Reed's Pov
I went straight to the bathroom to shower again, letting the hot water ground me while Nicholas got on the phone with a few shareholders. His calm voice drifted down the hall, a quiet anchor.
When I was done, I stepped out into the afternoon light and made my way to the little garden where my sister waited fragile among her flowers. The garden was small but bright my sister always liked to pretend she could coax life out of anything, even the stubborn clay soil behind her house. Today, though, the flowers seemed dimmer, as if they knew better than to bloom too loudly.
She was sitting on the wooden bench beneath the apricot tree, her elbows on her knees, whilst her fingers threaded through her hair. The sight of her collapsed in on herself, shoulders shaking hit me harder.
I walked toward her slowly, the gravel crunching under my shoes. She didn't look up.
"Hey," I said softly.
