Nothing But This (Broken Pieces 2)

“I’ll make sure she gets it,” he assured him.

“And can you . . . I don’t know. Keep an eye on her, I guess. She tends to close herself off from the world. I just worry that . . .”

“I’ll watch out for her, but are you certain you want to do this?” Greyson interrupted, keeping his voice gentle.

“I have to. It’s better for her if she’s allowed to continue her life without me around to remind her of . . .” He broke off and shook his head before changing the subject abruptly. “Will you be okay? After last night?”

Greyson felt a sharp stab of something in his chest. He had tried very hard to put his confusing emotions about Olivia’s demand for a divorce on the back burner. But Harris’s concerned question brought them all surging to the fore again.

He massaged his chest, trying to ease the discomfort that had settled there, and nodded.

“I’ll be fine. I’m not going anywhere. I told Olivia that. I’m going to relocate to Riversend.”

“Grey . . . do you think that’s wise?”

“I don’t want to lose them.”

“That’s not your call, Grey. You can’t force her to stay married to you. Is she being unreasonable about access to Clara?”

Greyson shook his head.

“Maybe it’s time to focus on being a good father.”

Greyson swallowed, hating how right his brother was . . . he didn’t want to give up on Olivia, on his marriage. But he couldn’t force her to remain married to him. To care about him again. He’d had his chance. And he had fucked it up completely.

“If nothing else,” he began, feeling awkward about what he wanted to say, “I’m glad we . . . you and I . . . I feel . . .”

“I know,” Harris interrupted. “Me too, Grey.”

They had never been the kind of twins to complete each other’s sentences or read each other’s thoughts, but in that moment, they understood each other completely.

Greyson smiled, and Harris returned it with a crooked lift of his lips.

“Drive carefully,” Greyson muttered, spontaneously reaching out to embrace his brother.

“I will. Stay in contact, okay?”

Greyson stepped out of the hug self-consciously and nodded. “You too.”

Within moments, his brother was gone, leaving Greyson feeling a pang of loss at his departure.

When a distraught Tina came flying out of her front door seconds after Harris’s car disappeared down the drive, Greyson shifted his focus to comforting the woman his brother loved. He had made a promise . . . and he would not let Harris down.

“You’re going to have to let me fix this place up, Olivia,” Greyson announced when Libby stepped into her house two weeks later.

They had fallen into a routine over the last couple of weeks. Greyson watched Clara every night during the week, initially at MJ’s. But this last week Libby and Greyson had decided that it would be easier and more comfortable if he and Clara stayed at Olivia’s house. But tonight, he looked seriously pissed off, and Libby wondered what had broken this time. The house seemed to be getting worse. The plumbing still hadn’t been fixed, she had regular electrical shorts, and the air con had finally failed. Which had forced her to invest in more heaters and place even more strain on the electrical system.

She dumped her bag next to the door, massaged her nape, and went directly to the makeshift play area where he had left Clara—buffered by some cushions—to sleep.

Libby smiled down at her sweetly sleeping baby. “How was she tonight?” She kept her voice hushed.

“Good,” Greyson replied, his voice equally quiet. “She’s rolling over more regularly every day.”

Libby grinned, delighted. Clara had started rolling over onto her stomach with ease. She was also sitting up with assistance.

“Did you hear me? About fixing this place up?” Greyson asked, his voice a fierce whisper.

“What happened?” Libby asked wearily. She moved to the fridge for a bottle of water. She had a splitting headache; dinner service had been crazy tonight. The restaurant was really gaining popularity, with people coming even from neighboring towns.

“A few of the roof tiles blew off when the wind picked up earlier. It sounded like the roof was being ripped off. When I went outside to see what happened, I found the tiles in your front garden. If it had happened during the day when you were outside, you could have been seriously hurt. As it is, I’m pretty sure the leak in your roof is going to be ten times worse when it rains. I can’t have my child living like this, Olivia. You have to let me fix some things, for her sake.”

“When you say me, do you actually mean you?” Libby asked, pausing to take a thirsty drink from her bottle. “Or do you mean paying thousands to have the professionals come in and do it?”