Jasmine spent the drive chatting about the plans for Kristian’s wedding. “You’ll love Veronica, Sloane. She was born to be one of us, a great fit for the Cartwright family.”
“A great fit. Sounds like something out of Pride and Prejudice,” I commented as Abbot turned in his seat to address me directly.
“Right? But, don’t call her Veronica. Call her Ronnie. She hates Veronica, but Jazz insists on calling everyone by their full name.”
I lifted my eyebrows. “Is that why you call her Jazz? To piss her off in return.”
Jasmine chuckled, low and hollow. “You caught that, huh? I always liked her, Abbot, she catches on quick.”
Abbot smiled and shook his head as he turned straight in his seat. “Don’t get any ideas, Mother.”
Jasmine shrugged, and Abbot looked out the window while I was left to make my own conclusions. It wasn’t hard: Jasmine said she liked me and Abbot didn’t want Jasmine thinking she could set us up. Boom. In the uncomfortable silence in the car, I took a breath and mentally threw my attraction towards Abbot out the car window. I already knew it wasn’t reciprocated, and I didn’t have room for hope and disappointment in my life anymore. I was simply too damn exhausted with life to deal with it.
“How was the drive down here?” Jasmine asked after a while, glancing at me through the rear-view mirror while I replayed Abbot’s and my earlier conversation. We could be buds...
“It was fine,” I said on a breath. “We just caught up a little, talked about summers at your place and whatnot. Abbot doesn’t seem to remember a lot about it. I think his standout moment was when I broke Toby’s tooth.”
“Oh.” Jasmine winced. “I remember that day. He’s got a great set of teeth now, and you’d never know his front tooth broke away.”
“Not my finest moment,” I admitted. “But it’s nice to be remembered for something, I guess. Better than not being remembered at all.”
“I remember other stuff too,” Abbot interjected, running his fingers through his hair again as he looked out the window. It seemed to be his go-to motion, for comfort or agitation, I wasn’t sure yet. “I remember we all tried to teach her to surf, but it was the one thing she couldn’t master. I remember climbing over the rocks near the beach, and parasailing on windy days. I remember swimming and tennis and playing hide and seek around the property. Sloane hid in a tree once and dropped right in front of Kris and me. Scared Kris so much he nearly peed.” He was smiling, but then he looked at Jasmine directly and the curve left his mouth. “And I remember you and Trev having a massive blue. I remember wondering why she didn’t come back, and never seeing her again until today.” It was safe to say Abbot surprised us both with his excellent recall of events, especially based on the way Jasmine’s eyes widened.
“I just remember getting up to mischief and having a lot of fun,” I put in, trying to smooth over the last comment about Pop and Jasmine fighting. It was the year before I turned eighteen so when the next summer holidays rolled around, I was finished school and old enough to start working full time. Pop hadn’t given me the option to return to Torquay, and I was happy to put the whole embarrassing situation behind me, convincing myself it had been time to move on. Now, I felt bad for not trying to stay in touch.
“I think we all had fun back then,” Jasmine mused. “Simpler times and all.”
“Yeah, back when we were all barefoot and had to walk two miles in the snow to get to school,” Abbot said, breaking any tension that was left in the car with the randomness of his comment. I laughed and thought about Pop. That was the kind of thing he’d say, and only served to feed my guilt for coming here. He’d gone to so much trouble to keep me away, keep me on the right side of the law. Money and curiosity brought me back, but was my being here making him turn in his grave, or was this the plan all along? I didn’t have much time to ponder my current direction in life before we pulled up to an understated blue house that was positioned directly on the beach.
“Are you serious? This is the beach shack? I imagined a literal shack. Like a bamboo shed, or something.” I laughed and got out of the car, breathing in the salt heavy air. It cleansed my lungs and tasted a little bit like freedom. “You know, I would sell everything I owned to live in a place like this.” Tipping my head up to the sky, I let the sun warm my skin even though the wind had a cold bite to it.
When I opened my eyes, Abbot was smiling at me.
“What?” I laughed and pushed him playfully on the arm. “You’re looking at me like I’m weird.”
