Page 1 of Unbreak My Heart

Chapter One

February

Simon jerked uprightin bed, the sweat-soaked sheets twisted and tangled around his legs, as if he’d been fighting them. The light of the full moon that streamed through his window washed out the bright blue of the sheets to a faded version of itself that seemed to blend with the shadows of the room.

He shoved his shaking hands over his face and scrubbed at the days’ old stubble and too-long hair that flopped over his eyes.

Glancing to his left, the digital numbers on his clock slowly coalesced into something with meaning.

Three AM.

Every. Freaking. Day.

He didn’t know what it was about this witching hour, but every night was the same.

Suffocating nightmares filled with desperation and soul-crushing agony.

Nightmares that morphed into reality each day, as dawn split the night sky.

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he rested his elbows on his knees and just… sat there.

Even knowing now that Max and Lucy’s marriage had originally been about him taking care of her while she was sick, Simon had seen how Lucy’s death had hit his older brother. It had nearly wrecked the man.

Something he now understood all too well.

He didn’t know how Max had survived it. Sure, Simon’s crying jags had stopped—mostly. It was only when something caught him unaware that the tears now hit.

Something like kids.

His little nephew Finn’s face flashed into his mind. Almost a year old and he had the entire family wrapped around one chubby little finger. Not to mention the new baby—due any day now.

Simon could barely stand to be in the same room. Not with any of them.

He knew it was stupid. Knew it was unreasonable and overreacting and all those hideous things.

But he couldn’t help it.

Something that should have been the best moments of the life he and Amy had built… stolen. Joy and anticipation had been replaced with heartache and avoidance. It was as if his life had simply hit pause.

His parents had tried to help—hell, everyone had tried to help—and it was simply too much. Too many people trying to cheer him up. Too many people in his face all damned day long. He’d let the lease run out on the home they had rented, couldn’t handle being alone in those rooms where Amy should have been.

At least he hadn’t had to deal with getting rid of any baby stuff. They hadn’t got that far yet. But the house, the car, everything else?

Gone. Sold.

Even his wedding ring. He’d taken that off only a few weeks ago. He didn’t want to be like Max, who had worn his ring for years, a reminder of something that could never be fixed, never moving on until recently. Simon’s ring was now packed away in a box in the hall cupboard.

He had been staying with Gabe and Emma…

A shudder ran down his spine. He’d had to leave. He should have known he couldn’t handle being anywhere near Gabe’s farm, particularly if he had to seethatpaddock. He hadn’t set foot in there since the day it had happened. He didn’t want to be anywhere near Max and Millie, what with the baby due; and he certainly didn’t want to move back home with his parents, as much as his mother wanted him to.

So, Darby had given him the use of her small house in town, after she moved out to Ryan’s farm.

It gave him a place to stay and didn’t deliver too many hits on the memory scale.

He pushed up off the bed, hauled on a T-shirt and shorts, and yanked his sneakers on.

May as well go for a run, since I’m awake.

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