Page 129 of None Of Your Business

“Only recently.”

“Hudson?”

“He knows everything.”

She sits there, hands tight in her lap, looking smaller than I’ve ever seen her.

“What does it mean for you?” she whispers.

I sit, take a deep breath, and tell them everything.

∞∞∞

By the time I finish, Noah is leaning back against the wall, staring at the floorboards, his knuckles white as his hands clench into fists.

Madison hasn’t moved.

“All those years,” she whispers. “You weren’t clumsy.”

“Sometimes I was.”

She looks up, her eyes bright with unshed tears.

I squeeze her hand. “Madi, don’t.”

“I’m not asking you to make me feel better. I’m just trying to understand how we missed it. How I missed it.”

“It’s not your fault. Even the doctors missed it.”

“That doesn’t make it okay. We were told for years that you manifested your pain in your head.”

Noah finally steps forward. “Why didn’t you tell us when you found out, Ro? Two years? We’re your family.” His voice breaks. “Why didn’t you come to me?”

I could give them a hundred complicated answers. I pick the rawest, simplest one.

“Because I didn’t want to become the next family emergency. Mom already has enough guilt. Dad thinks I have a habit of making things about me. You had the wedding planning, Madi. Piper had finally gotten her life back. Noah was building his practice. Everyone had something, and I didn’t want to be the broken one taking up more room.”

The silence that follows has teeth.

Madison slowly stands up from her chair. “Back up. Dad said what?”

I look down at my shoes. “Madi, it’s fine.”

“Like hell it is. Tell me, Rowan. Now.”

“He said when something important happens for one of you, I tend to… divert the attention.” I swallow hard. “He said it right before the dress appointment.”

“No,” Madison says.

“Madi—”

“No. Absolutely fucking not.”

“Please don’t go over there,” I beg softly. “Please.”

Madison presses both hands flat against the table, her head bowed. I watch her stop herself from barging out the door to rip our father to shreds. That might actually be a first in Callahan history.

She grabs my hands.