“You are,” he said, laughing with me—or most likely at me. “Trev would have left you a mint. You could live anywhere you want, drive anything you want. But you’re holed up in the middle of nowhere, driving a car that still uses a key to start it.”
“Don’t let Lizzie hear you talk like that.” I met his eyes and pressed my lips into a serene smile, trying to keep my thoughts to myself. A mint. There was no such mint. Pop’s accounts were practically empty. I had a feeling much of his life savings had gone to my mother, or spent long ago, bailing her out from her various messes. It had been rare for her to show up, but when she did, she was always in crisis. A gypsy at heart, Pop would always say. She couldn’t sit still for long.
“What are we all doing out here?” Jasmine asked, walking over to a group of three men and two women. There wasn’t an identical-looking person who could be Kristian, so I assumed they were Toby, Nate and Sam. It was strange looking at them. They were familiar to my eyes, but I couldn’t tell exactly who was who. Twenty-one years was a lifetime. Faces and bodies had changed, and the teenagers we’d been were memories now, mere tickles in the back of my mind.
“No mistaking you lot for family,” I said to Abbot as we headed towards the group. He made an amused sound then placed his hand in the centre of my back and nudged me forward.
“Let’s see if they remember you as well as I do.”
I was a step ahead of him and turned back to scoff when I caught his eyes a lot lower than my face.
“Did you just push me ahead so you could check out my arse?”
He grinned but didn’t deny it. I rolled my eyes and tried not to smile too much. “Tobes, I’ll give you a hundred bucks if you can tell me who this is,” he called out instead.
Being closer to the men, I began to reconcile my memories with the faces and bodies they now possessed. Toby. I had to admit that he was the last brother I wanted to see again. He was the oldest of us all and the shortest out of the brothers. Although, short was a terrible descriptor for him. Toby was six-two as opposed to the tallest brother who seemed to be closer to six-four.
“Sloane?” Toby’s voice was laced with disbelief. I smiled, the memory of the last time I saw him flooding my brain. I hoped he’d forgotten, or at least forgiven. My actions that day had been out of character and out of line. I’d regretted them ever since.
“Know many other redheads who can rock a set of coveralls like me?” I asked, stopping before him.
He laughed and pulled me into a hug that turned my nerves into happy butterflies. Maybe he doesn’t hate me. “Holy shit, how long has it been?” he asked, stepping back to look at me.
“Almost twenty-one years,” I said. “We got old.”
He grinned. “You look exactly the same to me,” he said, his eyes shining happily. It amazed me how you could spend years hoping you never had to come face to face with someone again, then when it happened, it was nowhere near as awkward as you imagined. Toby had always been the calm and responsible one—except for the rare moments he’d allowed himself to be led astray. I should have known he’d treat me the same way.
When he released me, he turned his attention to Nate. “You remember Sloane, don’t you?”
“Sure do.” Nate leaned down and wrapped me in a bear hug, spinning me in a circle before setting me back down. “What the hell happened to you, red? You left us a man down for footy.” Nate and I were the closest in age. I was about ten months older than him. I rememb
ered skateboarding with him and Sam…and grazed knees. I had also taught him how to pick a lock, and always felt partly responsible for his time in juvie. Maybe if I hadn’t taught him, he wouldn’t have been so bold?
“Life happened,” I replied with a shrug, beaming because this welcome was more than I expected; kind of like finding something you thought you’d lost. There were a lot of emotions spiralling through my chest. “But I missed you guys. It’s been too long.” Nate nodded and I turned to find the third brother standing and smiling down at me. “Sam.” I grinned and rose up on my toes to hug him hello. He was so tall and broad. A huge leap from the scrawny teen I’d seen last time.
“You’ve barely changed,” Sam said, hugging me back.
“You’ve changed completely,” I replied. “You were a beanpole the last time we met. Now look at you.”
He laughed and stepped back, slipping his arm around a slender brunette with big eyes and a cute smile. “This is my wife, Alesha. Peaches, this is Sloane. We all kind of grew up together.”
“Until I turned eighteen and decided I was too cool for this lot,” I said, glancing at Toby as I shook Alesha’s hand. His expression gave me nothing.
