Page 137 of Rebel Hawke

Even though she was super young when Sam died, she wasn’t when she lost her twin sister. The Hawkes have always talked about Star, ensuring her memory is never forgotten, but I still feel like I don’t know her. Not really.

“What was Star like?”

Skye’s face lights up, and she smiles as tears shimmer in her own eyes. “Pretty much the opposite of me.”

“Really?”

She bobs her head, gently rubbing my shoulders, almost absently. “I was always the one getting into trouble and pushing boundaries. She was more of a rule follower, quieter.”

If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was talking about her own kids. “A lot like Atlas and Astrid…”

“Yeah, actually, kind of crazy how that happened that way.”

Not so crazy, really.

The longer I’m around the Hawkes, the more I see it. How different they each are, yet how they also seem to be true products of their upbringings. Whether it’s genetics or environment, the Hawkes areclearlyHawkes.

Isaac is practically a carbon copy of Stone with that hint of Nora that keeps him from being too uptight, while Coen is darker and moody, so much like his father. Kennedy is a mini Danika in looks and attitude, with a splash of Savage thrown in that makes her an unstoppable force. Angelina and Alessandra share so much of Storm and Landon’s warmth and need to care for other people. Pope and Bishop are brilliant badasses like Caroline and Saint. And Jude, who hadn’t even been adopted by Luca and Byron when I was living in New Orleans, who didn’t even join the family until he was ten, has become a true Hawke.

And they all share something so powerful—a commitment to each other.

I can’t imagine what it must have been like for them when the accident happened. “How did you go on and cope after you lost Star?”

She pulls her arm from around my shoulders and rests her hands on the counter, lacing them together, almost as if in prayer. “I didn’t, really, in the beginning. I was a hot mess. I acted out and lashed out at everyone because I was feeling so much pain and thought that everyone else should, too. I was missing my other half.” She shrugs. “And at that point, I didn’t have Gabe to lean on—at least not the way I wanted him.” A little pained noise slips from her lips. “We had almost lost Savage, too. I think if we had, I probably wouldn’t have been able to process it, ever.”

I know what she’s saying without actually saying it, and it shatters my heart for her.

“I got through it because everyone was there. They were there forme, even when I didn’t want them to be. They didn’t let me carry the guilt of not being there with her when she died, of staying behind on that trip I was supposed to have been on. And when I finally managed to get through Gabe’s massive wall,having him changed everything. It helped open me up to see what I still had, even though I lost her.”

My tears continue to stream down my cheeks, and I swipe them away. Hating my inability to keep my shit together.

Skye offers a kind smile. “Your grandfather was important to all of us, and so are you, Wren. What he revealed…”—she takes a deep breath and shakes her head—“it doesn’t change that. The Hawkes always take care of their own.” She slides her hand over mine and interlocks our fingers. “Did you know I came to see you in the hospital after the fire?”

I whip my head toward her, the tears blurring her for a moment before I blink them away. “What? You did?”

She nods. “You were heavily medicated at the time, in and out of consciousness. So, I’m sure you don’t have any memory of it, but a few of us came. We didn’t want the kids to know how bad it was. We didn’t want them worrying, but we all had to come see you.”

“With my grandfather?”

“Yes.”

I definitely remember him being there, but I struggle with the other memories of my time in the hospital. Most of them are vague in the early days. More cloudy flashes than anything. Soft, comforting voices talking to me, people holding my good hand, gentle touches on my cheek. Some of those were probably Skye.

“Who else came?”

“All the girls. Storm, Dani, Nora, Caroline. We stayed for two or three days before we had to come back. But we wanted Jimmy to know that we were there to support him and you with anything you needed.”

“I had no idea. He never told me.”

She offers a little half-shrug. “He was always weird about accepting anything from us, even when we offered him the gym.”

“What do you mean? You bought it from him…”

She nods. “We did, and then we offered it back to him for a single dollar. But he wouldn’t take it, said he didn’t need handouts from us. We never saw it that way because you and he were always part of the family.”

“Jesus…”

“I know you came back because you thought he might need the financial help when he couldn’t work anymore, but we’ve always had a plan for him, to take care of him when he couldn’t earn a paycheck from the gym. We would’ve made sure he was all right, even if you had stayed in Texas.”

---