Beautiful Sacrifice (The Maddox Brothers 3)

“Breakfast foods mostly.”

“Does Taylor get up early enough for breakfast?” Travis teased.

“Shut up, asshole,” Taylor grumbled.

“I don’t know,” I said.

Everyone looked at me.

“We’re just friends,” I added.

Abby’s eyebrows shot up, and then she looked to Travis. “Oh.”

“Baby,” Travis said, “pass me the salt and pepper, would ya?”

Abby reached over and handed the small glass shakers to her husband. He seemed too young to be wearing a wedding band. They both did, yet those rings and their marriage seemed natural, as if they were always meant to love each other, working toward their forever.

“We were friends once,” Travis said, unaffected.

Abby pressed her lips together, trying not to smile. “Not that I didn’t fight it.”

Travis shook his head while he chewed. “Christ, did she ever.”

“I’m going to go out on a limb and say you enjoyed the chase,” I said.

The room filled with laughter, deep tones from the Maddox boys and Abby’s lighter cackles. It made me feel more at ease—the conversation, the laughter, the inflection of the back-and-forth. It felt like the dining area at the Bucksaw.

“So, you can relate?” she asked.

I stopped chewing, mid-bite.

Taylor looked at me, hope in his eyes.

When I didn’t answer, he looked to his brother. “So, how did you guys get from there to now?” Taylor asked. “Just … out of curiosity.”

Travis and Abby traded knowing glances. Travis took a bite of pork chop, and Abby rested her chin on her hand, smiling at him, so in love.

“We didn’t wait until we worked out our shit,” Travis said after he swallowed. “Otherwise, I’d still be chasing her.” He leaned over and kissed Abby’s cheek. “And thank fuck that’s over. Being with her and then without her felt a lot like dying slowly—with a little bit of crazy thrown in for good measure. You’ll see.”

Taylor shot me a quick side glance and then sawed at his pork chop.

Abby rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t quite that bad.”

Travis stopped chewing and looked at her. “It was exactly that bad.”

Just as Abby reached out to touch her husband’s cheek, the front door opened. We waited to see who had arrived, listening to footsteps padding down the hall along with the sounds coming from paper and plastic.

Another Maddox brother appeared, holding a brown sack. Below him stood a tiny girl holding small plastic sacks in each hand. Her platinum hair cascaded in soft waves over her miniature-sized peacoat. Her enormous bright green eyes targeted each one of us, one at a time.

“Olive!” Jim said. “How was Chicken Joe’s?”

Bile rose in my throat, and my hands began to tremble. A thin sheen of sweat immediately formed on my skin. I felt like laughing and crying and cheering and collapsing all at once.

“It was good,” she said in a voice that matched her small stature. “Cami couldn’t come. Twent was ’posed to wash the dishes before we weft, but he fowgot. Cami will be mad, mad, mad.”

I breathed out a quiet laugh. She was so articulate, and her sweet little voice made tears sting my eyes.

Taylor noticed my reaction and reached for my hand. “Hey,” he whispered, “you okay?”

“She probably had to work, huh?” Travis asked, looking to Trenton.

“Always,” Trenton said, readjusting the sack in his arms.

All the air was pushed from my lungs, and salty tears fell down my cheeks. I’d fought to keep my emotions under control for years, but I hadn’t been prepared to see her in that moment. Her innocent voice rang in my ears. Of the hundreds of scenarios that had played in my head, Olive walking up behind me with Taylor’s brother hadn’t been one of them.

Whatever my expression was, Taylor seemed concerned, and he tightly held my hand.

Jim noticed, too, but he forced some small talk. “So, I guess you’re not hungry.”

“Hi, Olive,” Abby said. “What’s in the sacks?”

Olive’s little legs rushed over to Abby, and she fumbled to open one of the sacks.

“Oh!” Abby said, her eyes bright as she looked back up at Olive. “Yummy! Your mom is going to strangle Trent!”

Travis leaned over to see inside the sack, and he chuckled. “That’s a lot of candy, Olive.”

“It’s not all fow me,” she said simply.

Trenton reached for Olive, summoning her back to his side. “We just swung by the store to pick up a few things you were out of, Dad. Liza is home. I’m going to drop off Olive, and then I’m heading to The Red to see Cami.”

“Sounds good,” Jim said, his fork poking around on his plate. “You guys still liking the apartment?”

“Domestic bliss,” Trenton said with a wide grin.

He set the sack down in the kitchen and unloaded a few items. Then he led Olive down the hall by the hand. They were discussing something. He was looking down at her, and she up at him.

I realized I was still turned around, gripping the top edge of the back of the chair.

She was walking away. I felt sick.

“Falyn, are you okay?” Taylor asked, genuine concern in his voice.

I reached for the glass of water and took a gulp. “I think I’m just so tired from not sleeping much last night and then traveling today.”

“Take the water with you,” Jim said. “Flying dehydrates you. I never sleep well the night before a trip either.”

I thanked Travis and Abby for dinner, and then I excused myself from the table, water glass in hand. Taking two stairs at a time, I rushed down the hall and pushed through the bedroom door, setting the glass on the dresser before crawling onto the mattress, curling into the fetal position.

No matter how much air I pulled into my lungs, it didn’t seem like enough. My heart was buzzing like a hummingbird in my chest, and my head was spinning. I begged myself to pull it together, but the harder I tried to fight the overwhelmed, panicked feeling, the worse it became.

“Falyn?” Taylor said, slowly opening the door. He was appalled at the sight of me, and he set the plate of leftovers on the dresser by the door. “Christ, you’re white as a sheet.” He sat next to me, taking my water and brushing my bangs from my face. “No wonder your parents didn’t want you coming here. Whatever you’re trying to do, you’re not ready for it.”