Room For You (Cranberry Inn)

by Beth Ehemann

  “I need to talk to you, but I want us to be alone. Too many people here,” she purred.

  “Come on, Murphy,” Viper called as they headed out of the kitchen.

  “I’ll catch you later, okay?” I pulled away as Kendall pouted.

  “Thanks, bro.” I patted his back as I caught up to the rest of them.

  “Dude, she almost had you. The claws were out, she just hadn’t implanted them yet,” he joked.

  We migrated downstairs to Andy’s theater room and claimed our couches for the evening while Andy put the Twins/Cubs game on the big screen and passed cigars out to everyone. Before I got too comfortable, I wanted a drink. A strong one.

  “I’ll be right back, anyone want anything?”

  Viper and Big Mike didn’t turn around, they just held their beers up. Andy shook his head.

  I walked across the basement to the bar and grabbed a glass out of the cabinet before heading into their enormous wine room with the blast chiller inside. If I was gonna drink tonight, might as well go big, right? I grabbed the tequila out of the fridge and turned to leave, freezing when I heard Kendall’s voice in the hall. I backed up against the wine rack, not wanting to be seen.

  “You didn’t tell me Brody was gonna be here,” she whispered.

  “I had no idea, I didn’t even know Andrew was having people over,” Blaire defended herself. “We were supposed to be on a plane right now, remember?”

  “He looks sad.”

  “Yeah, Andrew said he’s been sulking for a couple weeks.”

  “About that girl?”

  I caught Blaire’s reflection in the glass. She was leaned up against the wall, her arms folded over her chest.

  Shit, they aren’t moving. I’m trapped.

  “Kacie.”

  Hearing Kacie’s name come out of Blaire’s mouth annoyed me, but I didn’t want to go out there and get stuck talking to Kendall again.

  “He liked her that much?” Kendall asked.

  “Who the fuck cares?” Blaire laughed.

  “Shhh.”

  “Oh, they can’t hear us, they’re in the theater room with the door shut. Really though, I could care less who the fuck he likes or how much. That boy needs to be concentrating on hockey and nothing else. I know that makes me a bitch, but so be it. The minute Andrew told me how crazy he was getting about her, I had to do something.” She laughed softly. “She was already so insecure, it wasn’t even hard to chase her off. I knew the minute I said summer fling, that was it, the seed was planted. Fucking priceless.”

  I couldn’t fucking believe what I was hearing. When did Blaire talk to her again? Oh my God … the charity dinner. That’s why Kacie has been so weird with me ever since. Fuck, how could I have been so stupid not to figure this out sooner?

  My blood was boiling, but I didn’t move an inch, I had to hear what else was said in that bathroom.

  “You were behind her, did you see her face when I walked in?” Kendall giggled. “Classic.”

  Holy shit, Kendall was in that bathroom too?

  “No, but I wish I could have, I bet she almost shit her pants.” Blaire could hardly talk because she was laughing so hard. “Tough shit. Little Mommy can go find a meal ticket somewhere else. Maybe she’ll scoop up a nice baseball boy this time.”

  “Maybe I’ll snag him while he’s on the rebound,” Kendall snickered.

  “Yuck. I don’t know why the hell you want him, Kendall, seriously. You can do so much better.” Blaire sounded annoyed. “You two did your disgusting thing, he wasn’t exactly beating down your door. Move on. Besides, didn’t you just hear me? He needs to worry about blocking goals, nothing else.”

  I’d heard enough.

  I stomped out of the wine cellar, and both of their mouths hit the floor when they saw me.

  I glared at Blaire, my chest heaving in anger. “You chased her away! It wasn’t me, it was you, you fucking cunt!”

  Blaire didn’t argue; she stood there, shell-shocked. She knew she was busted.

  “Brody…”

  “Shut it, Kendall…” I snapped at her. “I expected this behavior out of Blaire, but you too?”

  She said nothing, just looked at the ground while I turned my attention back to Blaire.

