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He rises and throws some euros on the table.
“I got this,” I say.
He opens his mouth, and I’m pretty sure he’s going to balk at that, until he finally nods. “That’s kind of you, Dave. Thank you.” He walks away.
I’ll be damned. That brush with death changed all of us.
Chapter Six
Maddie
Brianna has fallen asleep, but I’m lying in bed awake.
I fear that if I close my eyes, I’ll relive the whole thing.
Then I jerk slightly at a knocking noise.
I get out of bed, go to the hotel door, look out the peephole.
I heave a sigh of relief when I see my brother.
I open the door. “Jesse? Everything all right?”
“Yeah.” He wraps me into a loose hug. “I just want to check on you two and see if you’re okay.”
I look back into the room. “Brianna’s asleep, finally. But I can’t get to sleep. Were you in bed?”
“I had a drink with Dave down at the bar.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Dave?”
“Yeah, sis. That near plane crash has got him pretty spooked.”
“He seemed good to me.”
“I think he was being strong for you.” He pats my arm. “You okay?”
I frown. “I mean, am I? I’m freaked out. We all are.”
“I know.”
I scratch my arm. “Plus I’m feeling kind of shitty.”
“Why?”
“Only about a million reasons, but the main one right now is that I’m keeping you and Brianna from being together tonight. I’m sure you want to lean on each other after such a horrible thing.”
“We’re all right.” He places his hands on my shoulders. “I’m more concerned about you.”
I sigh. “That’s just it, Jesse. I don’t want everyone concerned about me. Poor little Maddie, always the odd one out.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
“Is it, though? I know you’d rather be with Brianna, the woman you love. And I know she’d rather be with you. I’m not blind, Jesse. I see how much you mean to each other.”
“Funny, Dave said almost the same thing.”
“That he could see how much you love each other?”
