The smell of coffee and bacon woke me. Sitting up, I stretched, and my stomach rumbled. I slapped my hand it, to keep quiet so I wouldnât wake jake, was still soundly asleep beside me. I kissed his brow gently before climbing out of heading for the bathroom. I dressed quickly and followed the strong scent of coffee into the kitchen.
I kissed Drewâs lips in thanks when he handed me my cup of coffee, perfectly made the way I liked it. Taking it with me, I made my way the dining room and sat with my eyes closed, just breathing in the scent of the potent brew, âWe need to get of this to bring back to the city. Itâs much better than what we have there I told Josh as he sat beside me, placing a plate of , eggs, and toast in front of me.
âDrew was the one who picked it out, so he will know what itâs called.
can probably stop on the way out and pick up a few bags to take with us. Josh said before inhaling his food like a boy in the middle of a growth spurt. I just shook my head and up my eating normally. When Drew joined us a few minutes later, he assured me we would stop and get some of the fantastic coffee to bring back to the city with us.
âTim glad someone else is as big a coffee as I am, 1 Drew, giving his hand a squeeze. I didnât have a chance to get really good coffee often, but when I did always savored it.
gave me a gentle smile.
âI love you,â Drew said before kissing the top of my head and heading into the kitchen with his empty âLove you too,â I called after him. I had finished my breakfast and was just sitting at the table savoring the last of my coffee when Jake down next to âMoming, sweetheart,â He mumbled.
âMoming, sleepy head,â 1 him. All I got was a in return âIâm glad Iâm not the only one in this family who doesnât function well in the morning.â I continued, nudging his arm.
I got no response, I let him drink his coffee, and after a couple of minutes, he blinked at me before his sweet smile spread across i his face.
âThere you are. Has the caffeine started working? I joked.Jake grinned and blushed a little before taking my hand.
âSorry, sweetheart, didnât mean to ignore you. The last few have been a lot, and everything feels surreal. Have you ever felt like all this unexpected stuff is happening to you, but it feels like youâre watching it on a giant movie screen?â
as a coping âYes, every time my dad beat me, it would get to the point that it seemed like I was watching what was happening to me. I think it was mechanism, at least for me.â I shrugged.
âThat makes sense. Thank you for being so patient with me over the last few days. I know I have some issues around being left by people I love.â Jake twined our fingers together before pulling our linked hands toward him and kissing the back of my hand. I smiled at him, understanding what he was anxious about.
âJake, I will always be there for you all of you, Loving someone and being a family means being there for each other through everything, the bad and the good.â Jake slid his chair closer to me, pulling me into his embrace, we just sat in companionable silence for several minutes Just we were standing to bring our empty breakfast dishes into the kitchen, Patrick came around the corner, his phone pressed to his ear visibly upset. When he us standing there, he turned and walked outside listening to whoever had called him.
and I watched him with concern etched on our faces, wondering what was happening.
âGo get the others,â I told Jake, who nodded and hurried out of the room in search of his brothers. I stood there, anxious but not wanting to distract Patrick from his conversation. I knew he tell us what was happening as soon as possible. Jake returned with his brothers just as Patrick stood facing us, taking several deep breaths before beginning to speak.â Guys, I donât know how to say this.â His eyes were full of such sadness and worry that I wanted to go to him, but I knew the brothers, especially the twins, were to need me to. âYou guys, Iâm so sorry. Your boat has been found, but parents were not on it; there was a lot of , though, bullet holes everywhere.â
The four brothers were very still. For what seemed like forever, the only sound I heard breathing.
only movement Jakeâs hand tightening mine. Finally, Drew was the one to break the silence.
âWhere was the boat found?â
âJamie local fishing boat spotted it drifting off the coast of Columbia. The fishermen noticed something wrong when they saw the boat was leaning to one side. When they saw the bullet holes, they called the local authorities.â
âSo what do we do?â Mike asked, and we all turned to Patrick, who took a breath before speaking.
Jamie and Sean are on their way to Aruba, the last place we know they were seen. Once they get there Jaime will give me a call. It probably wonât be until tomorrow morning when we hear from him, though. Patrick cautioned. âWe are supposed to be out of here by noon, so we still about three hours. If someone would get my stuff together, I will call my and see if he can give us some advice.
We all nodded in agreement before standing, Jake was still clinging tightly to my hand, and Josh watched him with a worried look. Make your calls Patrick, 1 will take care of your stuff, I told himâ¦
âThanks, love,â he said, coming to me and giving me a quick kiss before heading back outside, his phone already in his ear.
Once Patrick was outside, and Mike came to where i was standing with the twins, and I was wrapped in a big group hug. Jake was shaking next to me, and 1 hugged him tighter. Drew reached across our group and gripped jake on the shoulder. âWe going to be ok, brother, I promise Drew swore. jake just nodded, not saying anything.