Page 101 of The Facade

My message went toread, and I held my breath as the conversation dots showed at the bottom of the screen, telling me he was responding.

His text came through a moment later.

Alfred:OK

OK?

What was that supposed to mean?

I stared at my phone for several more minutes, wondering if he was going to say anything else.

When nothing else came through, I went in search of Carter and Nash to see if they’d been in contact with Mack yet. But the only person I found was Ian drinking a glass of orange juice in the kitchen.

“Do you know where Carter and Nash are?” I asked my oldest brother who looked the most like my mom with brown hair and brown eyes.

He finished draining his glass and set it on the counter, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “They just went over to see Mack.”

“Did Mack ask them to go over? Or did they just go on their own?” I asked, wanting to know if Mack had preferred my brothers’ company over mine, or if they were just more comfortable with inviting themselves over.

“I think they offered to hang out with him, and Mack told them to come over,” Ian said with a shrug.

So while I’d received an “OK” text, my brothers got the “please come help me” text.

So maybe the thing between Mack and me really was done. I’d helped him get through the lead up to him losing his mom and my more capable brothers would take it from here.

33

Cambrielle

I heardCarter and Nash get home around eleven, just as I was getting ready to go to bed. I opened the door to my room and found them in the little sitting room by Nash and Ian’s bedrooms.

“Hey,” I said, leaning against the wall.

“Hey.” Nash looked up from his phone, looking exhausted.

“How’s Mack?” I asked. “You guys were just over there with him, right?”

“Not good,” Nash said, leaning back against the couch. “He was pretty emotional when we went over there.”

“Crying?” I asked, unsure what Nash meant by emotional.

“Yeah, crying and angry,” Carter said.

“Throwing his dad’s medical books at the wall and screaming,” Nash added.

“So pretty bad then,” I said, even though I should have assumed as much. If my mom had just slipped into a coma and I knew I was never going to be able to talk to her again, I’d be a complete disaster. “Did he calm down at all while you were there?” I asked. “Or is he still throwing things?”

“His dad got him to stop breaking stuff,” Carter said, glancing at Nash for backup. “But I don’t know if he’s going to be okay. I’ve never seen him like this.”

“Yeah, I’ve never seen him like this, either,” Nash agreed with Carter.

I sighed, wishing I didn’t feel so helpless right now. “Did anyone say how long until she dies? Will it happen tonight?”

“It didn’t sound like it would be that soon.” Carter shrugged. “But it could be Sunday or Monday.”

“I hope Mack will be okay,” I said, feeling heavy.

“I’m sure he will,” Carter said, his blue eyes drifting up to mine. “It will just take time.”

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