by R. Linda
“I would so.” Bailey rolled her eyes and poured more wine.
“Psssh, you thought you were fake dating, when it was clear to even Blind Freddy that it was real. I specifically remember making you realise you had real feelings for your super-hot boyfriend.”
Linc whipped his head around at that statement, a scowl on his face. Ryder just laughed.
“You might want retract that statement, Ace,” Linc growled, slamming his beer on the table and walking over to her.
“Not as hot as you, stupid ass.” Indie rolled her eyes and tipped her head back when Linc grabbed her face and claimed her mouth.
“One day, I will understand the meaning of those nicknames,” I muttered.
“Oh, I know!” Jack hollered. “Ace is because she’s a great kisser. Well, duh.” He flicked his hands at himself. “Great teacher. I should charge. And stupid ass is what Indie said when she told Linc she loved him.”
“Huh?”
“I believe it went something like this,” Jack said and cleared his throat, facing an invisible person on his left. ‘Hey, Linc, is Indie a good kisser?’” Then he changed the direction he faced, and in his best Linc-inspired voice said, “‘Yeah, she’s Ace.’” He shot a wink at Linc and gave him a thumbs up.
“Right,” I said slowly. Kenzie and Bailey were trying not to laugh behind their hands, while Ryder ignored him and focused on taking the meat inside.
“And then the bombshell dropped. They were fighting on the beach because my plan was just that good. And Indie turned and shoved him away.” Jack brushed his imaginary long hair and pouted, trying terribly to imitate Indie, then in a high-pitched voice said, “‘Because I love you, you stupid ass.’” Then he cleared his throat and used the deep voice for Linc. “‘Say it again?’” Switched back to Indie. “‘Stupid ass?’”
Yeah, that totally sounded like Indie.
“Then they made sweet, sweet love on the beach in front of the entire resort.”
My hands balled into fists. My jaw set.
“Knock it off. We did not.” Linc punched his shoulder.
“Ouch. Pick on someone your own size.” Jack laughed. “No. They didn’t, I swear. He didn’t steal her virtue right away. He waited a day.”
A growl erupted in my throat.
“All right. Enough. Jack, stop trying to work Nate up.” Dad stepped in, laying a hand on Jack’s shoulder.
“Dinner’s ready,” Mum announced, holding the doors open for Ryder as he returned carrying two trays of freshly made burgers. And I’d be damned if they didn’t look and smell better than Johnny’s.
“Cole, come on,” Kenzie called and got up to help Cole dry off and fix him some food.
“Ugh, Mumma… Stop.” He shook his head and tried to get out from under the towel she was using to dry his hair.
“Where’s Brody? I thought he was coming,” Dad asked as he pulled out a chair for Mum. After all these years, they were still romantic and kind and loving toward each other.
“He was going to the hospital again,” I said and grabbed a burger and took a huge bite. Juice dripped down my chin and fingers, but Ryder wasn’t lying. His burgers kicked Johnny’s ass.
Dad cleared his throat and glanced at my mother, who reached over and patted his hand reassuringly.
“What’s going on?” I asked, watching them carefully.
“Well, I guess now is as good as any time,” Dad said, taking a mouthful of his beer. “We wanted to speak to the four of you, but…”
“Four?” Indie asked.
“Yes. You and Nate, obviously. Lincoln, son, because you’re just as much family as our own, and Brody because it will affect him as well.”
Silence fell over the table.
“We’ll give you a minute,” Bailey said and pushed her chair out.
“Nonsense. Sit back down. You’ll all find out soon enough,” my mother said, pointing at Bailey’s chair. She dropped back into it silently.
“Your mother and I have decided to have another child.”
I choked on my beer. Indie sprayed wine all over herself, and everyone else was too stunned to even blink, let alone speak. My eyes found Indie’s, her face betraying every thought she had. Linc leaned back in his chair and rested his arm around her waist. Bailey’s mouth was twisted, and her eyes narrowed. Ryder, once again, was blank. No expression. No reaction. The dude had a killer poker face. Kenzie busied herself with Cole, pretending not to have heard, and Jack looked like he’d seen a ghost. Face white, hands slapped on his cheeks, his mouth open in a silent scream. Exactly like I felt.
“Come again?” I asked.
Another child. A kid? What the hell? They couldn’t have another child. Pretty sure that ship had well and truly sailed, medically, at least. Were they adopting? Why would they want one? Holy shit.
“We’re lonely. The house is empty. We just don’t know what to do with ourselves anymore.”
“Join a club. Ride a bike. Take a class. Pottery. Golf. Hell, do yoga with Bailey’s mother. Music lessons. Travel. Anything!” I suggested and looked to Indie for support, but she was still sitting there wide-eyed. She was no help.
“We love you both, so much, and if we can provide for another child in need the way we did you, then that would mean something.”
“You’re really serious?” Linc asked.
“Immensely.”
“I think that’s a lovely thing to do.” Bailey smiled. Ryder nodded in agreement.
“Thank you, Bailey.”
