Page 14 of Dare to Need

“How...how is he?” I wasn’t sure how I found my voice to speak at that moment, but it was the one question I was terrified to learn the answer to and the one question I knew I needed to ask.

Eva reached down and grabbed my hand as I was met with silence on the phone. It sounded like people were talking in the background before my mother came back on the line.

“I’m sorry, honey. That was your father’s doctor. He’s still in the cardiac ICU, but he hasn’t made any improvements or taken any turns for the worse. It’s a waiting game now to see what the next step will be. But...” Her voice shuddered as though the words that came next might be the very thing that broke her entirely. “I think you should be here, Garth.”

With all the strength I had left, I looked up into Eva’s eyes. I knew there was no way that I could do this without her. Even though I hated the idea of taking her last free summer away from her.

“Does Garrett know?” My throat was so incredibly dry it was difficult to get the words out.

“Yes, he knows. He was heading to the airport to get the jet ready when I spoke to him last. I figured you would want to fly with him, so he is waiting for you whenever you’re able to get there.”

I knew there were so many things that I should have been thinking about at that moment, but the only thing that was on my mind was how there was no way in hell I would make it to the hospital in one piece without Eva.

It was selfish of me. Being so willing to take her last summer away from her, not knowing how long I would need to be in New York for. But the thought of walking through those hospital halls without her by my side made me sick.

Looking into her worried eyes, I tried to swallow the regret I felt as soon as the words came out of my mouth. “I hope it’s alright that Eva comes with me.”

“Of course, honey. Whatever you need to do. Just try to get here quickly.” My mom’s voice wavered again and I felt a sudden sense of urgency to get going. She was all alone up there and my father wasn’t awake to help calm her down.

“Okay, I’ll text you as soon as we take off. I love you, mom.” It was the first time I said those three words to my mother in a very long time. My chest swelled with painful emotion as she said them back to me before the line went dead.

I couldn’t remember the last time I had said those words to my father and I deplored every day that went past that I didn’t say them.

Eva’s hand slid down to her side where she placed her phone on the floor.

“I...I’m so sorry, Eva,” I said as I shook my head in disbelief of everything that just transpired. My mind was warped with so many emotions, I didn’t know how to manage them all. It felt like I was in the middle of a tornado with no escape plan and the very air I needed to breathe was being sucked from my lungs.

“What could you possibly have to be sorry for, Garth? You did nothing wrong.” She quickly glanced around the loft as though she were looking for something before she met my eyes again.

“I shouldn’t have thrust you into all of this without asking you first. I just...I don’t know if I can do this without you.”

The tips of her fingers were cool as they landed beneath my chin while she tilted my head back. Her eyes narrowed with conviction as she said, “There is no place I would rather be than by your side. It doesn’t matter what we have to face, as long as we do it together, I know we will make it through anything. So don’t ever think that I don’t want to be there for you. Because I do.”

I didn’t deserve her. She was too good for me and all the shit I was about to drag her through. All the time we’d spent together, I tried to shield her from the drama of my family. Maybe I was ashamed because her family was so loving and cohesive, but I didn’t want her to see how dysfunctional mine truly was. It was like looking through stained glass—from afar everything looked beautiful and put together, but the closer you got the more you could see the flaws.

“We were supposed to spend your last free summer on the beach with your family,” I whispered, lowering my head.

Goosebumps rose on my arms as she pressed her soft lips to each of my temples. “And now we will spend the summer in New York with your family, who needs us. It will also allow me to scout out some apartments, so I don’t end up living somewhere completely terrible.”

I could hear the smile in her voice. She was trying so hard to cheer me up by convincing me that she wasn’t disappointed. But I couldn’t be sure that she wasn’t just telling me what I wanted to hear.

“Come on,” she said as she pulled on my hands while rising to her feet. “We need to get you off this floor and packing so we can catch a flight.”

Both of my knees popped as I slowly rose to my own feet. My muscles ached as though I had just run an ultra-marathon. The skin on my face felt tight from the tears that stained them. I was a mess of epic proportions and for the first time in a long time, I felt like I didn’t know what to do. There was no plan of action other than getting to New York. I had no idea how Eva would react when she saw the truth of who I was and what I had done to my own family.

Something inside my heart knew that the moment we stepped outside of my loft from the blissful world we created together, everything would change. I just didn’t know if they would change for the better...or for the worse.

ChapterSix

EVA

Exhaustion was settling deep in my bones as the sun sank below the tree-lined horizon across the airport landing strip. Emotions were running high and it took every ounce of my concentration to pack everything for Garth and me, not knowing exactly how long we would be in New York. So I packed as much as I could fit into four large suitcases and hoped it would be enough to keep us both comfortable.

While I knew his father had suffered from a heart attack, it was like pulling teeth getting him to tell me the details of his father’s situation while I packed for us. Garth had been distant the entire time. It felt like he was the shell of the man I loved and I was terrified that he would never be the same again if… No, I couldn’t think that way. It was my turn to be the strong one and if there was anything I held onto that Garth taught me, it was that mindset was everything.

So I shoved those negative thoughts away as the taxi driver pulled up to the tarmac where a single jet was waiting. When I tried to book our tickets, Garth told me not to bother. That we would be taking the family jet with his brother, Garrett. I knew his family had money given that Garth owned a restaurant at the ripe age of nineteen. His father had wanted him to learn how to invest and the only way Garth agreed was by ensuring that all of his employees were paid what they deserved. As I took in the shiny exterior of the jet in front of me, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach that Garth was hiding just how well-off his family was. And I didn’t know why.

With the slam of the taxi door, I hoped Garth wasn’t keeping secrets from me because he didn’t trust me. That he had a good reason to hide the truth of who his family really was.

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