  “What the fuck is your problem? You feel so goddamn wretched living in your own skin that you have to make others feel like shit so that you feel better?” My blood boiled as I stood over her, not caring how loud I yelled anymore. “She did nothing to you Blaire, nothing! You use everyone. People are things to you, and if they can’t do something for you, you shit on them. Congratulations on being a terrible fucking human being.”

  Blaire’s lip quivered as Andy and the other guys came to see what the yelling was about.

  “What’s going on?” Andy asked nervously.

  “Andy, I love you like a brother, but you’re fired,” I said to him as calmly as possible before I turned to Blaire one more time. “I warned you, you bitch. You fuck with me, I’ll fuck you ten times harder. I just hit you where it really matters to you ... your bank account.”

  A few weeks ago, before Brody’s and my … falling out, he asked me about going to a second charity dinner. I said yes. That dinner was last night and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I was silently staring at my phone all day yesterday, hoping that Brody was going to call and tell me he was on his way to come and get me. Unfortunately, my phone was silent all day.

  Today, I didn’t want to get out of bed. I wanted to lie there and sulk and feel bad for myself even though I knew I’d caused my own pain. Every single day over the last three weeks I had at least one moment, or twenty, where I wanted to pick up the phone and tell him I was stupid and I was sorry and to please forgive me, but I never did. Pride is an evil bitch.

  My phone rang on my nightstand.

  “Hey, how are you today?” Alexa asked after I answered it.

  “I’m fine. Feeling sorry for myself, but fine.” I yawned.

  “Did you sleep at all last night?”

  “Yeah, that’s all I did, actually. I went to bed early so I couldn’t think about it.”

  “Have you been up today yet?” she asked slowly, cautiously.

  “No, I’m still in bed. Why?”

  “Just curious.”

  “Liar. What?”

  “Nothing, really. Call me after you’re up and moving.”

  “Alexa Renee … I listened to you lie to your parents daily growing up. Don’t pull that ‘nothing’ shit with me.”

  She was quiet for a minute before she let out a heavy sigh. “He went.”

  “He went where?”

  “To the dinner.”

  I laughed. “I knew he would, Alexa, it was for one of the charities he sponsors.”

  “He … didn’t go alone.”

  “Oh.”

  A bomb went off inside my stomach, the tremors reaching all the way out to my fingertips. The thought of him taking another woman to the dinner I was supposed to go to, walking the red carpet with her, holding her hand … made me ill. I got off the phone with Alexa and grabbed my laptop, trying to talk myself out of looking the whole time I typed ‘BRODY MURPHY’ into the search bar.

  The most recent link was from late last night. Because I’m a glutton for punishment, I clicked on it.

  My heart sank.

  Brody looked delicious all the time whether he was in workout clothes, blue striped pajama pants, or in a black tuxedo like in this picture. His hair was shorter, making his smile look bigger, more defined. He grinned at the cameras and I could tell from this picture that he was “on.” He was in superstar mode.

  A gorgeous redhead was beside him, beaming like she’d just won the lottery. She was with Brody, so I suppose she had. She wore a long, hunter green dress and had boobs to die for. Her lips were painted fire engine red to match her nails. His fingers were intertwined with hers and they both flirted with the cameras like a couple of models. She certainly rocked that red carpet way better than I d
id. She was beautiful, and I hated her.

  I didn’t want to see any more of them together, but what did I do? I clicked on the next picture, and that’s when my heart stopped beating.

  Her head was thrown back slightly, laughing at whatever Brody was whispering in her ear. His arm was around her waist, pulling her in close. They definitely knew each other, they were comfortable together. Very comfortable. I couldn’t take anymore, I shut the laptop and stomped out of my room.

  “Good Morning.” Mom smiled as I entered the kitchen.

  “Hi.”

  She stared at me, her eyes wide. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. Are we out of oatmeal?”

  “I think so, I’ll get some on my next trip into town.”

  I slammed the cabinet loudly, not saying a word.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Where are the girls?”

