Beneath the Truth

by Meghan March

  I shifted where I stood, wishing I’d never started down this familiar road of catalog all the reasons why Rhett Hennessy is still disturbingly gorgeous and out of my league—like the Quiz Bowl team at a kegger. And, of course, there was the ridiculously inappropriate venue for my thoughts—a funeral. I’m going to hell, and not just for hacking the Vatican after I read The Da Vinci Code the first time.

  Nothing had changed.

  I was still the awkward geeky girl I’d always been. No number of patents, successful IPOs, or dollars in the bank would ever make me normal. Rhett was still the stoic one who didn’t need to speak for you to know what he was thinking.

  The priest made the sign of the cross, signaling the end of the service, and the Hennessy boys stepped forward one at a time to shake his hand. Rock kept hold of his mother’s arm, and Rhett turned around to face my brother. He’d been best friends with Heath since they could walk, had gotten into trouble together for their first two decades, and hadn’t surprised a soul when they’d both gone to the police academy to follow in their fathers’ footsteps.

  The younger me would have inched closer to eavesdrop on what they said, but I was older now. More sophisticated. Okay, that was a lie, but at least I’d learned the art of subtlety.

  When my dad shuffled on his feet beside me, I turned to him. “You okay, Dad? Need to sit down?”

  Crippling arthritis that my father had never once mentioned—not in all the phone calls we’d had, nor during his trips out to California to see me—had hit him so hard, he could no longer hide the pain or physical changes.

  “I’m fine.” His response was gruff, probably because he was annoyed he couldn’t find his old uniform to wear to the funeral. Part of me was glad he didn’t find it—there wasn’t a single uniform in sight.

  “We’ll be going soon. We’re almost done here.”

  He harrumphed and looked away.

  Well, okay then. This day hadn’t been easy for any of us.

  My brother spoke to all the Hennessys, shaking their hands and kissing Rebecca’s cheek before stepping aside for another group.

  Rhett never once looked in my direction. Never saw me.

  Because he never does.

  I wanted to kick myself for that thought. We were at his father’s funeral, and this wasn’t about me. Nothing that had to do with Rhett Hennessy would ever be about me.

  As Heath returned to offer his arm to my father, I took a deep breath and gave myself a quick pep talk.

  You can do this. You will not stutter. You will not hiccup. You will be cool, collected, and the badass CEO you are.

  “I’ll be right back.” I turned and took a single step toward the family to offer my condolences as they broke away from the crowd and moved en masse down the cracked sidewalk to a limousine waiting beyond the gates of the cemetery.

  I squeezed my eyes shut and spun around again. Great. Now I’m a crap funeral attendee too. It was no surprise I couldn’t manage to get it right. Being awkward was my jam. Designer clothes and fancy shoes would never change that.

  “Let’s go,” my brother said, tearing my attention away from the Hennessys. “I want to drop Dad off at my place, and then I’m tracking down Rhett and getting him hammered. No one should have to face a night alone after this fucked-up day.”

  3

  Rhett

  “Mom, you sure you don’t need anything else from Aunt Linda’s before we go?” Rock asked.

  Part of me wanted to protest her decision to go back to Vail with him, but it was useless. She’d made up her mind.

  “No, we said our good-byes already. She’s keeping everything I don’t take.”

  Mom’s suitcase was already packed and on the limo floor in front of her. She didn’t have much left thanks to the explosion, so only one bag was required.

  Both Rome and I had offered Rock money to cover her expenses, but he wouldn’t take it. Said he could take care of her just fine. Considering I’d been sending extra funds to Mom every month since I left, I didn’t argue with Rock about that either. Rome told him to shut the hell up and spend the money that would show up in his account in a few days on her. Neither Rock nor I wanted to know where the cash was coming from. Rome’s mercenary lifestyle wasn’t a topic of discussion for today.

  “Why don’t you take the limo to the airport then?” I said to Rock. “Rome and I can jump out at the hotel.” We’d all stayed at Aunt Linda’s last night, on the floor in her living room like we had when we were kids sleeping over. One night was enough of that. I’d checked into a hotel before the service for a few minutes alone to pull myself together.

  Rome shook his head. “I’m going to the airport too. Got a flight out in a few hours.”

  My attention cut to my little brother. “You’re leaving already?” I didn’t know why I was surprised. The fact that he’d showed up at all was a shock.

  “You need me to stick around? You got plans?” Rome asked.

  Mom’s gaze locked on me. “He doesn’t have any plans, do you, Rhett? You’re going to let the police sort this out, right? It’s time for you to let go and move on.”

  I knew what she meant. I’d been living in limbo the last year, drowning my bitterness in whiskey. I told myself that was normal after you lost everything.

  “Mom—”

  Her expression hardened and she considered each of us. I didn’t know if it was a habit left over from childhood, but we each straightened as she did it.

