Page 90 of Done with You

Besides Rayma, who obviously knew about Pasha’s depression, the rest of them had slack jaws.

“I’m so sorry, Pash” Oona finally said. “So sorry you went through that.”

Pasha nodded and another tear fell. Then she focused on Triss again. “Please, talk to me. Talk to someone if you start to feel lost and hopeless. It’s not uncommon. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. So many women experience it, and there is a way out of the darkness.”

Triss’s head bobbed and her eyes grew watery. “I will. And I’m so sorry, Pash.”

“No more hiding. No more secrets,” Rayma reiterated.

They all agreed.

Since Triss was pregnant and had a hard time getting out of her chair, they all went to her and they wrapped each other up in a weird group-hug, four of them kneeling beside the La-Z-Boy, tears flowing, arms around each other.

“I’m so lucky to have you as my sisters,” Rayma said, her words coming out choppy and breathy as she spoke through the tears.

They all nodded and murmured similar sentiments.

Oona was the first to pull away. She was closest to Rayma, turned to her, took her by the shoulders, looked her in the eyes and said, “Kiddo, I am so freaking proud of you. You are an amazing person and I am so honored to be your sister and know you.”

A tear slid down Rayma’s cheek. “I’m so proud of you, too, Oons. I mean, Dr. Oons.”

Oona laughed through her sob.

Then, one-by-one, they all turned to each other and said how proud they were. They armed themselves. They prepared for battle, but most of all, they bonded like sisters should. Like the sisters they should have always been. They didn’t need their parents’ approval, praise, or love. They had more than enough to go around between the five of them.

And by the time Oona drove her and Rayma home in the dark, Oona’s heart felt lighter than it had in ages. Possibly ever. Rayma was dozy in the passenger seat, but she had a smile on her face and the stress creases that had been on her forehead earlier were gone.

“I love you, Oons,” Rayma said sleepily.

“I love you, too, kiddo.”

“Aiden had a therapy session with Joy today.”

Oona nearly drove off the road. “Wait, what?”

Chapter Eighteen

The women didn’t get home until later. Well past dinner. Jordan and Aiden picked up burgers after they ran some errands, then put a hockey game on in the living room while they filled their arteries with delicious grease and salt.

They didn’t say much to each other, but Aiden could tell Jordan was curious about how Aiden’s visit went with Joy.

Aiden, on the other hand, was still processing everything he’d learned about Rayma. About her and Oona’s parents and why Rayma had reacted the way she did when she found out they were arriving early.

Jordan didn’t really leave out any details, either. He said that Rayma was an open book about it now, having kept it all a secret for so long, but realized that it was healthier for her healing process if the people around her knew what she was dealing with.

Apparently, when Rayma was seventeen, she’d been a bit of wild child. Fraternizing with the wrong crowd. And wrong crowd didn’t mean the stoners and class-skippers in high school. Wrong crowd in this case was an outlaw biker gang called the True Destroyers. She spent time at their club house, went to parties, did drugs, and who knows what else.

Her parents didn’t know what to do with her. Their other four daughters hadn’t acted like this, so they were at a loss and also not willing to adapt their parenting style, so they just gave up on her. And without consulting Pasha, they bought Rayma a one-way ticket to Seattle from Baltimore and told Pasha that Rayma was her problem. Meanwhile, Pasha was busy with her pediatric residency and had no time to raise a seventeen-year-old.

Being seventeen and feeling unwanted by everyone around her, Rayma rebelled and took off to go meet with a talent agent or something. She was trying to make it big in the influencer world and had been chatting with someone who claimed to be important and could help her career.

Well, obviously, that was a big scam and Rayma was kidnapped by human traffickers and shipped down to Nevada, which was where Heath and Pasha found her and rescued her, with the help of Heath’s brothers.

After that, Rayma moved to Canada and lived with Joy, who set her on the right path and gave her the parental love she so desperately craved. Rayma finished high school in Victoria while living with Joy, then attended college and eventually decided to call Victoria home for good and get her Canadian citizenship, much like Pasha.

Aiden was just floored.

He had no idea, and after Jordan educated him a bit more on just how belittling and shaming Yanna and Royce could be, it was no wonder Rayma reacted the way she did when she found out they were arriving days earlier. In Aiden’s opinion, Rayma had kept it together like a pro. He’d have probably been losing his shit if he’d been in her shoes.

---