Ram Remy (Providence Family Ties 4)

“Dad, we’ve loved every moment we spent with you, and neither me nor Croix ever wondered if you cared. Hell, you were the first person I called when I got my period and was freaking out.” The first sign of amusement I’d seen from him since he’d arrived came as his lips twitched at the memory. “When we started driving, you paid for us to have nice cars so we were safe, even though we would have been happy with wrecks. Even if you weren’t there physically, you were there.”

He blinked, and I noticed how glassy his eyes were. “If something happens to Croix… What if…” he trailed off as the first tear spilled over his lower eyelid. “He might never know how much I love him—how much I love both of you. You’re my whole world.”

Doing my best not to cry, I dropped my head so that my forehead was on his knee. “He knows, Dad. Both of us do.”

Feeling his fingers playing with the strands of hair in my ponytail, just like he’d done when I was little, I prayed yet again for Croix to wake up. We needed him.

“I can’t live so far away anymore. I don’t know how to help him, but I want to be there to do it.”

Raising my head, I pointed at Sasha’s dads. “I don’t know if you remember the Townsend-Rossis—”

My dad raised his eyebrow. “Um, you’ve already forgotten Wyatt Rossi’s my best friend, have you?”

Shit, he was. When my parents had split, it was done amicably. There’d been no bitterness, no arguments over who got what, and their shared friendships had stayed in place. People are so used to hearing about bitter splits they don’t usually realize it can be done peacefully like my parents had.

Mom may have lived closer to the Townsend-Rossis after Dad moved to Portland, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t in touch with his best friend since kindergarten—Wyatt, Jackson’s dad.

Looking sheepishly at him, I shrugged a shoulder. “It’s been a long week.” Seeing Sasha standing next to her dad, I said, “Jackson married Sasha Adams-DeWitt, and she’s brought her dads to meet you.”

Dad looked over at them, his forehead furrowed. “How come? I mean, it’s not a bad thing, but I’m not sure now’s the right time for—”

“She had a problem with another girl that followed her back to Kissimmee. The girl opened fire on Sasha and Jackson at her dads’ house, and one of them, Ryan, I think, was shot in the arm, and he had to have it amputated.”

Dad’s expression changed as he realized why they were here.

“If it’s okay with you and you feel up to it, he’d like to help us understand how Croix will feel when he wakes up and hears the news. We also need to be aware of what he’ll likely go through mentally and emotionally because that sort of news doesn’t just take a day to get over. If we can put things in place for when he comes home, it gets rid of any hurdles that might make him think that’s how difficult life’s always going to be.” Tapping him on the knee to get his focus on me, I pressed, “Does that make sense?”

His eyes scanned my face. “When did you get so wise? Of course it makes sense.”

“It wasn’t me who arranged for this to happen. It was Remy.”

Looking over my shoulder at where my man was standing, giving me a moment alone with him, Dad sighed. “From the moment you were born, I was sure I was going to hate or shoot any male that came near you. I can’t say I like not being able to do that, but I can say I like Remy for you.”

The message was clear: he wanted to shoot Remy, but he also liked him. I reckon I’d end up feeling the same way about Toby and any girls who went near him.

Smiling softly, I whispered, “Wait until you meet his son. You’ll fall in love in a second.”

“I can’t wait,” he said genuinely. “Now, let me meet Sasha’s dad. I need to know what to do for my boy. Then I need to figure out how the hell I’m going to sell my house and move back down to Florida so I can be closer to you both again.”

I can’t say it was easy listening to Ryan Adams-DeWitt explain how he’d felt, and described the riot of emotions that followed, and the things he struggled with, but even Hart was taking notes as he spoke.

We were able to ask him the questions that’d been front and center in our minds since we’d gotten the news about Croix’s leg, too. After half an hour, one of the orthopedic doctors joined us, having heard what was going on, and between them, they helped us make a plan on how to help my brother through the journey he was about to go on.