Page 44 of Rescued By My Best Friend's Brother

Elena nods. “I’m going to the bathroom to wash up.” Her voice is low, almost robotic.

“Elena?” Josie asks. Elena doesn’t say anything but disappears down the hall. “Did something happen?” she asks, turning to me.

“Yeah.” I peer down at Lily, not sure if I want to talk more about Bradley’s death in front of her. She knows a gun went off and that someone died, but she doesn’t know that Elena is the one who pulled the trigger. I can tell Josie the explicit details later. “Bradley died during the incident. I’ll tell you more about it later.”

Josie gasps but mouths the word ‘good’ to me. “Did Lily…”

I shake my head. “Thankfully, she was hiding in a bedroom closet when everything went down.”

Lily pulls away from Josie to look up at her. “I was so scared.”

Josie runs a hand down Lily’s dark hair. “I bet.”

“Can we go do something? I don’t wanna stay here right now,” Lily says.

Josie meets my gaze. I shrug. I have never been in this type of situation before, so I really don’t know how to handle the repercussions of today. “Should we go see a movie, or the park or something??” Josie offers.

Lily looks back at me, as if to ask for my suggestion. “I am fine with anything you guys want to do,” I state.

“Can we go to the park then?”

“Sure!” Josie says.

“Will you go down the slides with me daddy?” Lily asks me.

“I don’t know about that. I’m probably too big to go down those slides.” I reply with a chuckle.

“Please!” Lily shrieks.

Just as I am about to spout another rebuttal, Elena returns, her hands red from hard scrubbing. I walk over to her and examine her hands. She pulls them away from me. “It’s nothing. I was just trying to get them clean, and I tried a little too hard.”

I caress her face with both hands and make her peer up at me. “None of this is your fault. Remember that.” She gives me a faint nod. I turn to Josie, my eyes pleading for her to assist me.

Josie nods, even though she isn’t aware of everything that happened with Bradley. “Maybe if you come to the park with us, it’ll help take your mind off everything.”

Elena shrugs solemnly. Lily breaks away from my sister and squeezes between me and Elena. I release Elena’s face and look down at my daughter.

“Please, Elena! I want you to go down the slides with me too!”

A faint smile touches her lips. Maybe a couple of hours away from the silence of her thoughts is just what she needs.

“If you come, I’ll go down the slides too,” I say.

“What?” Lily looks up at me, mouth agape.

“One time. Only one. That’s all you’re getting from me.” I smile down at her.

Elena sets a hand on Lily’s head. “Sure. I’ll go.”

Lily’s squeals with excitement and hugs Elena. I turn to Josie. She’s giving me a small smile of approval. We will get through this.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Elena

JasperwavesatJosieand Lily as Josie pushes her high on the swing. Lily squeals as the swing reaches its full extension in the air. I wince, thinking about earlier, the screams, the cries, and Bradley’s voice. Will his voice always remain in my head, or will it eventually fade? I can’t remember other people’s voices from my past. My mother’s. My father’s. Some of my foster brothers and sisters that I helped raise. Will it be the same for Bradley’s voice?

“Hey.” Jasper’s voice interrupts my thoughts and startles me. His arm reaches around to hold me. “You okay, Lena?

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