Page 79 of Where the Stars Heal

Connor grins back at him, turning toward the door. “Come on, love birds,” he calls over his shoulder. “Madi has a movie and popcorn waiting for us.”

I take Asher’s hand, and together we follow Connor out to the living room.

“Asher,” Madi breathes, her voice full of relief, “where’s Hunter?”

She steps forward, wrapping her arms around him. I hear Asher whisper sorry to her, and when they pull apart, the room feels heavy with the weight of her question. We settle onto the couch, and Asher lets out a long weary sigh as he slumps forward, his elbows resting on his knees.

“He didn’t come back with me,” he says to the room, breaking the tense stillness.

The silence is almost suffocating with all the unspoken questions no one dares to voice. Connor shifts in his seat, pulling Ace closer to him. Madi bites down on her thumbnail, her eyes glassing over with unshed tears.

Unable to stay still, I stand, crossing the room and sinking beside Madi, wrapping her in my arms.

“Why?” I finally ask Asher.

He runs his hands through his hair. “He needs time,” he says. “I stayed with him for a few days, but there’s a lot of things he needs to work through, and he needs to do it on his own.”

Madi’s shoulders start to shake, and I tighten my arms, silently telling her she’s not alone.

“It’s okay, Madi,” Asher says gently, “he’ll come home. I promise you. Just trust him.”

She nods slowly, trying to process everything that was said. I glance at Connor, seeing the worry carved into his expression. His jaw flexes, and his eyes flick to Asher, the two of them having a silent conversation I can’t quite seem to understand.

The silence stretches on, and then Ace barks, leaping off the couch and zooming around the house. The tension in the air breaks, and we all let out a quiet laugh.

I move back to Asher, and he grabs my hips, pulling meonto his lap. My gaze flicks to the front door as I’m falling, and my brows pinch in confusion.

“Someone needs to tell me why the door’s red,” I say, my eyes flicking around the room, waiting for someone to tell me.

Connor’s laugh booms through the air as if the question I asked is the funniest thing he’s ever heard, but Madi stares at the door, her expression distant before she looks back to me with a smile.

“Your brother,” Asher starts his shoulders trembling with a silent laugh. “There was a week where we partied a lot, and he somehow would get the houses in the street mixed up.” His laugh comes out loud and uncontrollable now.

“Okay,” I say, still confused but more curious than ever.

“He would wake up in Everlyn’s bed from across the street,” Madi snickers. “Halle, she’s seventy, and he would wake up in nothing but his boxers.”

I blink, trying to picture my brother so drunk that he couldn’t even work out his own house, his own room, or bed.

Connor’s laugh bounces off the walls, and he wipes at his eyes. “After the fifth time, he got so mad he went out and bought red paint. Painted the door so his drunk ass could tell the difference between the houses.”

“Everlyn also had to start hiding her spare key elsewhere,” Asher adds.

The three of them laugh so hard, loud, and carefree that they can’t breathe. Ace bounds over, leaping into my lap, and I can’t help but laugh with them. Leaning back into Asher, I pat Ace behind the ear as his arm slides around me, his thumb brushing at my hip.

My eyes sting, but not with tears that come from theache that usually lives inside me. These are different tears. They’re tears for the family in front of me, for the laughter that fills the room, and for the love we share. They’re thankful tears, happy tears.

For the first time in my life, I don’t feel like a burden.

EPILOGUE

HALLE

Six months later…

“Are you nervous, sweetheart?”

I let out a shaky breath, my stomach tied in a million knots. “I’m terrified, Asher. What if no one shows? What if this was a stupid idea and the town doesn’t care?”

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