Page 27 of Harts & Hurts

“You’re not failing, little mama. It’s only been a month. You’re still learning.” His voice was soothing.

One thing about Anthony was that he took his role as the only and elder brother to three sisters very seriously. He truly believed that it was his job to take care of and protect us when our father wasn’t around. I knew my tears were the last things he wanted or needed. He took our pain and sadness to heart.

Knowing how he was and that he didn’t deserve the burden of my grief helped me to finally pull myself together. I sniffled and choked back any tears that still wanted to flow. “Sorry for dumping that on you. It’s just been a hellacious day. I mean, this day has really sucked.”

“Where are you?” he asked conversationally.

“Why do you keep asking me that?”

“Because I just hung up from Griff Hart, and he was practically frantic. Said something about getting home from work and you and Melrose not being there. He said he’s called your phone at least ten times, and you haven’t answered.”

“I had to get out of there. His mother and that one sister, the one nobody likes, were there. They took Melrose and got her ears pierced.”

“Damn. That was bold.”

“Very bold.”

“So where were you headed?”

“I was headed to Fort Jackson, but somewhere along the way, I realized that I couldn’t dump all this on Mama and Daddy. They have their own grief to deal with. I don’t want to add to their worry, but I’m too far to make it back to Jackson Island tonight. Anyway, I’m not ready to see the Harts just yet.”

“I’m pretty sure that Yolanda, and I presume you mean Marissa when you say the sister nobody likes because I’ve never had a problem with Mariah—anyway, I’m pretty sure they’re not with Griffin. When he called me, he sounded pissed, and there was a lot of back and forth . . . discussion going on in the background.” He chuckled.

I wanted to be surprised that Griffin had reached out to my brother, but I wasn’t. My brother was a physical therapist for the Virginia Shores Vipers. Having played professional football, it wouldn’t have been difficult for Griffin to get information about a member of another team’s staff.

“You close enough to just come to me?”

I typed my brother’s location into my phone. “I’m about forty minutes out.”

“You got forty more minutes in you?”

“Yeah.” I gave a sigh. “You got food? I’m starving.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I got food. I’ll get the guest room ready in case you and my niece need to rest.”

“Well, she’s been asleep the whole ride, so she’ll probably be wide awake when I get there. I need to rest, though.”

“I’ll hang out with her while you rest,” he assured me.

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay.”

After ending the call, I dug a piece of tissue from my purse and wiped at my eyes and my nose. Once I felt like I could handle driving, I pulled out of the gas station and merged back onto the highway. I switched from smooth jazz on the radio to old-school hip-hop and R&B because I felt like the jazz music had a hand in making me feel even sadder.

About fifty minutes later, I pulled into the driveway of my brother’s oceanside townhome. I had barely maneuvered the gear into park when a cocaine-white Mercedes truck pulled right beside me. Though the windows were tinted, and I couldn’t see the driver, I would recognize my mother’s vehicle anywhere. I tried not to sigh as I mumbled, “What is she doing here?”

She was out of her truck and pulling on the door handle of the back seat where Melrose was just starting to awake. My father got out of the passenger’s side more slowly. Oh, wow, I thought to myself as I pushed the button to kill the engine so that the locks would disengage. Both of them had come. She pulled open the door and set her attention on getting Melrose’s car seat detached from the base.

My dad came to my door, opened it for me, and pulled me into a strong hug once I’d climbed out of the driver’s side. “Hey, Daddy.”

He kissed the top of my hair. “Driving upset is something we don’t do, Ani.”

“I wasn’t upset at first. I didn’t get upset until about an hour ago. Then I pulled off the road and did most of my crying at a random gas station. Hey, Mom.”

My mother turned around with the handle of Melrose’s car seat in her hand. “Hey, baby.” She gave me a one-armed hug.

“Let me take the baby.” My father took the handle from her hand, and we headed to the front door of Anthony’s place.

The four of us sat down in Anthony’s well-appointed living room, on his plush sofa.