Page 93 of The One for Me
My sister-in-law is dead.
They’re gone.
And then, the only thing that could snap me out of it comes rushing forward. “Austin!” I yell.
Sean is on his feet, trying to reach me as I rush out of the room. “Devney, stop.”
“He needs me!” I say as the tears that I thought had dried up come back with a vengeance. “He needs me to be there. He can’t be alone. He can’t wake up alone!”
He takes my face in his hands. “Okay. We’ll go, but . . .”
“No, he can’t. He has to hear it from us. He’s going to be so scared.” The tears fall like rain.
“All right, just breathe, sweetheart. I promise, we’ll be there.”
“Oh, God!” I cry so hard I can barely draw in a breath as Sean pulls me against him.
My brother was a great man, one of my best friends, and now he’s gone. I will never get to talk to my sister-in-law again but there are many things I wanted to say. I close my eyes, allowing the sadness to wash over me.
“Easy, love, I’m right here,” Sean murmurs in my ear.
I cling to him as if he’s all that’s keeping me together. “I need you.”
“You have me.”
My eyes keep welling with tears that spill over before I can stop them. I wipe another set away and turn to the doctor. “I need to see Austin.”
“Devney,” Mom calls to me. “Please.”
I force down all the emotion that is threatening to overtake me and force myself to remain strong. Austin needs me. He has to hear it, and he has to know that he has people around him who will be strong for him. He’s just a boy who is about to find out that he’s lost his parents.
Jasper, Hazel, and I discussed the possibility, like most parents do when they make their will.
I’m now his guardian.
“It has to be me, Mom.”
Tears fall down her face, and she nods. We both know why.
“Of course, he should be awake very soon,” the doctor says.
My heart is pounding, and my throat is closing. I don’t know how I’ll ever say the words to him. This was never supposed to happen, but it has, and I have to keep my promise to my brother.
Sean pulls me back to him, keeping me in his warmth. “Whatever you need, Devney, I’m here.”
He says that without knowing that my entire life just changed in just a few hours. I have to make him understand that I am no longer free. Austin is all that matters.
“Sean . . .”
“You don’t have to say anything.”
“I do. I have to explain. When Jasper and Hazel drew up their will, they named me as Austin’s sole guardian if something were to happen to them.”
He releases a sigh and then touches my chin. “I figured. I’m Hadley and Bethanne’s as well. I understand what this means.”
“No.” I sigh and step back. “You don’t. You see, but you don’t understand.” Panic is building inside me as the enormity of the situation crashes into full color high definition. “You can’t understand because you don’t know why they chose me.”
“Of course I do. You’re his aunt.”
