Page 82 of From Our First

“She told me she cared for me and then pushed me out of the house once I told her I loved her. Pretty sure that seals the deal.”

Cross looked at me and shook his head. “She’s scared. You have both been through a lot. And that wasbeforeher cousin decided to go fucking insane. But she loves you. It might take her some time to realize that. And you should give it to her. Don’t rush into that. It’s how you make mistakes.”

I closed my eyes and groaned. “Yeah, I made horrible mistakes before when it came to Myra, I guess it’s routine for us.”

“Don’t let it be. She’s going to get out of the hospital soon, just like you, and you guys will fix this.”

“I don’t know if we can.”

A pause. “Do you want to?”

I looked up at my brother and swallowed hard. “I do. I love her. And she’s so strong, Cross. She crawled on the floor, bruised and bleeding out to help me. I thought I was strong enough to push Roland down and away, but that guy was muscular. He was big and knew how to fight.”

“He’s not going to bother you again.”

“Am I supposed to feel something that he’s dead? I don’t feel anything. Does that make me a psychopath?” I asked, only partly joking.

Cross gave me a look. “Once you’re off the pain meds and not in shock, you’ll feel something. And it’s going to be horrible. And you’ll wonder if you’re ever going to get over it. But you’ll talk to people. You’re going to talk with Arden and me. You know we’ve been through this before.”

I let out a rough laugh and then reached up to wipe the tears from my face. “How did our family end up like this? How is this even happening?”

“I just hope this is the end. That, after this, you and Myra find each other, and we never have to be in this hospital except for good things.” He paused. “By the way, Mom and Dad are on their way.”

I let out a soft laugh. “I’m surprised it took you that long to mention that.”

“They were on the first plane out. And, Nate? They’re moving back.”

I blinked. “I thought Mom and Dad loved it there.”

“They do, but you know Dad’s retiring, and he wants to settle here.”

“Because of us?”

“Of course, because of us. Mom and Dad had a great opportunity over there, and it was good for them.”

I nodded. “I never held that against them. It was the best thing for the two of them.”

“Now, they don’t want to miss out on anything.”

“I don’t plan on being in the hospital again.”

Cross shrugged. “I hope to hell not. But that’s not the only reason they’re coming here. Liam and Arden are adopting. There’s going to be a few weddings coming up. And grandbabies.”

“You and Hazel?” I asked.

“Yep, she wants kids. And hell, so do I. And I know Dakota and Macon are already talking about adding a brother or sister to their family for Joshua so the age gap isn’t too big. And, hello, Joshua is their grandkid now. Of course, Mom and Dad want to be around.”

“I’m kind of afraid of what kind of child Prior and Paris will create,” I laughed.

“I’m going to have to agree with you. But if we ever say that in front of her, Paris will create a voodoo doll of each of us. We know this.”

I laughed and then groaned, holding my side. “Okay, no more laughing,” I said, trying not to laugh again.

“Deal.” Cross sobered. “I’m so sorry you got hurt.”

“It’s par for the course with us.”

“So let’s make sure it never happens again. This sucked. All of us getting hurt as much as we have. Let’s not let it happen again.”

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