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“I thought it might cheer them up.”
I closed my eyes. I’d worked so hard to make sure he never thought about them. I didn’t bring them up. I pretended as if they’d never existed, and he’d seemed to have let them go.
I should’ve known better.
Eric just didn’t talk about them because he was hyper-sensitive to the fact that it distressed me.
“Please don’t do that again,” I choked out.
“Why?”
We’d been through it over and over right after they left. They weren’t good people. They were dangerous to us.
“Because they’re bad—”
“Bad people need to smile too.”
I put an arm around him. “Oh, Eric.”
I leaned my head against his. How was I supposed to argue with him about that? Maybe they did deserve a morsel of happiness. I just wasn’t a big enough person to be the one to give it to them.
I would not forgive them.
Period.
“I made you sad.” He hung his head.
“No, bow tie. You didn’t.” I patted his shoulder. “Please don’t do that again without telling me though.”
“Okay,” he said agreeably. “Did Lincoln text?”
I’d taken to keeping my phone on silent in case our father called again. I didn’t have to look to know the answer. “No.”
Just another person who had disappointed Eric. I needed to be more careful.
His expression turned determined. Certain. “He will.”
I appreciated his faith in humanity, but that was one lesson I’d never learn from my brother.
People always let us down.
