Connor nodded miserably. “When the transfer was complete, he told me to get out,” Connor looked like he was going to burst into tears. “I protested, told him we had a deal. That the contract was in front of us and just needed signed. He told me we had nothing. There was no contract, nothing. He thanked me for the gift.”
Jake said nothing, Colton looked absolutely furious. The other two were shaking their heads in disbelief.
How had he been so stupid?
“I left,” Connor continued, “on the way out, I met Aaron. I’d met him a few times since we moved here. I told him I needed to make money quick. He suggested I get a loan. Before I knew it, I was back in the room with the same guy and who’d just taken everything I had and I was agreeing to take a loan from him.”
Jake leaped to his feet. “Are you really that stupid? That insecure? I thought you knew better than this Connor. That I had taught you better than this.” I had never seen Jake Dawson be anything other than utterly emotionless. It was kind of more intimidating than the coldness he usually displayed.
Connor hung his head.
Jake turned to his other son. “And how did your involvement in this make this worse?” he demanded.
Colton looked at his dad. “He was in trouble. He got the loan, but he didn’t realise it meant interest payments. The rate was…” he trailed off. He shook his head and shrugged. “They weren’t manageable. I came back from Japan when they told me something was wrong,” he indicated to Matt and Theo, “I found out what he had done and we went to meet the brokers’ middleman. He took one look at us and a whole different payment plan was conceived.”
“Fighting?” Mary Ellen interjected.
“It draws a huge crowd, you can make fifty thousand easy in a good fight,” Colton replied a little defensively. Two hard stares cut off his attempt to reason.
“What?” Connor was confused. Jake was living fury. He leaned over his youngest son.
“Yes, you oblivious selfish little shit. Your brother and your friends have been competing in an illegal fighting circuit to pay back the interest on your loan. They could have been hurt, good God, they could have been killed.” Jake ran his hand through his hair.
“No! Colton – you said it was fixed!” Connor demanded loudly. Colton turned to his brother and my heart hurt at how incredibly exhausted he looked.
“This was the only way we could make it go away. Without telling dad, without going to the police.”
Connor slumped back into the sofa. “I didn’t know,” He murmured.
“And you’ve been socialising with these criminals?” Mary Ellen pressed on.
“We needed to keep on top of the situation mom, it was the only move,” Matt countered.
“The only move was to tell an adult,” she snapped. All three of them flinched. “And Arielle gets her drink spiked?” she continued. Again, Connor’s head came up in confusion.
“That wasn’t really anyone’s fault but my own,” I interrupted hurriedly.
“You wouldn’t have known these people if my children hadn’t dragged you into this,” Jake answered. “God Arielle, your father would be turning in his grave,” he shook his head in disbelief. “Well we can’t go to the police, then three of you would need to admit to committing a crime.” Jake exhaled loudly. He looked at Mary Ellen.
“We go pay the piper,” she confirmed, her demeanour was firm and her expression resolute.
He nodded in agreement.
“Dad…” Colton began. “I’m sorry. He threatened to expose who Connor was, what family he was from.”
Jake nodded. “I understand why you thought it was the only answer, but you both acted stupidly. All of you have acted stupidly. With the exception of Arielle.” His eyes flicked to me. “Thank you for telling Mary Ellen.”
I was mute.
“Your father will be here at eight,” Mary Ellen told Matt. “Jake will you need me too, or will David be enough?”
“We’ll be fine. I’ve dealt with these kinds of people before unfortunately. Never on behalf of my own children of course.” Both heads went lower down. I felt another pang of guilt.
“Theo, I expect you to call your parents, they need to hear this,” Jake commanded. He held his hand up before Theo could protest. “Don’t even try Theo, I spoke to them last night, they are waiting for your call.”
Theo stood and slipped out of the room silently to make the call.
Jake looked at us all. “Any chance of more coffee Arielle?” I nodded and leaped to my feet. “Arielle?” he called. I stopped and looked back. “Thank you, really, for being so brave.” I nodded again and left the room. I didn’t feel brave, I felt like a backstabbing snake.
