Page 44 of Better as It

“Got a minute?” I ask.

He nods once and drops onto the bench across from me. “Always.”

I stare at the ground for a second, grounding myself.

Then I say it. “I know you sense it. So I need to just say it.”

“You have my attention, Toon.”

“I’ve got cancer.”

The words hang there. Dry. Final.

Tripp doesn’t blink.

“Gallbladder. Diagnosed earlier this year. I planned to come back to Haywood’s Landing for treatment before everything went down with Clutch.”

He nods slowly, not saying anything yet.

“I’ve been doing chemo,” I add. “Trying to keep it quiet. Didn’t want to be seen as weak.”

“Is that what you think we’d see?” Tripp’s voice is quiet, but there’s steel under it.

“Not just weak. Unreliable. I didn’t want anyone thinking I couldn’t do my part.”

He leans back, arms crossing over his chest. “And what part do you think you’re doing by hiding it?”

That hits harder than I expect. “I didn’t want to be a burden.”

“You think Dia ever saw you as one?”

My throat tightens.

“You think BW sees you as one? He came to you for his sister. And just so you know, we all approve. Always have.” Tripp looks at me now, fully. “He knew, Toon. Even Clutch knew and the man only met you in passing.”

I freeze. “Knew what?”

“That you loved her. That you’d be the one to carry what he left behind.”

My chest aches like he’s pressed a fist into it.

“Dia… the baby…” I say, my voice ragged. “I’m scared I won’t be around long enough to protect them.”

“Then fight.”

I blink.

Tripp doesn’t raise his voice, but it’s like thunder when he speaks. “You’re a Hellion. We don’t walk away from the hard shit. We run headfirst into it. You think Clutch didn’t know you were still in love with Dia when he died? That she wasn’t always going to love you? He knew. Not because you laid that shit out and told him, because yeah, I know you did that. No, he knew because a man can sense these things. We all know what you and Dia had and even have now is something neither of you can deny so stop trying to. You think I didn’t know if my daughter ever needed someone in her corner that you wouldn’t step up if it was the last thing you did?”

“I didn’t push her. I was coming back for treatment. BW said she needed support. I didn’t plan for any of this. I didn’t pressure her.”

“I know you didn’t act on it,” he cuts in. “That’s what makes you the right man for her. You’ve always been about protecting her, even when it meant protecting her from yourself.”

My shoulders drop.

“She loves you,” Tripp adds. “And she needs you now more than ever. So get your treatment. Take the damn pills. Tell the brothers when it’s time. But don’t you dare think for a second that you’re doing this alone.”

The silence afterward isn’t heavy. It’s grounding.

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