Lilac

There would be other shows, but our chances with Braxton were limited. She was more important. Making sure she continued standing whenever life knocked her around was more important. Our mutual agreement to put her first always and never look back had been instinctual, so I knew my decision to keep moving forward well before I leaned my head back and closed my eyes.

A few hours later, we were climbing inside the rental we had Dani arrange to be waiting for us when we landed. It was a thirty-minute drive from the airport to the town where Braxton grew up, and the moment I looked around, I felt a crawling sensation on my skin.

Braxton hadn’t grown up with much.

The sign welcoming us to Faithful informed us of the nine hundred people residing here. It made me think of our first meeting and how innocent she’d looked. Eventually, I’d kicked myself for judging a book by its cover only for it to have been a clue all along. It’s not who she was now or even seven months ago, but once upon a time, it had been.

Is that why she’d fled to Los Angeles? Had she needed something more than the minuscule town could offer her? Braxton was larger than life, at least to my infatuated eyes, so I could see that being a real possibility.

The three of us stayed silent as Braxton directed Rich, who was driving, on where to go.

I almost snorted.

It’s not like he could get lost since the town couldn’t have had more than three streets. I bet the jail only had one cell, no one ever bothered to use a turn signal, teachers called students by their older sibling’s name, and all the high school parties were held at “the lake” or in a cornfield.

We rode for a couple of more minutes before I shook my head when we passed some teenagers racing down the street on a lawnmower.

It was just after one in the morning when we arrived at a small hospital. Rich parked, and after sending a quick text, Braxton climbed out, and we followed.

I expected her to rush inside, considering her urgency to get here, but she just stood on the sidewalk, staring at the entrance while she breathed in and out deeply through her nose.

Turning her toward me, I noticed how her lips trembled and tucked her against my chest while Loren and Rich hovered behind her.

“This was a mistake,” she whispered. “We should just go back.”

Loren chose that moment to yawn as wide as he could with a look that said he wasn’t going anywhere but to a bed anytime soon. As he looked around, I could hear him talking shit in his head about being dragged to the middle of nowhere for nothing but wisely kept his mouth shut. He was always his bitchiest when he was exhausted, but we all were, so he’d just have to deal.

“Talk to me,” I urged Braxton.

She didn’t immediately jump at the chance, and I swallowed my wounded pride when I wondered why.

“It’s my sister,” she eventually mumbled against my chest. “She’s inside.”

Blinking at nothing, I was floored as I replayed her confession. Until now, it had never occurred to me how little we knew about her. She’d managed to get away with uncovering pieces of our past while giving away nothing of hers in return. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the time to ask her why or berate myself for not demanding to know more.

Later.

Asking if her sister was okay would have been redundant since no one goes to hospitals for fun, so I asked instead, “What happened?”

Before she could answer me, though, someone with a deep voice called her name.

I felt Braxton stiffen in my arms while her face stayed planted in my chest. She was taking careful, controlled breaths now as if she were psyching herself up to face an opponent in the ring. I was seconds from telling the older man dressed in brown corduroy and a plaid flannel who had her eyes to get lost when she lifted her head and turned her attention toward him.

“Hi, Dad,” she said brightly despite her trembling in my arms. “It’s nice to see you.”

He was lucky to be her father when he didn’t return her greeting or her sentiments. “Your mother sent me down here to see what’s keeping you.”

The look he gave me said he didn’t approve of me touching his daughter and the look I returned dared him and his mustache to do something about it. Braxton’s father was tall like me and well-built, so it would be an evenly matched fight if it came to that, but hopefully, it wouldn’t. I’d hate to fuck up my future father-in-law.

Braxton, noticing our silent pissing contest, pulled away before walking inside without another word spoken. I didn’t like how she seemed to make herself small as her father followed closely behind, so I added that to the growing list of problems to tackle later.