“Oh. My. God…I’m going to be a big sister!” Indie squealed, a look of wonder on her face. “I’ve always wanted a little brother or sister. I can teach him to ride a bike and play basketball—fairly.” She elbowed Linc and stuck her tongue out at me.
“Indie,” my dad said.
“Or I can teach her how braid her hair and make dresses look really cute with Chucks.” Her eyes widened.
“Indie,” Dad tried again.
“I can buy her first pair of Chucks. She’ll be a mini me.”
“Indie.”
“What?”
“Listen, please. Your father and I have seen a lawyer and are going through the process of fostering a young lady.” My mother’s eyes glistened with tears. My dad squeezed her hand, and they both looked at me with sad smiles. “We hired someone to look into the girl’s background. She’s an orphan. No family. Her parents immigrated here from Italy before she was born.”
My stomach dropped. I shook my head.
“Our lawyer is taking care of everything. Dealing with child services and pushing our application through as fast as possible.”
“Why the rush?” Jack asked. My hands were clammy. Sweat prickled at the nape of my neck.
“The girl. She has no one. And pretty soon the place she is staying will no longer be able to care for her. She’ll be placed into foster care, and she’ll get lost in the system. Her needs are great. She will need help with everyday things. Things that come naturally to others. She’ll need doctor visits and therapist visits. So much that we can provide for her. We want to provide for her. Give her the best care possible.”
“What’s wrong with her?” Indie whispered. Linc shifted in his seat uncomfortably and glanced at me. He knew. He’d figured it out.
I wiped my hands on my shorts and closed my eyes. I didn’t want to see their faces when they found out who my parents were adopting.
“She’s a burn victim,” Dad said sadly.
“Audrey,” I croaked and opened my eyes to look at my parents.
“Audrey.” My mother sniffed. “Nate, it’s the right thing.”
I stood from the table and walked toward the door, stopping to kiss her on the head. “I know. I just need time to sort through some things, and you need to make sure you’re not rushing into this. It is a huge responsibility.”
“We know. And we’re prepared. We’ve discussed this long and hard. We’ve got everything in motion. We just need to speak with Audrey first. She’s not a child
and obviously will have a say in what happens. But we can’t bear the thought of her being put into the foster system. So many of those families are in it for the money, and they don’t really care about the kids. We do. We want to help her,” my dad said.
I nodded then shook my head. I was confused. A thousand thoughts swirled through my mind. “I have to go.”
I walked out the door and got in my car.
Chapter
Eighteen
Harper
I was watching television with Julie. Nothing terribly exciting, just mindless stuff I didn’t have to concentrate on. Which was perfect because all I could think about was my brother and how he’d sounded exactly the same on the phone earlier as he did the last time I saw him.
I kept replaying our last conversation in my head. Him telling me to go and not come back. It still didn’t make sense to me why he would do that. He’d spent his entire life looking out for me.
What changed?
And I then I began to wonder whether he resented me, blamed me for his life in prison. If he hadn’t been in a rush to save me from the clutches of my parents, he wouldn’t have been speeding. He would have seen the kid out on the road. He would have had time to stop. The kid would be alive, and my brother and I would have been living a glamorous life somewhere far, far away. He wouldn’t have spent eight years in prison and pushed me away when he’d had enough. He wouldn’t have made parole and not reached out to me.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, pulling me away from the show I wasn’t even watching. Taking it out, I saw a text from Nate.
Nate: Stars are bright tonight.
The stars were bright. A little cryptic, but okay.
Harper: Aren’t they always?
Why was he texting me about the stars?
Nate: Can see the Milky Way.
And then I knew. I grabbed a blanket from the back of the sofa and told Julie I was heading outside. She waved me off, too engrossed in the drama unfolding on the television.
Johnny was cleaning the kitchen in the diner when I darted out the back door and through the field behind the roadhouse to the water tower.
“Hi, friend,” Nate said from the shadows, causing me to jump. I spun on my heels and wrapped my arms around his neck.
“Hi,” I said, leaning in to kiss him. “What are you doing here?”
“I needed a friend.”
He looked tired and drawn, but that couldn’t be. He slept last night and most of the day. But something was off.
I pulled him to the ladder of the tower and climbed up silently with him following.
“Talk to me,” I said, settling back against the tank and taking Nate’s hand.
“My parents want to foster Audrey.”
I surely heard that wrong. Where did that come from?
“Audrey? As in, Audrey?”
“Yep.”
“How are you with that?”
“I don’t really know.” He sighed and brought our joined hands up to his mouth, pressing kisses on each of my knuckles. “I love that they care and they want to help her. And they can. She’s got a long recovery, and they’ll get her the best doctors and the best treatment they possibly can. I hated the thought of her being alone, orphaned with nowhere to live and no one to love her.”
I squeezed his hand gently and rested my head on his shoulder.
“But I don’t know if I can walk into their house once a week, if not more, and see her there. I can barely get through a five-minute hospital visit with her, and she’s not even awake. The guilt would eat me alive. Does that make me a bad person?”
