Page 60 of Chasing Home
20
JOHNNY
The moment Wanda hangs up with the promise of catching a flight out here this week, I’m fixing all my focus onto Aurora. She’s tense in my arms, almost shaking with whatever it is going through her head. Disappointment or anger, maybe. I know I feel a lot of the latter.
Wanda grew up here in Cherry Peak with the rest of us. She’s the same age as Brody, so I never had the chance to get to know her all that well. Although it wasn’t necessary in a town this size where everyone knows everyone regardless of age.
It’s public fact that she’s accepting of strangers only when she wants to be, and if she does accept you, there isn’t much of a chance to grow close before she’s taking off on another one of her adventures. Nobody blames her for not wanting to stick around, considering the lack of tethers keeping her here. But that doesn’t make me any less upset with the way she spoke to Aurora on the phone.
Shock can have a negative effect on just about anyone. There isn’t a right or wrong way to handle something as heavy as learning you’ve had a sibling you never knew about. There is, however, a proper way to speak to someone, surprised or not.
Feel your emotions, but don’t take them out on others. My mom taught every one of my siblings that lesson when we were young. It’s stayed with me since, and I try to live by that rule as often as I can.
“Are you okay?” I ask, my voice half-muffled by Rory’s hair.
She breathes in and out and jerks her head in a nod. The fruity smell of her shampoo works its way up my nose as I press another kiss to her crown. Every minute that she stays in my arms, I grow calmer. More at peace. A sense of rightness settles deep in my subconscious, and I’m certain that this is exactly where I need to be.
Daisy wasn’t supposed to be here until after lunch, and if she truly hadn’t arrived until then, I wouldn’t have gotten this chance with Rory. It was fate that brought my sister here early to say goodbye before heading back to Calgary, and I won’t take a single fucking argument on that.
“Should I be okay after that?”
“You don’t have to be. Not with me.”
“What good will it do if I’m not? I wasn’t expecting her to be happy.”
The pain in her voice threatens to rock me back on my heels. It strikes deep, awakening instincts inside of me that I haven’t felt before for anyone besides my family. The drive to protect and defend.
“Happy or not, she could have been nicer.” Should have been.
I cup her hips and press us into the shadows, her back against the wall. She lets me move us, not letting so much as a peep escape her. It’s worrisome, turning my protectiveness up a notch.
Flexing my fingers, I drop my head, bringing my nose to brush her cheek. My hat bumps her head, and I consider tossing the thing into the wind before she surprises me by ripping it off herself and hanging it at her side. I laugh softly at her eagerness, and she shivers in my grip.
“Don’t laugh at me right now,” she scolds, but there’s no heat behind it.
“I’m not laughin’ at you, darlin’.”
“Right.”
“I’m trying not to lose my shit right now, actually,” I admit.
“Why?”
“Why am I trying not to lose my shit?”
“Yeah.”
I almost laugh again. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“Clearly not,” she grumbles.
Pulling back enough to stare down at her, I curl a finger beneath her chin and lift it. With her red-rimmed eyes snaring mine, I struggle to breathe, let alone speak. It should be a crime for eyes this beautiful to be so sad.
“I don’t like it when you’re upset, Rory. Not one damn bit.”
Her shoulder lifts. “It’s not the end of the world.”
“Feels like it to me.”