  “They went out back to play while Fred mows the yard.”

  The sentence wasn’t even out of her mouth yet when the girls came running into the house. “Mom, can we go swimming?”

  “Sure.” I sighed, “Let’s get dressed and put sunscreen on.”

  I really just wanted to crawl back in bed, but it wasn’t fair of me to deprive the girls of a good day because of my bad mood.

  We marched down to the lake, the girls complaining the whole way that they had to wear their floaties.

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t feel like swimming right now. I’m going to sit on the shore and read so you have to wear your floaties.”

  They looked disappointed, but I was the mom and got the final call on that one, though I suppose I could have said it nicer.

  As I parked my rear on an old tree that had fallen over years ago, the girls set out for the water, leaving me alone with my thoughts. My emotions were out of control today, going one hundred different directions. I was jealous, for obvious reasons. I was angry, mostly at myself for lying to Brody about how I felt. I was upset that I had been stupid enough to torture myself and look at those pictures even though I knew it was going to hurt me. A small part of me was angry at Brody for taking that girl to the event—he could have fought harder for me. When was someone going to fight for me? Why was it so easy for people to let me go?

  Bringing my book out here was completely pointless; I couldn’t take my eyes off of Lucy and Piper when they were in the water. Plus there were a group of idiots out on the water this morning, driving their WaveRunners around like lunatics. Twice now they had come in too close for my liking. On the third trip around the lake, I stood up and screamed at them at the top of my lungs.

  “Don’t come in this far again, you jerk, there are kids playing!”

  The guy looked back at me, waved and took off.

  “What was that about?” Mom asked, walking up behind me.

  “Those guys are driving around like they own the place!” I glared at her.

  “Okay, calm down.” She held her hands up defensively. “I agree with you yelling at them, but you’re yelling about everything this morning.”

  She walked over and sat down on the stump next to me.

  “Sorry,” I snapped, not very apologetically. “I’m just … in a mood.”

  “I can see that, care to talk about it?”

  “No.”

  “Would you rather talk to Brody about it?”

  “What?” I swung around to face her. “Why would you ask me that?”

  “He’s here.”

  “He’s here?”

  “Yep, just walked in. Want me to watch the girls for you while you talk to him?”

  I didn’t even verbalize an answer, I just grunted and stalked up the hill toward the house. I got to the back door and paused, taking a deep breath before I went in. He was sitting at the kitchen island with his chin resting on his hands, looking straight ahead, smiling … at her.

  She was here.

  The redhead.

  From last night.

  In my house.

  “Hey!” he said cheerfully when I walked in.

  “Hi,” I replied flatly, trying to get my blood pressure under control so I didn’t kill him with my own bare hands.

  She stood up and beamed at me as I walked into the kitchen, holding her hand out. “You must be Kacie. I’ve heard so much about you. Nice to meet you.”

  “Kacie, I’m glad you’re here. I really wanted you to meet Shae.”

  “Hi Shae.” I reached out and half-heartedly shook her hand.

  “I’m sorry to run off so fast, but Brody, I have to use the restroom bad. Where is it?”

  He pointed up the guest stairs. “Up there, third door on the right, across from our room.”

  A lump formed in my throat the size of Texas, as rage, not oxygen fueled my bloodstream. She scurried up the stairs, barely out of earshot before I turned and lost it on Brody.

  “Your room? You’re staying here? Both of you?” I spat with my fists clenched at my sides.

  “Yep.” He smiled at me, looking me up and down. “You look great.”

  Completely ignoring his compliment, I continued, “What the hell are you thinking?”

  “What?” He sounded clueless.

  “This. Her. Here.” I couldn’t even form a sentence anymore. The logical part of my brain was dead, filled instead with seething anger.

  “Shae is great, really sweet. I wanted you to meet her, I think you’ll get along.”

  I swear I heard my heart shatter like glass as sadness replaced the seething anger. “How could you bring her here? Why would I want to meet her? My replacement. Why are you throwing this in my face?”

