Chapter 33

33

Meyra hated hospitals and always would. She suspected most people who weren't in the medical profession felt the same way. But she was there to take care of Brandt. That meant just dealing with it.

The antiseptic smell was the worst part. And it brought back really bad memories of when her mom was sick and her Aunt Jessica.

But Brandt needed her. He went upstairs with his oldest brother to see their father for a little while, leaving her with Charlotte. Meyra had told him to take care of his family. He didn't have to worry about her.

Cara, the girl she'd met when Cara and Heather had been in Masterson, had promised to stay close if Meyra needed her.

"I'm going to work for Powell now," Cara told her. "Since she needs a personal assistant she trusts."

Meyra talked to her for a while. Then Brandt's mother came back to the lobby. She sat down, right next to Meyra and Cara. "Girls, thank you for being here. It's been a scary night."

She looked so tired. And scared. Of course she was. Her husband had been really hurt. And her daughter could have been killed. For what? So bad people could make money off of drugs that just hurt others? "They'll be okay."

"I think we all will, thankfully," Melissa Barratt said, pulling in a deep breath. She had dark eyes, but they were shaped like Brandt's beautiful blue ones. It was obvious she was his mother, even if she was small, like Charlotte. "I...just don't know how long it will take us to get things back to normal."

"You probably won't ever go back to how it was before," Cara said a little too bluntly. "We didn't. After all the bad things that have happened to us. But we find new normals. That's what Aunt Heather says. She says there is ‘no real normal that doesn't change' and that we ‘just have to keep finding new normals.' Sometimes every day. Aunt Heather says a lot of weird things like that sometimes."

It took her a moment, but Meyra figured out what the words meant. And it made sense. She'd seen it with her sisters, her cousins, after the bad things had happened. Maybe that was what she needed to tell Dylan, too. Find a new normal. Don't wait.

"I think Heather might be an incredibly wise woman," Melissa said. "And I am eternally grateful she was there last night."

"Heather always knows what to do when the bad things happen, you know," Cara said. "She rescues the rest of us all the time."

Meyra just listened to them talk. Cara worked with Brandt's mother, she thought. It was nice to be there with someone she knew, even if just a little. But Meyra was worried. Brandt looked exhausted. He'd been in and out of the lobby for close to two hours. No one had really eaten yet. He and his brothers were taking turns sitting with their father. Then all three brothers were there, and Brandt's mother went back upstairs to sit with her husband while he slept.

"They are letting Dad out this evening," Alex, the middle brother, said. He sank into a chair next to Cara. "Cara, sweetheart, when are you heading home?"

"I don't know," Cara said, yawning. "I want to see Aunt Heather first."

"Are they letting her out soon?" Mac asked.

Cara stared at him for a moment. "Cashlyn said she would find out."

"Why don't you text your sister or your mom or Norm? Tell them you are with me and my brothers. We'll go to Mamaw's Place and grab some lunch," Alex said. He sounded like he was coaxing.

Cara stared at him for a long moment. Brandt looked at Meyra. "Have you ever been there?"

Meyra shook her head. Charlotte had told her about it before, though.

"I will go, but just so Meyra doesn't have to be with you by herself," Cara told Alex. "You are probably up to something."

"Not where she's concerned. She is Brandt's girl. Where you are concerned, yes, though." Alex pulled out his phone. "I'm going to see if Powell wants anything. Summer or Cash in with Daniel?"

Then they were talking details. About who the Barratts were going to bring orders back for. It was so almost normal. But Meyra could see the worry and exhaustion on Brandt's brothers' faces. On his.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek against his perfect chest, closing her eyes for a brief moment. His hand spread over her back. His arms just felt perfect around her.

Meyra opened her eyes.

That's when she saw the man watching them from across the lobby.

He had been on the plane, too. She had seen him before.

Meyra just didn't remember where.