Even though Ryan and Kai could each take an hour, Jay didn't need that long. He was close, only 30 minutes away at most. But Ray knew better than to expect Jay to move quickly. His youngest brother, the one who used to laugh with a carefree heart, the one who had always been spoiled and full of life, was now a shadow of that person. The day Esme died, her accident had shattered him. If not for the children, Ray feared Jay might have crumbled entirely in the years since.
Jay couldn't bear to look at Esme's picture anymore. The memories of that day haunted him, gnawing at his every thought. He blamed himself, convinced that if he hadn't teased her, if he had stopped her from leaving to buy food, or if he had just gone with her that day, she might still be alive. Every scenario in his mind led him back to the same conclusion: he was the one who had pushed her to her death.
