“Bray,” Brendon said, his voice rough. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
And with that, Brendon actually broke down and cried. Jessie had a feeling the copious amount of alcohol contributed to it, but it was still hard to see. Unable to stop her own reaction to the devastating sight, she cried silently as she watched. Braydon moved closer to his brother, leaned down, and practically pulled him up from the bed as he wrapped his arms around him and squeezed.
“I’m here, Bren. I’m not going anywhere. You understand that?” Braydon asked coarsely. “No-fucking-where. And neither are you. We’re gonna get past this shit, understand? And I’m gonna stay right here until they let you out of this place. Then we’re going home so we can talk.”
Jessie listened to Braydon console his brother, and her heart broke all over again.
Part of her had believed that Brendon had been venturing down this path thanks to that country music singer he was obviously hung up on. But now she had to wonder whether that woman had just been a distraction that had kept him going. With Braydon back in town and spending his time with her, Jessie figured Brendon was trying to cope with his new reality.
And according to what he’d revealed to her, he wasn’t going to do well with having to be away from his twin.
Which meant . . .
She was going to have to find a way to make sure that he didn’t have to.
chapter EIGHTEEN
“How’s he doin’?” Sawyer asked when Jessie appeared in the waiting room an hour later. It was clear she’d been crying, and Sawyer wasn’t sure if he should be worried or relieved.
“Better,” she told him. “Travis and Braydon are in with him now.”
“Didn’t want to stay?” he asked.
“They need time to themselves. Would you, uh . . .” Jessie looked toward the doors that led to the area Brendon was in and then back to him. “Would you mind taking me home?”
“Did you tell Braydon?” Sawyer asked.
“Yeah. He told me he’d take me, but I really think he needs to stay with Brendon.”
Sawyer agreed. He wasn’t sure why he agreed, but he did. Brendon had hit a rough patch. At the moment, he needed his family to be by his side. Although this had been a long time coming, Sawyer hoped it was going to be the beginning of the end of the cycle. This little stunt had scared the shit out of them all, and whether Brendon liked it or not, they weren’t going to let him be alone for a while.
“Yeah, I’ll take you home,” he told her, and then looked over to where his parents were sitting, talking to Kaleb and Ethan. “Let’s tell them we’re leavin’ though.”
Jessie nodded and fell into step with him.
Ten minutes later, Sawyer was pulling out of the hospital parking lot.
“So . . .” Sawyer felt Jessie’s gaze on him as he let the single word hang between them. He wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t particularly like the silence. And this was his opportunity to be nosey, although he knew he should probably just back off. Since that wasn’t in his nature, he continued. “Do you know what’s going on with Brendon?”
Jessie was silent for a minute, maybe two, and Sawyer was convinced she wasn’t going to open up to him. Not that he really blamed her. Although she was practically an adopted member of the family, regardless of her relationship with the twins, Sawyer didn’t know her all that well. It was totally for lack of trying on his part.
She surprised him when she said, “He misses Braydon.”
“Because Braydon left town?” It was a logical question, he knew.
“Not necessarily. I think this all started before that.” Jessie’s choked sob stunned him, and he glanced over at her, trying to make out her face in the dim lights from the dashboard. Her hands came up and covered her face as her body shuddered.
“Jess,” he said, not really knowing what he was supposed to do or say at that moment. He reached out to touch her arm, but stopped just shy of making physical contact. Truth was, he wasn’t really good with emotional women.
Up until he’d acquired a couple of sisters-in-law, Sawyer had made a point to stay far away from women when they were upset. Sure, he’d earned a reputation because of it, but he couldn’t do much about that. Emotional women scared the shit out of him.
“I’m sorry. I just . . .” She sniffed and wiped her eyes before dropping them to her lap. “This is all so messed up. And I can’t help but think it’s my fault. If I’d just stayed in Dallas. If I hadn’t followed Kylie down here—”
“Hold up,” Sawyer interrupted, causing her head to dart in his direction. He didn’t take his eyes off the road as he continued. “You came here with your sister, right? Kylie came to Coyote Ridge to work on Gage’s house. You were with her when she showed up, if I recall correctly.”