“Iam so sorry,”Jacesays, and the pain in his eyes looks worse than whatIcan imagine mine is showing.
“It’snot your fault,”Isay, andInotice that the words also come out nasally, likeI’mtalking with my nose plugged, whichIguessIpretty much am.
“No,Ishouldn’t have”—
ButIput a hand on his arm to stop him. “Itis not your fault,”Isay slowly and more forcefully.
Hepicks up the wet cloth and gently wipes at a spot on my neck that he must’ve missed the first time around.
“Blakedoesn’t like me much, does he?”
Jace’seyebrows crease and he leans in as if he’s checking my pupils to see if they are dilated.Whenhe straightens, he says, “Itwasn’tBlakewho threw the ball; it wasLedger.Doyou remember?”
“Yes,Iremember, becauseI’mnot concussed.Ledgerlikes me fine.It’sBlakewho doesn’t.”
Jacestops looking at me like maybe he should scoop me up and take me to the hospital and says, “Thathas nothing to do with you and everything to do with me spilling the family secret.”
“Oh?”Isay and try to sit up soIcan seeJacebetter.Hehelps me to adjust the pillows under my back. “Hedoesn’t even work there, right?”
“Hedoesn’t.Which, in a way, is part of the same issue.”Evenwithout a concussion,Idon’t understand what he means, soIstay quiet, waiting for him to continue.Eventually, he lets out a long breath and does. “Hewas supposed to be withCharliewhen she got kidnapped, but he got distracted by a dog.”
Oh.It’sjarring to be taken back in time that far, and it takes a moment for the implications of it to sink in. “Thatmust’ve been such a weight on him.”Ican’t even imagine what that would do to a kid.
Jacenods. “Wesuspect that the dog was actually planted by the kidnapers as a way to distractBlakewhile they grabbedCharlie.Hehad just always wanted a dog and was so drawn to them.”
“Theymust’ve known that.”
Jacenods again. “EventhoughCharliewas only gone for twenty-two hours, it was hard.Andit leftBlakemad at the agency that had put her at risk by having our dad as its director.”
“Whydoes that make him mad at me, though?”Imay not have a concussion, but my nose does still hurt an awful lot.Thatmust be whyIcan’t seem to connect the dots.Ormaybe this ice pack is freezing my brain and slowing down my thinking.OrmaybeI’mjust distracted becauseJaceis sitting on the bed, facing me, and he’s shirtless.
Then, suddenly,Ido connect the dots. “Oh.Becausehe thinksI’mputting you all at risk by knowing.”
“You’renot,”Jacesays in a firm voice. “AndBlakewill get over it.”
I’mquiet for a long moment.ThenIask, “Sodid he ever get his dog?”
“No.Hekind of always saw that want of his as the reason why he wasn’t there forCharlie.”
“Buthe could’ve used the excuse that if he’d had a dog, he wouldn’t have gotten distracted by one.Orthat maybe the dog would’ve been with you guys at the park and would’ve helped to stop the kidnappers.”
“Yeah,Blake’smind doesn’t work like that.Hewould still think his love of dogs was a problem.”
“Evenafter all these years?”
Jaceshrugs. “Idon’t think he’s ever gotten over blaming himself after all these years, either.”Hestudies me for a long moment. “Areyou sure you’re not concussed?”
“Jace,I’msure.”
“Okay,Ithink maybeIshould go put on a shirt, then.”
“Wait.IfIsayI’mconcussed, does that mean you’ll leave it off?”
Thecorner of his mouth lifts and it’s so cuteIwant to reach out and touch it.
CHAPTER34
SHATTERED SURETIES
