“What aren’t you telling me, Mom?” Braydon asked, hoping she’d get to the point. He didn’t want to rush her, but the conversation seemed to be stalled.
“He broke down, Bray.”
“Broke down how?”
“His issues don’t involve a woman.”
“No? Did he happen to mention Cheyenne?” Braydon questioned.
“I brought her up. He didn’t have much to say about her, but honestly, I don’t think this is about her. This is about you.”
Aww, hell. Braydon knew the responsibility was going to somehow rest on his shoulders. And truth was, he didn’t have the strength to carry Brendon’s issues at the moment. “Mom—” he began, but he was quickly cut off.
“Listen, Bray. This isn’t something you can fix, per se. But I do think you need to talk to him.”
“I have talked to him,” he countered. “I’ve talked to him on multiple occasions. His auto-response is that he messed up. There isn’t much of a discussion from that point.”
“Bray,” his mother said, her voice soft yet firm, “listen to me for a minute, okay?”
“Fine,” he huffed, turning the air vent directly on his face.
“We’ve always known that the two of you were close. I’ve told you the story about how Brendon couldn’t bear to be away from you when y’all were little. He was always calmer when you were around. Since the day y’all were born. I don’t know why, and I’ve never really worried about it. Not until now.”
Braydon didn’t want to be rude, but he wanted his mother to get to the point. He’d heard numerous stories about how their baby cribs had been pushed right up beside one another because Brendon slept soundly if Braydon was close by. If his parents had tried to separate their beds, Brendon would cry for hours. Braydon got it. He just didn’t understand how that was relevant to the current issues.
“Your brother knows that things have changed for you. You’ve hit that point in your life that I think he has always feared. You’ve found a woman that you want to be with, and he feels left out.”
“Mom—”
“Shh,” she interrupted. “Listen to me.”
“Okay,” he caved.
“Your father and I have never questioned your . . . How do you put it? Unconventional behavior. We’ve never interfered, although we absolutely don’t understand it. And we’re more astute than you boys give us credit for. We’ve known that there was something between you and Jessie. And we’re happy for you. I think Brendon wants to be happy for you too, he just doesn’t know how to cope with it.”
“There’s nothing to cope with, Mom. We’re dating. I care about her and I want to see where this goes.”
“I understand that. Your father understands that. I even think Brendon understands that. But I think the issue is with the ‘where it goes’ part. Your brother has somehow conjured up the idea that you’re moving out, getting married, and are gonna live happily ever after without him.”
“It’s not about him,” Braydon protested. God, his head was pounding, and he was seriously wondering if he was going to throw up.
“Braydon.” Lorrie said his name the same way she always did when she was frustrated with his response. “As I said, you can’t fix this. At least not by changing something that you’re doing. But you can talk to him. He needs reassurance.”
Okay, so Braydon understood that much. He did want to reassure Brendon that he wasn’t going anywhere. Especially after last night at the hospital. When Brendon had broken down, Braydon had felt his twin’s pain deep in his soul. It was that connection that he was used to. The one he was questioning now.
“I’ll talk to him,” Braydon assured his mother. “I’m not sure it will do much good, but I’ll talk to him.”
“Thank you. That’s all I ask.”
“You’re welcome,” he said in response. Braydon had no idea why his mother was thanking him. He didn’t think that talking was going to do much good, but shit, at this point, anything was worth a try.
But he damn sure didn’t intend to talk to Brendon until his headache was gone. That much he knew for a fact.
chapter TWENTY-ONE
“Have dinner with me?” Braydon belted the question out as soon as Jessie greeted him with a quick hello.
She had been driving home from work when her cell phone rang. Seeing that it was Braydon, she immediately answered. She’d spent the entire day wondering and worrying about him but found herself so busy with the details of the house Kylie was now intent on making into a masterpiece that she hadn’t had time to really talk to him. They’d shared a few texts, but other than that, she’d been focused on other things.