I walked into the kitchen and met Mrs Green there already. “Morning.”
I moved over to the coffee pot to start making more. Mrs Green popped up beside me like a genie from the bottle.
“Can I help you dear?”
“I’m ok. Just making coffee for the guys and visitors.”
“Visitors?”
“Yeah um, Jake and Mary Ellen are here.” Then I didn’t know if she would know who they were. “Mr Dawson and…”
“I know who they are Arielle, they employ me,” she interrupted me kindly. She started bustling about and muttering.
“I’ll whip up a light breakfast for them, you go on dear, I’ll take care of this.” I watched as she sprung into action, like some domestic service interpretation of the Tasmanian Devil.
I stood there for about a minute or two, like a spare wheel in a cog. I realised that I really wasn’t needed and I was pretty sure she would only remain polite for so long before just asking me to leave her kitchen.
I retreated back to the sitting room. Only I didn’t want to go in. To see the betrayal in my friends’ eyes. I really was a coward, here I was considering disappearing up to the room they had given me. They had cared for me. Get a grip Elle, go in and face them.
I opened the door. No one had moved since I’d left and the air was heavy with the silence.
“Um, Mrs Green took over and um, sent me away,” I mumbled. Mary Ellen smiled at me and held out her hand to me, I took it and sat beside her. Jake merely nodded as he continued to type away on his phone. Matt, Connor and Colton hadn’t moved, or spoken it seemed.
Jake looked up from his phone and surveyed the room.
“Can I have a moment with my sons?”
It was almost like Mary Ellen had been waiting for it, she rose swiftly, taking me with her. “Matthew, come with us, since this silly heat continues, we’ll take coffee on the patio.” Matt rose but looked at Colton. A slight nod. Permission granted. Unfortunately, since I was watching for it, I then met Colton’s gaze.
I felt heat rush to my cheeks and I looked away guiltily. I hurried after Mary Ellen. We went through the kitchen where Mary Ellen informed Mrs Green we would breakfast on the patio. Even in the midst of everything that was going on, I couldn’t help but note how much I loved that sentence. It sounded so incredibly decadent, we’ll breakfast on the patio. I usually breakfasted standing up in my jammies in my kitchen.
Mrs Green nodded her acknowledgment but continued to bustle about as she prepared what seemed to be a mountain of food.
The three of us sat outside, Mary Ellen took off her suit jacket. She looked between the two of us. Matt was giving me the evil eye and I wasn’t meeting his glare.
“Matthew was two days shy of his fifth birthday when he met Colton and Connor,” she started. I looked at her and Matt muttered mom. “We were at the club, Matthew was playing by himself, his sisters had been teasing him and he had ended up playing in the shallow end of the pool. I was watching him, but Amy Louise was still in a bassinet, so he was alone,” she smiled in remembrance. “We heard this commotion and Colton and Theo came running around the corner and cannon balled into the pool, splashing Matthew. A woman was with them, she was tall, but you knew she was frail. Absolutely beautiful though, she was so delicate and really, absolutely
stunning.
“Matthew was upset about being splashed but he didn’t say a word. She sat beside me and watched the children playing in the pool. She called to one of them and this amazingly fierce little boy got out of the water. I watched him, a tiny little tornado, so ferociously intent. I remember even now; how vibrant those green eyes were. He went over to his mother and she reprimanded him for not being aware of his surroundings because he had splashed the little boy playing in the pool and that he had left his brother behind,” she laughed softly. “The little boy turned to Matthew and marched right up to him, he slipped into the pool, careful not to splash and went up to him. He stuck out his hand and said…” She paused. “What did he say again Matthew?”
Matt was also serene in his remembrance. “He said, “I’m Colton, I did not mean to splash you,” then he shook my hand.” He laughed at the memory.
