Good time to ask more about Dylan, before the kid called and forced them into a corner.
“Tell me, who was Conner? Dylan mentioned he misses him and the kid’s death when they were both nine messed him up.”
True enough. He neglected to add he discovered this through Dylan’s social-media posting.
Blood drained from her face. Kara glanced at him, her eyes wide.
“How...when did Dylan say that?”
Ignoring the question, Jace persisted. “Was he a neighborhood kid?”
Pulse beating wildly in her neck, sweat forming on her temples and not just from the anticipated call. Jace turned up the air-conditioning to cool the car more, but he sensed her nerves, more than the heat, had caused the reaction.
“Who was he, Kara?”
She pushed back at the long fall of her hair. “He was a good kid. Dylan’s cousin. Maybe a little too impulsive and inclined to get into trouble.”
“Did you know him?”
That question evoked an uncomfortable silence. Jace persisted. “You must have known him since you’re so close to Dylan.”
Finally, she looked up. Stunned, he saw her clear blue eyes filled with tears.
“I knew him. I knew him well, Jace. Oh, God, I did. And every day, I miss him, too. My parents...they will never stop missing him.”
Insight suddenly hit him. “Conner wasn’t just Dylan’s cousin and friend. He was your brother.”
At her jerky nod, he blew out a breath and sank back into the seat. Felt like someone had punched him in the stomach.
“Damn, Kara. You never told me. You never talked about him. Your brother? Holy crap...”
“The accident was my fault, Jace. My fault! I was driving...” Her voice rose and then fell.
Her eyes closed as tears dripped down her cheeks. Jace dug into the pocket of Rafe’s trousers and found a clean linen handkerchief. Guy always carried them. He once said it was to comfort women who cried on him.
Made him wonder exactly how many times women cried on the guy.
Kara took the cloth, wiped her nose and eyes. Jace waited. Couldn’t push her, not now. Not after all these years, she’d kept the secret. He wished he’d coaxed her into sharing her tragic past with him when they were together years ago, but he understood, maybe more than she knew.
Some family secrets were too painful to share, even when you thought you were close to someone.
“Conner was my brother. He was several years younger than me...”
Sensing the dam was about to spill, he waited. All he could do was listen and be there for her now, instead of regretting he hadn’t been supportive when they were together.
He listened as the words spilled out, tumbling over each other. How she’d taken out her new car for a test drive, not realizing Conner was hiding in the back seat. The motorcycle that seemed to come out of nowhere.
The screech of sirens, flashing red lights and her brother lying oh-so still on the roadway as paramedics worked to save his life.
The dead biker who rammed into her car. The motorcyclist who ran a red light, seeming to come out of nowhere. She’d seen his face before a cop tactfully draped a yellow cloth over the body, his eyes staring sightlessly at the sky.
Everything made sense now. Her devotion to charitable causes, especially the organization dedicated to teaching young drivers. Kara’s hatred of motorcycles and why she always drove slow and took no risks.
Her determination to save Dylan at a personal risk to herself, because she couldn’t save her brother.
Kara gripped her hands so hard her knuckles whitened.
“Conner didn’t die right away. They kept him alive...life support. He was on life support for two days and then my parents made that awful decision no parent should make.”
Jace sucked in a breath. “Damn. I’m so sorry.”
“Do you know what an honor walk is in a hospital?”
He nodded.
“They did that for him—the nurses, doctors, hospital staff, even the maintenance guys lined the hallway as a nurse wheeled my little brother down to surgery to remove his organs after they would take him off life support. It was the only way my mother would agree...so he would give life for someone else. They wheeled him down the hallway and I walked behind him. Someone threw a few flowers on the hospital bed... I was numb. I couldn’t speak. Cry. Anything. I walked down the hallway on crutches because I’d broken my leg in the accident.”
She drew in a breath. “I broke my leg but my brother’s death almost broke my mom.”
Jace felt emotion clog his throat, thinking of a young Kara, watching her little brother be wheeled into surgery so his life could end, and another could live. He couldn’t imagine the heartache her family had suffered.
Every instinct urged him to offer solace. But how could you comfort someone who had suffered crushing loss and still believed it was her fault, after all these years?
No words existed. Jace reached out and held her hand, letting her feel his presence.
Letting her know he listened. And he cared, because damn, he did.
Tears glistened in Kara’s eyes. “I miss him, Jace. He was only eight and could be a brat, but he was my brat, my little brother. I miss him so much at times. I—I went into his room when we were in Mom and Dad’s house and kept looking around, expecting him to come bursting out of the closet to yell ‘gotcha’ or tease me or ask me how high school was... He always followed me around like an eager puppy. I miss him so much I can hear the ghost of his voice in my mind and I turn around, expecting to see him, but I see only silence. So much quiet.”