“Everyone calls me, Leesh,” Alesha said, smiling kindly.
“Except Jasmine who calls you by your full name and Sam who calls you Peaches, right?”
She laughed, but in an uneasy way. “Yes. You already know about us?” Her eyes narrowed slightly, suspiciously. Oh dear. I’ve put my foot in it without meaning to.
“Oh no,” I corrected quickly. “I literally just learned that by listening.” I pointed at Sam then pressed my lips closed because I was making it worse and probably sounded condescending. “Anyway.” I shook my head and made a ‘gah’ noise, poking out my tongue out to try and diffuse the situation with a little crazy. Then I turned towards a blonde woman with a curvy figure and held out my hand. “I’m Sloane, you must be Nate’s wife?” I asked, meeting her honey-coloured eyes.
“I’m Holland,” she said as she slid her hand in mine. “Nate calls me Duchess, Jasmine calls me Holland, and some people call me Holl.”
I grinned. She got where I was coming from. “Which do you prefer?”
“Oh any.” She waved her hand in the air. “You could even call me ‘hey you’ and I’d answer.”
“OK, hey you.”
She rolled her eyes and laughed at my lame joke, so I decided I liked her best.
“Where’s Kris?” Abbot asked, looking back to the house.
“Inside.” Toby jerked his head towards the front door.
“They need a moment,” Alesha said with a knowing look in her eye.
“For what?” Jasmine asked. “There are things to discuss and we’re all out here twiddling our thumbs.”
“They just need a minute,” Holland said quickly when Jasmine went to walk into the house anyway. Jasmine paused and turned on her, giving her the look she was famous for whenever one of us crossed the line as kids. I literally felt transported back to the nineties when we’d lost track of time and shown up an hour late for dinner.
“They can have a minute when we’re finished,” Jasmine said, holding Holland’s unwavering gaze. She’s tough too.
“Jazz,” Nate warned, and Jasmine flicked her gaze to her son then paused before she smiled and relaxed.
“One more minute then,” she said with a shrug. Anything for her boys. She was always like that. Being around them all again was totally weirding me out.
It was at that moment the front door burst open and Kristian emerged with a massive grin on his face, pulling a tiny blonde woman behind him. She was Veronica, I assumed.
Stopping, he looked at us all for a moment then threw his head back to the sky. “We’re going to have a baby,” he yelled with wild abandon. Then he picked up the laughing girl and spun her around in a moment of pure joy.
I smiled and held my hands together upon witnessing the happy scene, stepping back while the rest of the family cheered and embraced the couple. I’m not supposed to be a part of this moment.
It was strange how bearing witness to another person’s intimate joy could make you feel incredibly alone. But that’s what their happiness did. It reminded me of everything I’d never have, everything I’d waited and hoped for but never received. I had to look away and take a deep a breath. They’d greeted me with happiness and made me feel like a long-lost family member. But the fact remained, I wasn’t one of the boys, and I didn’t have much family of my own to speak of. Years had changed us all, separated our lives, and more than ever I was reminded that I existed on the outside, alone. I was, and always will be just Sloane.
I’d never felt more out of place in my life.
Chapter Five
Drop Bears
“This calls for a celebration,” Jasmine said, clapping her hands together. “Book a table somewhere, I’m taking you all to dinner. Two new Cartwrights on the way.” Her eyes glittered with excitement.
I hung back further from the family, leaning against her car while they all chatted excitedly. Apparently Holland was pregnant too, and Sam and Alesha were booked in for IVF. There was about to be a baby explosion within the Cartwright family. I could see why Abbot was feeling on the outer, as I was overwhelmed just listening to them.
“I honestly thought we’d never see you again,” Toby said as he joined me against the car. Out of all the Cartwright men, he seemed the most put together: dress pants, button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, styled hair. He smelled nice too. Like he belonged in the city and not here. I remembered conversations near a bonfire, and dreams of being anywhere but here. I wondered if he still felt that way or if it was just the pressures of a teenage boy forced to grow up too soon that made him want to run.