“Colton went over to Theo who was still splashing in the water. He turned back to Matthew and asked why he was still in the shallow end,” Mary Ellen continued. “Matthew confessed he was not a good swimmer. Well, little mister fierce was right back to Matthew, along with the other boy, both of them took a hand and off they went to the deeper end together. That morning in the country club a friendship so deep and so full of trust was formed,” she shook her head. “About ten minutes later a tiny little wisp of a thing was carried around the corner by his father. Connor joined his brother in the water, but the three older boys all swam to the shallows to play with him and make sure he was ok. Just like that three became four.”
Mrs Green came out with breakfast trays, I murmured my thanks as she set a table and placed plates of sliced fruit, pastries, bacon, bagels and eggs. She placed the coffee in the middle of the table and Matt automatically placed it beside me.
His mom noticed and smiled. She made a plate of fruit and a bagel. I watched her, wondering why she was telling me the story of how the boys met. I had never known the origins of how they’d all become so close, but I knew they’d been friends from an early age.
“They were inseparable. Where one was, the other three were not far behind. When Emily became properly unwell, it was at the club that she told me. We were watching the boys playing. It was just Colton, Connor and Matthew, splashing about in the pool. Colton had been relentless in teaching Matthew more confidence in the water. She sat beside me. She was a quiet woman, adored her children and her husband. Everything about her was soft, gentle. Connor has more of his mother in him than he would like I think,” Mary Ellen mused. “Emily was drinking tea and she told me she had leukaemia and it was merely a matter of time. I offered my condolences and asked if there was anything I could do.” Her eyes were filled with sadness. “It’s what you do, you offer an insincere gesture. She turned to me, eyes fierce with the same resolution her oldest son had already at such a young age. He will need you when I’m gone. Jake will try his best, but Connor will need a mother and I need you to lie to me now and tell me that my boys will be loved like they were your own sons.”
I put my cup down, I was completely enthralled by her story. Matt was quiet also as he listened to his mother reminisce.
“I made the promise. I told her as long as they were in our lives, I would love them both,” Mary Ellen hadn’t eaten a bite of food even though she had been toying with her fruit. “I broke my promise.”
“How?” Matt asked. “You’ve been there for them as much as you have been there for your own children. You haven’t let them down. Colton knows how much you adore him.”
“But I played favourites and I’ve known for a long time now, Connor needs help. Proper professional help. His rage and insecurity are not manageable, and I have avoided it as much as his father has, as his brother has and as his friends have.”
“Then we are all to blame mom, not just you,” Matt clasped his mother’s hand in commiseration. My own head was spinning. Was I as guilty? I hadn’t really witnessed the spells of anger but then that’s because I had been so caught up in my world of books. Colton had told me about the cars the night I had broken up with Connor, the night my mother died. I mean that wasn’t rational behaviour when you thought about it.
Then I hadn’t been there. I hadn’t witnessed the aftermath because I had run away. I wanted to tell Mary Ellen there was nothing wrong with him, he was just a spoiled little boy acting out when he wasn’t the centre of attention. However, was he? He’d stolen five hundred thousand dollars from his trust fund to make the worst investment possible. I was no business major, but his deal had sounded like a complete run-around from the start, I was only grateful he hadn’t invested more.
“I shall address the issue with Jake once he and your father have sorted this business out,” she said quietly. “Lord knows that will not be pleasant.”
“You should eat some breakfast Mary Ellen,” I said softly, “It’s going to be a long day and you need to keep your energy up.” She squeezed my hand.
Just then, Matt’s father came through the patio doors. He shook his son’s hand in greeting, which was odd I always felt, but then what did I know about family normality? David bent to kiss his wife on the cheek. I got a smile in greeting.
“We’re leaving in twenty minutes dear, it shouldn’t take long,” Mary Ellen nodded. “I’m going in to discuss the details with Jake, I think you should join us.” She nodded again and stood.
“Whilst I am in the house, perhaps you two could sort out your differences?” Mary Ellen suggested as she walked away. I flushed in embarrassment and Matt grumbled.
