Page 52 of When We Breathe
“She will.”
“But we don’t?—”
“She fucking will, Gabe. She’s ours. Twenty-four hours.”
He nods and turns his back to get to work.
Fuck.I need to put my family back together.
Chapter Twenty-One
ALEX
Okay, I admit it. I feel better after that shower. I might have to burn those clothes. They smell like onions.
I don’t even like or eat onions.
Walking into my living room, I find the girls sitting on chairs, on the floor, leaning against the windowsill. The coffee table has been cleaned off and is full of my favorite snacks.
Chips and salsa, cheese and crackers, cookies, brownies, and a bubbling pot of queso.
They get me.
“Have you even eaten since I dropped you off the other day?” Dani asks.
Not wanting to answer, I shrug a shoulder and plop down on the floor next to Charlie.
“Okay, talk to us,” Darby says from the phone propped up against the bowl of salsa. God, I miss my older sister. She’s been attending veterinary school in Colorado. I’m so proud of her, but I can’t wait for her tocome home. “Also, you have dark circles under your eyes.”
Maybe I don’t miss her as much as I thought I did.
“If all you’re going to do this afternoon is insult me, each one of you can fuck right off.”
“We love you,” Charlie reminds me with a smile. “And you look a lot better after that shower.”
“I feel better,” I admit with a sigh. “Okay, so here’s what happened.”
I take them through everything that transpired after book club the other night, and tell them everything that happened until they showed up at my door less than an hour ago.
“I don’t understand,” Billie says with a frown, her perfect eyebrows drawn together. “What’s holding you back from moving in with them permanently and letting the lease go on this place?”
I look at each of my sisters. Darby gives me a nod.
“I …” I pause and stare down at the chip in my hand. I picked it up when I started my story, but I haven’t taken even one single bite of it. “You all know that we had a shit childhood. That’s not a secret.”
Charlie leans over and takes my hand, and Dani, who’s on the other side of me, leans her head on my shoulder.
Darby closes her eyes and swallows hard.
“So everything we have, we fought for. Holden is a damn saint. He would do anything for us, and he’s helped us so much, even in our adult lives. But this is the first place that is justmine.You know? Holden didn’t have to help me with a deposit. I didn’t haveto find roommates. And I know that it’s not much, and it’s fucking hot in here, but it’s all mine. So that’s one reason.”
“What are the other reasons?” Skyla asks, her voice full of support. No pity. I love that there’s no pity or judgment in this room.
“What if,” I begin, my voice quiet, “I terminate this lease, move in with them, and they decide that they can’t handle all of my fucked up baggage and I have to start over all by myself?”
The room is quiet for a moment, and then I swallow hard and keep talking.
“I’ve dated before, but it was always a dumpster fire. Because they got sick of me being afraid of animals, or they thought they could fix me, and when it didn’t work, they lost interest, and it was over. I know I’m a lot, you guys. I’ve worked a lot on myself with the help of a therapist, and I’m much better than I was, but I’ll never be comfortable around pets. They saw me have a panic attack once already.”