“Well, I honestly never thought you gangly guys would all grow up to become so ridiculously good-looking. But here we are. You all look like you belong on the front cover of Men’s Health, and I’m the gangly one back in Torquay.”
“For how long?” he asked with a smile, his big arms folding across his middle. Was this the part where he reminded me I didn’t belong here?
I squinted a little in the sun as I looked at him, those nerves coming back. “Just until I get this safe open. I reckon I’ll be heading back later tonight if all goes well. I’d actually like to get started if you don’t mind. As lovely as this all is, I have a long drive back home when I’m done.”
Toby chuckled and wiped a hand across his clean-shaven jaw.
“What’s so funny?”
“Just you. You’re exactly the same.”
“I’m really not.”
“Whatever you say.” The corners of his mouth kicked up. “Did Abbot tell you much about the safe?”
“Beyond the lack of a combination—which I assume means you guys stole it—no, he didn’t tell me anything.”
“OK. Well, it’s old.”
“Old can be easy.”
“Moseler old.”
“Four combo?”
He nodded.
“That’s OK. I can handle that.”
“No doubt. But the problem isn’t the dial. It’s what’s around the dial.”
I furrowed my brow. “What’s around the dial, Toby?”
Pressing his lips together, he met my eyes for a moment before he answered. “It has an anti-theft device embedded in it.”
“Bullshit,” I gasped, my eyes going wide as I got a little excited. Back in the twenties, safe owners deterred thieves from forcing their way into safes by installing these anti-theft devices that contained a glass vial filled with Chloropicrin, more commonly known as tear gas. If the would-be thief tried to crowbar or beat their way through the safe door, the vial would crack and they’d get a very nasty surprise. The devices were completely illegal these days, but there were rare occasions when an old safe was still fitted with one. It was a safecrackers worst nightmare and wet dream all rolled into one.
Toby nodded. “That’s why we sent for Trev. We ne
ed him to finesse the door open without disturbing the tear gas.”
“Pop is dead, Toby. Bone cancer. Took him a few months ago, I was sure Jasmine knew but…” I shrugged. “I’ll finesse the safe open.” That was a lie. I had no clue how to finesse a safe open like Pop did. He could open a safe by ‘feeling’ the subtle changes in the weight of the wheels through the dial. In minutes, he could line the gates up with the drop hammer and be inside. Growing up, I’d begged and begged but he never taught me. When I opened safes, I did it invasively. With a drill. And that wouldn’t work in this instance. Shit.
Toby’s eyes dropped to look at his hands. “I’m really sorry, Sloane. I didn’t know.”
I shrugged. “It’s possible I didn’t tell you.”
“Why didn’t you?” Lifting his gaze, he met my eyes.
“I sent notices to so many people. I thought you were included, I even thought Jasmine had sent flowers, but I don’t know… There was a lot going on at the time.”
He reached across and took my hand in his, giving it a squeeze before letting me go. “I understand. And I’m sorry for your loss.”
I lifted my eyes to meet his, wishing I’d never messed up our friendship. “Thank you, Toby.”
“Hey, let’s go,” Abbot called out, cutting into our conversation as he made his way over. “You’re coming to dinner with us, and Leesh is gonna lend you some clothes.”
“It’s fine.” I shook my head. “I’ll just go home and come back tomorrow.”
Abbot laughed and looked at Toby. “She’s hilarious.”
Toby raised his eyebrows and stood. “I’ll leave you to it. See you at dinner, Sloane.”
“What? No. I’m not going to dinner.”
Abbot grinned and slid his arm around my neck, pulling me so I had no choice but to walk alongside him. “Yes, you are. Jasmine insists.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but saw little point. The decision had been made for me, and honestly, being taken to dinner sounded like it could be OK. As out of place as I felt, I wouldn’t mind spending a little more time with this family from my past. It was fun reminiscing good times, and maybe I’d gain a little catharsis over the not-so-good times. As someone far wiser than I’d ever be once said, ‘time heals all wounds’. And we were adults now. Teenage angst and drama didn’t need to matter anymore.
Fool’s Errand: Cartwright Brothers, Book 4 Page 3