“Behave, both of you,” she chided over her shoulder.
“I can’t believe you told,” Matt started. I nodded, I couldn’t either to be honest but what was done, was done. If their parents could fix it, wouldn’t it be worth it? Ok, their parents were disappointed in them, but they could work that out, together. Without incurring any physical damage or criminal charges.
“I didn’t mean to. It just all came out, I couldn’t stop it,” I admitted as I looked out over the pool area, still not brave enough to meet his steady look.
“It’s my fault.” I jumped in surprise, Colton was behind Matt. I glanced at him quickly, but he wasn’t looking at me. He too was lost in thought as he sat down in the seat Mary Ellen had vacated, his gaze was trained on the tabletop. Matt reached out and clasped his shoulder, he gave him a swift smile in return. I itched to do the same really, but I didn’t think the gesture would be appreciated.
“How is it your fault Cole? We all agreed to fight. No one made us. Well apart from the dick Aaron works for,” Matt muttered. The door opened and Theo walked out. He slung his long legs over a chair as he sat on it backwards. He dipped his head to rest on his hands and closed his eyes.
“Man, my dad just tore me a new one,” he grumbled. The other two huffed in agreement.
“Yeah my mom in lecture mode is not to be encouraged, I’m gonna avoid that for as long as I can,” Matt said as he looked over his shoulder to ensure the coast was clear. Two nods of sympathetic agreement.
“My dad wasn’t a picnic either. I think I just screwed my chances of getting unsupervised in the business from about five years from now to fifteen,” Colton admitted. Theo and Matt grimaced in commiseration.
I sat quietly. I didn’t want to remind them of my presence in case they remembered why their parents had just lectured them. No sir. I was fine blending into the decking.
The door opened again as Connor slipped out the patio door. Four pairs of eyes studied him as he walked hesitantly across the decking.
“Hi. Um…” he looked absolutely terrible. “Would it be ok if I sit?” Connor asked. His eyes darted everywhere flicking back to his brother but never resting. He looked like a loud word would send him fleeing.
Three men assessed him and judged him by the looks of it. Again, that stab of sympathy threatened but I held it back.
Three looks were exchanged and then Matt kicked out a chair in invitation. “Why you asking? You’ve never asked before,” he grumbled
.
I genuinely think Connor may have fainted with relief if that seat hadn’t been so close for him to sink into. He let out a huge breath and then his head was in hands.
“I’m so sorry, I’m so very sorry,” he took a deep breath and raised his head. He looked at the three of them individually, resting on his brother last. “I don’t know what I was thinking and for you to do that for me, I don’t deserve it. I will never deserve it. I’m so sorry,” his eyes filled, he ducked his head again to hide his tears.
I felt my inner ice thawing and had to remind myself to be stern. He didn’t deserve quick forgiveness just because he was teary eyed and remorseful. He needed to know he was a selfish prick.
The silence that followed was heavy. Colton sat like a statue just studying his brother’s bowed head. I couldn’t read his expression. Cold, detached Colton had come out to play. Matt watched Colton, as did Theo.
Colton moved his head slightly to the other two, again seeking their response. Two slight nods in his direction and he turned to me. He raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t mocking me, he was asking if I was ok with whatever he was about to do. The fact that he included me threw me. I had been pretty sure the days of Colton talking to me were over.
I nodded back as the others had done. I wasn’t as subtle about it as they had been. They had been all cool and minimalist. I was like a nodding dog in the back of a car.
Colton stood and reached down for his brother’s arm and lifted him from the chair. Connor’s eyes widened in alarm and I saw him tense expecting the worst. Instead Colton wrapped his arms round his brother and pulled him into a hug.
“You’re my brother. Our brother. We would do anything for you,” he muttered into his hair. Connor clung on like his life depended on it, I felt a lump form in the back of my throat and looked away. I didn’t want to intrude on the private moment. The ice melted, witnessing that one gesture and all I had left was a drippy puddle where ice used to be.
Indian Summer Page 28