  “I’m not throwing anything in your face. You made your decision. You said you didn’t love me,” he accused.

  Tears burned my eyes. Angry tears, hurt tears, devastated tears. No way were they ever spilling out though, I pinched my arm hard to distract myself from the emotional pain and make them go away.

  “Yes, I said it, but that…” I waved my hand toward the stairs she’s just run up. “That is just cruel. To bring her here, to make me stare at the two of you all weekend. Why? To torment me, teach me a lesson?”

  He stood up from the island and walked over in front of me, staring straight past my eyes and into my soul.

  “Do you love me?” he asked.

  “What? Why now? Why would you ask me that now?”

  The bathroom door opened upstairs and I startled, taking an automatic step away from Brody. Shae skipped down the stairs and looked out the back door, her bright red hair flowing down her back. “This property is beautiful. I’m gonna step out on the deck and look at the lake. You coming?” she asked, turning toward Brody.

  He grinned at her, driving the knife further into my heart in the process. “I’ll come out in a minute.”

  “Okay. It was nice to meet you, Kacie. I’m sure we’ll talk later.” She smiled sweetly at me as she opened the door. “Oh, and you were right, Brody, Mom and Dad would love this place. We need to bring them here.”

  My eyes were glued to where Shae was standing, my brain trying to process if I’d just heard her correctly.

  I whipped my head back to Brody who had backed up and was sitting on a stool, facing me with a shit-eating grin on his face.

  “Mom and Dad? As in, you two have the same mom and dad?” I asked, feeling like a complete idiot.

  “That would be correct. That’s my baby sister, Shae Murphy.”

  “Were you testing me?”

  “That would also be correct.” He could barely contain his happiness at my complete meltdown at the thought of him with another woman.

  “Why?”

  “I had to see your reaction. Someone who doesn’t love someone doesn’t get that mad when that someone is with someone else.”

  “Oh my God… I’m going to kill you. I feel so stupid, and your sister probably thinks I’m a total bitch.” I put my hands over my eyes, wanting to die of pure embarrassment.

  He tilted his head back and forth
and looked up at the ceiling, thinking about it. “Probably, but lucky for you, she grew up with me. She’s learned to forgive.”

  He reached out and grabbed my hips, pulling them close to him. I didn’t fight. I missed him, everything about him. His smell, his smile, his expressive eyes, the way he made my problems melt away with one hug. I’d never missed a person the way I’d missed Brody the last few weeks.

  “So, I’m gonna ask you again … do you love me?”

  Before I could answer yes, the back door flew open and Shae stood in the doorway, trembling and white as a ghost.

  “Call 911, a little girl in the lake just got hit by a guy on a WaveRunner!”

  Everything around me went into hyper speed. As soon as Shae came to the back door and yelled that one of the girls had gotten hit, before I could even take my phone out of my pocket, Kacie was out of my arms and sprinting toward the lake as fast as she could. I dialed 911 and rushed out of the house past Shae, who stood frozen in the doorway.

  “Was it one of Kacie’s daughters?” she called out in a panic.

  “Think so!” I yelled as I gave the operator Kacie’s address.

  When I got to the bottom of the hill, Piper’s little body was on the shore with a huge gash in her head. Just the sight of her lying there like that made me light-headed. Kacie was kneeling over her, trying to keep her awake. “Piper! Piper! Stay with me, baby. Talk to Mommy. Piper!” Her voice cracked as she slapped Piper’s face, trying to keep her awake.

  There was nothing she could do. Piper’s eyes closed as Kacie kept hitting her little cheek, trying to wake her up.

  “Does she have a pulse?” the operator asked me. I relayed the question to Kacie.

  “Yes,” Kacie responded.

  “Ok, keep her still, do not move her. The ambulance is on the way. I’ll stay on the phone with you until they get there,” the operator said.

  I’d never shook that bad in my life; I could barely hold on to the phone. “Here, hold this, listen to whatever she says,” I said to Shae as I gave her my cell phone.