Afterward, I threw on a pair of dark jeans and a T-shirt and headed out to the living room. I had a few emails to respond to, so I took a seat on the couch and typed out my replies. Just as I was finishing, I got a text from Lance.

lance

Ridge went after the blogger, and the article was taken down. Just keep your head down until the concert.

me

Won’t be hard to do in Middle of Nowhere, North Carolina. Thanks.

lance

Can I get a zip code for that?

me

Funny. Have you considered retiring and becoming a comedian?

lance

I have, but my Tilly’s shoe habit is too expensive.

me

I think you mean your shoe habit.

lance

Oh, right. My bad.

The media will eventually die down, but when this officially breaks, be prepared. It’s gonna be a shitstorm. So, just enjoy your brother’s wedding and stay out of sight.

me

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