Sweet (Landry Family 6)

“I will keep you safe,” I say, touched by Paige’s words.

“Well, you love her too. So why are you just letting her be out there with monsters?”

Oh, my boy.

I grab him and lift him into a hug. He squirms, upset with me, but settles as I hold him.

I’m not sure who needs who more right now.

Ryder pulls away and takes my face in his hands. His breath smells like he ate a pudding in the middle of the night and his eyes look like he’s just wrestled one of the monsters under his bed.

“Listen to me,” he says, squishing my lips together.

He stares into my eyes like we’re about to discuss the end of the world. Maybe we are—the end of our world as we know it.

“I’m listening,” I say as clearly as I can.

He’s undeterred. “You are the only one of us that’s not scared of anything. You have to be the grown-up and be responsible. Okay?”

“Okay.”

He leaves his eyes pinned to mine to drive home his point. Like I don’t already understand.

I set him on his feet. He straightens his shirt and huffs back to the doorway.

“No work today. We’re gonna find Paige,” he says, storming down the hallway. “I’m tired of you being lazy about it.”

He slams his door.

I exhale, wishing I had the strength to walk to his room and tell him to open and close his door properly. But who cares right now?

“There’s nothing like being put in your place by a seven-year-old,” I mutter, massaging my temples.

There isn’t an easy fix to this mess. I can’t respect her boundaries and give her the space she needs and still be happy. And like Ryder said, I don’t think Paige can be happy either.

But why does she want space? Why can’t she be here? Why did she tell me she loves me but she has to go?

It doesn’t make sense.

I toss the eggs down the garbage disposal. No one is eating this morning. I start towards the shower when my phone rings.

My heart leaps in my chest, hoping it’s my girl.

It’s a number I don’t know. Instead of sending it to voicemail, like I usually do, I take a chance.

“Hello?” I ask, holding my breath.

“Is this Nate?”

“Yeah. Who is this?”

“Hi, Nate. This is Hollis Hudson. Paige’s brother.”

“Is she okay? Is everything all right?” I ask, pacing the kitchen.

He sighs. “She’s fine physically, if that’s what you mean. Nothing has happened to her.”

“Fuck,” I say, blowing out a breath. “That’s good to know.”

There’s a pause, a long moment of silence as the conversation switches gears. We go from the courtesy period to … whatever he’s calling about. And by the stretch of quiet, I’m not sure it’s going to go well.

I stand next to the dishwasher and wait.

“We don’t know each other well,” he begins. “I’ve been in your bar many times. We have lunch there on the first Friday of every month. So we’ve met but never met, if you know what I mean.”

“I do.”

“But I’m going to cut the shit and talk to you like I know you, if that’s all right.”

Here we go. “Definitely.”

“I’m standing in the middle of my backyard to talk to you so my sister doesn’t hear me.”

She’s at Hollis’s. Noted.

“She’s a wreck,” he says. “And I just … This isn’t my place to get involved. I know that. But I can’t sit here and watch her torture herself.”

“I don’t want her doing that either. I don’t … I don’t even know what fucking happened. Everything was fine. She left to have lunch with her friends and the next thing I know, she’s done. She’s standing here in tears telling me she needs space.”

Hollis groans. “I don’t know how much to say without disrespecting her privacy. So, let me ask you this. Be honest with me. No games.” He takes a breath. “What’s your deal with Paige? What are you thinking? What are your intentions?”

I run a hand down my face and release a tight laugh.

“What are my intentions? I fucking love her, Hollis. This girl has my heart in her hands. My only intention is to make her happy. To give her a soft place to land. To give her the best life, a family, whatever I can, to see her smile every fucking day. All right? That’s my intention here. Good enough?”

“So if you love her, if you know her, then you know some of the shit she’s been through.”

“Yeah. She’s shared some of that with me. You two had a rough time of it.”

He sucks in a breath and blows it out. The sound scratches through the line.

“Going through that kind of stuff—it has its way of hiding in your head. You wake up one day and you’re twenty-one and think you’re far removed from that shit. But then you try to live a life and there’s a … a darkness around every corner.”