Page 111 of Tragic (Lark Cove 3)

“I know,” she whispered. “I’m scared too. I wake up every morning, wondering if this was a dream. I worry that I could lose it at any time. This is everything I’ve ever wanted, and it terrifies me because it could all be gone in a flash.”

“You don’t know what it feels like.” Piper might be scared, but her imagination couldn’t conjure the magnitude of fear I was living with. The pain of losing a child was unthinkable.

“No,” she said gently. “I don’t know the kind of pain you went through. I hope to God I never do. And I’m so sorry you went through that. But I do know what it feels like to lose someone you love.”

She did? “Who?”

Her eyes held mine. “You. I’m losing you.”

I sat on the edge of the bed, tugging her hand so she’d sit down next to me. “You’re not losing me.”

“I’m not?”

“Never. And I’m sorry. About last night, I shouldn’t have been so rough. And—”

“Stop. Please, stop,” Piper begged. “It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t my fault. I won’t feel guilty for last night, and I won’t let you either. You heard the doctor. Everything is normal.”

“It still scares me. I-I don’t know how to deal with some of these feelings. But I’d like to try if you’ll listen.”

She nodded.

I took her hand and stood from the bed. For this conversation, I wanted to be in a bigger room. I needed more space because the rage would inevitably return, and I wanted room to let it breathe.

Piper followed me without a word to the living room and took a seat on the couch. But instead of sitting next to her, I went to the chair across from the coffee table. As much as her touch calmed me, to look in

her eyes did so much more.

“Remember how I told you Shannon was in a drunk driving accident?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Well, she wasn’t the one driving. And she wasn’t the one drunk. My brother was.”

Piper flinched. “You have a brother? All this time, you never . . .”

She trailed off, her brain getting ahead of her questions. Then her eyes got wide and her hand slapped over her mouth, muffling a gasp.

“My brother is five years younger than me. My parents got divorced just a few months after he was born. He wasn’t exactly planned since they were already separated at the time.”

I didn’t remember much from that time, other than Mom being exhausted a lot and falling asleep on the couch while I played. I remember Dad coming over to take me fun places, like the park in the summer or the sledding hill in the winter. I don’t think he’d ever really bonded with Isaiah before moving to Asia.

“Mom did her best to raise two boys on her own, but she worked a lot. And as I got older, I took on more responsibility, especially with Isaiah. It was just him and me at home after school and on Saturdays until Mom got home from work. He was younger, but he was my best friend too.”

“Was?” Piper whispered. “Did he—in the accident, did he . . .”

“Die? No. He made it out without a scratch.”

Piper sat on the edge of the couch, her hands resting on her stomach, waiting for me to continue.

“I should have known something was going on with Isaiah and Shannon. They were closer to the same age and had a lot of the same interests. He was always hanging around the house when she was home. They’d watch TV together or cook dinner together. I didn’t think anything of it at first. I thought he was just getting to know her for my sake.”

“But it was more?”

I nodded. “They were dating behind my back. Mom knew. Her parents knew. Even some of my friends.” Former friends. I hadn’t kept in touch with them after I’d moved to Lark Cove.

“Why wouldn’t they tell you?”

“I don’t know.” I sighed. “Maybe they thought I’d be mad or jealous. But they hid it and snuck around for months.”