“Of course not. That doesn’t make you a bad person. It makes you human.” I climbed onto my knees and straddled his legs. Grabbing his face in my hands, I held him there until he looked at me. “It makes you a human who is feeling incredibly guilty about a tragedy that was completely out of his control. And that’s okay.”
“You think?”
“Yes. You’ll finish your therapy sessions, working through your fear and guilt, and soon enough, everything will go back to normal. And you’ll walk into your parents’ house, and you’ll see Audrey, and you’ll smile and sit with her, and you’ll be her protective older brother, giving her hell and chasing away all the boys who look in her direction.”
Nate took a deep breath and smiled, and then frowned. “She better not have boys knocking on the front door.”
I laughed. “See, overprotective already.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“I always am, friend.”
“But what if she doesn’t want to live with my parents? They are so set on the idea of bringing her home, I don’t think they’ve considered the fact she might not want to live with them. Or if she does, she’ll be eighteen soon enough and might want to leave then.”
“As for your parents, that’s something they need to think about. She’s fragile now and needs a lot of care, but she’s almost an adult who will certainly want to assert her independence. But speaking from experience, had your parents been around when I was in foster care, I would have jumped at the chance to live with them. The places I lived, the families who took me in were awful. They need to spend time with her. Get to know her. And let her make the decision.” I knew without a doubt that living with Nate’s parents would be Audrey’s best option if she truly had no relatives to care for her.
“You’re pretty smart, you know.” He smiled.
“I have my moments.”
“So, can we just make out for, like, five or six hours?” he asked, slipping his hands into the waistband of my shorts.
“Thought you’d never ask.”
***
I was a nervous wreck. My hands were shaking, and I had this uncontrollable twitch in my eye that made it constantly look like I was winking. I wasn’t.
Aunt Julie had cleaned the same table six times now. At least she was trying to be discreet, unlike Uncle Johnny, who was leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest and a meat cleaver dangling from his fingers.
Nate had a death grip on my hand under the table while rubbing reassuring circles on my thigh with the other.
“I’ve missed you,” Jeremy said, lifting his mug of coffee to his lips. His eyes crinkled at the corners as he winced when the scalding liquid ran down his throat. His cropped hair was a stark contrast to the shaggy black hair he had when we were growing up.
I searched his face, taking in every detail, every frown line. Every scar—there were a lot, and not just on his face. His arms were littered with various white scars, only to be disguised by the multitude of tattoos covering practically every square inch of his skin that was on display.
“I’ve missed you too,” I admitted.
“And who’s this?” Jeremy dragged his caramel eyes over to Nate, inspecting him carefully.
“This is Nate.”
“Your boyfriend?”
I shot a panicked look at Nate. I didn’t know what to say. We hadn’t classified our relationship yet.
“Just friends,” Nate said with ease.
Discomfort settled in my stomach, and a chill washed over my body. Just friends.
Just friends.
We weren’t just friends.
Just friends didn’t share a bed every single night.
Just friends didn’t sneak around behind everyone’s back, stealing kisses and touches when no one was paying attention.
Just friends didn’t have sex together.
Not against the front door.
Or on the stairs at the diner.
Or in the other friend’s parents’ swimming pool while the parents sat inside, barely twenty feet away.
Just friends didn’t make love in the back seat of the car on a deserted road by the beach.
Or quietly in the shower when the roommate was in the next room.
And they sure as hell didn’t make love on a water tower under the stars.
Twice.
Just friends weren’t so stupidly,
blindly attracted to each other that when they were together all common sense was lost.
Just friends didn’t throw caution to the wind and say screw the consequences.
Just friends.
My ass.
We were so much more than just friends.
I shifted in my seat, putting some space between Nate and me. If we were just friends, we shouldn’t be sitting so close. He shot me a look that basically said “what are you doing?”
“Yeah. Friends.” Nate noticed the tone of my voice had hardened. His mouth turned down in a frown.
“Are you happy?” Jeremy asked.
I had been happy. Until two minutes ago.
“Yes.” I smiled, tried to make it look believable. “How are you adjusting?”
I was concerned for my brother. Being free after eight years in prison for an accident that could have been avoided was a huge adjustment. I had so many questions I wanted to ask him, but I couldn’t sort through my thoughts.
“Okay. Just looking for work.”
“Where are you living?”
“Moving from place to place. Wherever the work takes me, I guess.”
“Why did you send me away that day?” I didn’t mean to blurt out the question like that, but it was the one thing I needed to know, to understand more than anything.
“That was the hardest thing I had ever done in my life. But I was scared. I was scared you were going to follow us down the dead-end path. You were young, bright, had your entire future ahead of you but stayed around for me. I didn’t want to hold you back. I didn’t want to cause you pain. I wanted you to have this life. The one where you’re happy and doing something you’re passionate about. I didn’t want to burden you with my woes.”
“But don’t you see? You did. You did burden me with your woes. You did cause me pain. So much pain. All I wanted was my brother. I didn’t care the only way I could have you was from behind a glass wall. I didn’t care that I couldn’t touch you or hug you. I just wanted to be there for you. And you stopped seeing me.”
