Page 67 of Holding On

Thanks, man. I agree. Tell Tinsley I’ll call her in an hour or so?

Me

Will do.

I look up to the living room space after hearing one of my favorite sounds in the entire world—Tinsley’s laughter.

Her laughter has been so limited after the crash; it gives me hope that one day she will be able to laugh freely again.

Tinsley deserves to be free—from all the bullshit of her past.

I smile as I walk over to rejoin them, but before I sit down, my phone vibrates with an incoming phone call. I raise the phone and Tinsley nods at my silent request to be excused as she continues visiting with Pippa—now talking about the book club that my sisters started.

I love the idea of Tinsley joining their book club. It’s as much of a social gathering as anything else, but it also would mean Tinsley would be around Forrest Falls to participate.

I love that idea … a lot.

“Hey, Daphne. What’s going on? Pippa just got here to update Tinsley,” I answer as I walk down the hall and into the library, closing the door behind me.

“Jack … I…” Daphne’s voice cracks and my eyes close as I brace for whatever terrible news she’s about to drop.

“What is it? What’s happened?”

“I’m so sorry, Jack. They did everything they could, but her body had been through too much and couldn’t handle the trauma and stress of fighting the infection and sepsis.”

“What are you saying, Daphne?”

“Fiona passed away ten minutes ago. She’s gone, Jack.”

The Spill Exclusive—Breaking News

Superstar Fiona Skye tragically passed away today from complications while recovering from a severe car accident earlier this month. Skye was one of the passengers when singer Roman Cash lost control of his luxury sports car on the interstate, veering off the road and colliding head-on with a concrete barrier. Cash was seen driving recklessly prior to the accident and speeding in excess of twenty miles an hour over the speed limit. Allegedly, neither Cash nor Skye wore their seatbelts at the time of the collision. The other passenger and country star, Tinsley Sinclair, sustained only minor injuries, only being admitted for observation. Sources confirm Sinclair was wearing her seatbelt. Officially, the crash is under investigation, but unofficially, the tea is piping hot.

We hear that Cash and Sinclair were fighting as they were leaving the Grammys moments before the accident, with Cash passionately trying to appease his upset girlfriend. Skye was in the ICU and needed emergency surgery after the accident, however, Sinclair did not return to visit her alleged friend after she was discharged.

“Tinsley said goodbye when she was discharged and then she was just gone. It was just Fiona’s poor sister, facing all of that alone. So much for being best friends!”

A source with close knowledge of their relationship confirms Cash and Sinclair were having a rough patch, but Cash was hopeful that they would find a way through it and even started to shop for rings. Since Cash’s death, Sinclair has been spotted with billionaire Jack Callahan. Callahan escorted her from the hospital and brought her to his penthouse in the small town of Forrest Falls, TN, where the couple allegedly has been seen canoodling around town.

But you’ll have to take our word for it because our lips are sealed … allegedly.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

“Taking as deep of a breath as you feel comfortable, let it out at whatever pace feels right to you.” Cami’s soothing voice fills the room.

It’s been one week since my best friend died, and I can’t even wrap my head around that statement even days later. It feels like in part I was both mourning her from the moment we crashed and she didn’t wake up, while still holding out hope that there was no way she would leave us.

Fiona would fight—she would fight so she didn’t leave Dahlia, me, and especially those sweet innocent babies that she never got the chance to meet. But then there’s a part of me that thinks that’s exactly why she held on for three weeks after the crash … she was fighting to get back to us, but it was too much.

“If you want, you can place a hand on your belly to feel the breath move throughout your body. As we move through this practice today, remember you aren’t here to fix or change anything. There are no wrong emotions; we are simply creating space for those emotions to move however it feels best for you to do so. If a movement doesn’t feel right to you, we will change it up. You are in control here. And if we only focus on the breath today, and that’s what your body needs, then that’s what we will do, alright?”

Cami explained to me that trauma-informed yoga puts all the control in my hands, and there isn’t a right or wrong way to do this if it feels right to my body. “If you’d like, we can move into a gentle seated stretch, or we can stay here and focus on breath.” I softly shake my head as the emotions seem to be rising from my gut.

It’s not about just mourning my best friend—I’ve also been made out to be an absolute monster in the press. The press loves a scandal, and apparently, there are people out there that are cashing in on my downfall, because every day there’s a new alleged close source with some terrible false claim about me. From claiming that I haven’t been sad about Fiona’s death, to rumored being the cause of the accident by yelling at Roman which led him to lose control, it’s all been said, and even though none of it is true, people are clicking and gobbling it up.

The day Fiona passed had a small sliver of hope when Wells informed me that our mother agreed to enter rehab, leave Rick, and file for divorce. She’s never been to rehab and I thought it was maybe a chance for us to be an actual family.

Bridget checked herself out four days later and went home—to Rick.