Page 126 of Always Love You More

I blow out a breath when his face twists, his expression so pained I look away.

“It’s just … there’s no fixing this, not really. It is what it is.” I glance back up at him. “Thank you for wanting to help, but I honestly don’t know how you even could.”

His gaze goes unfocused, like he’s caught up in the past. “I promised your dad that if anything happened to him, I’d be here for you and your mom.” His eyes go glassy. “Let me keep that promise.”

“There’s stuff I need to handle—”

Luke holds up a hand. “I know you’re more than capable of taking care of things yourself, but that doesn’t mean you should have to.” He watches me carefully. “Just promise me that if things get bad, you’ll come to me. Can you give me that?”

“Yeah.” I nod, trying to shove down the emotion his words make me feel, to bury it deep with everything else. “Yeah, I can do that.”

He pulls me into a hug. “You’re gonna get through this. You’re a tough kid,” he mutters.

“Thanks,” I say quietly, stepping back. “For everything.” I turn, glancing over my shoulder, toward the kitchen. “I should really …”

“I’ll come with you,” he says, following behind me.

Billy looks up from his phone as we enter the room. He’s sitting on the counter, facing my mother, who’s slumped in her seat. “She fell asleep a couple minutes ago,” he explains.

I push away the evidence of her outburst with my boot, clearing a path over to her chair. I crouch down in front of her and tap her leg. “Ma.”

Nothing.

I grip her shoulders and gently shake her, speaking louder this time. “Come on, Ma.”

Her eyes flick open. “Jameson?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

She darts her gaze around, taking in the space, and panic flashes across her face at the position she’s in. “What’s going on?” she questions. “What’d you do to me? Why am I tied up?”

“You got upset,” I tell her. “Destroyed the room.”

She looks around and sucks in a sharp breath. “H-he’s gone, isn’t he?”

I clear my throat. “Yeah, Ma, he’s gone.”

She blinks slowly, a tear falling down her face, as she says more to herself, “I’m nothing now. He said that if he wasn’t …” Her words fade, the sound of them all wrong.

The sight of her like this makes me want to crawl into myself. Disappear. I’d rather deal with her angry than completely shattered.

“I’m going to untie you now,” I tell her. “Okay?”

She doesn’t say anything, so I move behind her and unknot the dish towel around her wrists.

Once she’s free, she moves her hands into her lap, clasping them in front of her.

I don’t know what I expect her to do, but she just sits silently, her gaze locked on her folded hands.

I start to stand when she whispers, “My head is so …”

Crouching back down, I ask, “It’s what?”

She licks her lips. “I’m tired.”

“Okay,” I say softly. “Let’s get you up.”

I hold out a hand, and she takes it, stumbling as she stands. “Wrap your arms around my neck,” I tell her. “I’ll carry you.”