  “This family has been through hell. First Robin, then . . . all of this.” She couldn’t even bring herself to say it, and I didn’t blame her. “We’re Hennessys. We’re strong, we’re resilient, and we won’t let this break us. My life is not ending with your father’s. I refuse to let it.”

  She stared directly at me. “Rhett, you’ve spent a year wasting your potential. Wasting your life. Turning in that badge wasn’t the end of the line. If you ask me, it was the best thing you’ve ever done, but instead of finding a new purpose, you’re shutting everyone out. Life is passing you by while you sit on the sidelines. You’re better than that. Figure out what you want and go after it. That’s what I’m going to do. No more of this wallowing nonsense.”

  Then she moved on to each of my brothers, giving them their own tough-love speech, but instead of listening to what she thought they were doing wrong, I replayed her words to me in my head.

  I was surprised she thought turning in my badge was the best thing I’d ever done. But then again, she’d buried a husband and a son because they’d been cops.

  Figure out what you want and go after it. That’s the part that stuck with me. But what the hell did I want?

  After she finished dispensing her wisdom, Mom’s eyes filled with tears as she extended both hands and we gripped them.

  “I love you boys. Please be safe. This family has borne too much loss. It’s time for happiness.” Her lips formed into a trembling smile despite her tears. “And maybe some grandbabies to spoil.”

  When she released our hands, Rock offered her another tissue to dab at the tears clinging to her lashes.

  None of us volunteered to go out and impregnate someone, but if I had to guess what Rock was thinking, I’d say he was running through a list of women in his head to decide if there was anyone suitable.

  An image of one woman flashed through my mind, and it wasn’t the dark-haired beauty I’d lost to Rix last year. I had already moved on from my hang-up with Valentina before my life went to shit. No, the woman who came to mind was a redhead with a quick smile and an even quicker brain.

  Ariel Sampson. The girl next door. My best friend’s little sister. A woman off-limits to me who I’d worked hard to forget since the last time she blew in from the West Coast and then left just as quickly.

  That red hair of hers had stood out like a flame against the slim-fitting black dress she’d worn to the funeral, bright enough to penetrate even the haze of my grief.

  She hadn’t approached me. Hadn’t approached any of us.
<
br />   And I probably wouldn’t see her again for another five years, if ever.

  “You getting out?”

  Rock’s question shook me from my thoughts, making me realize we were parked in front of my hotel.

  “Yeah. Sorry.” I shook each of my brothers’ hands before hugging my mom tight. “Take care, Mom. I love you.”

  She squeezed me in return, and I climbed out of the limo to watch them turn the corner and disappear. My family would never be the same again.

  The missed calls still registered in my phone’s memory would haunt me for the rest of my life. What was Dad going to tell me? Why the fuck didn’t I answer? Regret and shame consumed me in equal measure.

  I stood before the tall building, dreading the idea of going up to my room and staring at the TV for hours, hoping it would drown out my grief. No. Not tonight. Tonight, I was getting drunk.

  I headed inside, ready to get the hell out of my suit and into jeans so I could make my way to my old haunt where people would leave me to drink my whiskey in peace.

  4

  Ariel

  Heath took Dad back to his place since the windows were blown out of our childhood home from the force of the blast that destroyed the Hennessys’ house next door. The city had announced that all affected dwellings must be inspected and cleared before people could return, so it was going to be at least a week before Dad would be allowed to move back in.

  I would have offered a bedroom, but I wasn’t sure how long I was staying in town. After I saw how bad Dad’s arthritis had gotten, I decided a few days would be a good idea. It didn’t seem like he was taking care of himself the way he should, and his repeated questions about his uniform seemed like more than normal forgetfulness.

  Carver, my driver for the time I was in New Orleans, navigated the streets toward the house I’d rented on Lake Pontchartrain. My last-minute travel plans didn’t leave me with many options, but this place worked out well. Tonight, I planned to indulge in a glass or two of bourbon, a bubble bath, and sleep. What I wasn’t looking forward to was the call that was supposed to be coming from my on-again/off-again boyfriend, Carlos. We were overdue to be off again.

  My phone chimed in my purse and I pulled it out. Heath.

  “Everything okay?” I asked.

  “I tracked down Rhett and I’m heading to the bar. You should come. I know you missed him at the funeral.”

  My brother knew about my crush. In fact, he’d gone out of his way to make sure everyone knew about my crush. Even now, I wasn’t above putting him on the no-fly list out of spite for the angst he’d caused me as a self-conscious teenager.

  I opened my mouth to decline because saying “no” to social activities that required leaving my house was normally one of my favorite things, but something stopped me. One of my other special skills was avoiding reality when I didn’t want to deal with it, and finding the right words to tell Carlos that we were done fell firmly into that category.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Molly’s on Toulouse. You know the place, right? I know you’ve barely been home in the last decade, but you should remember a few things.” Bitterness crept into Heath’s tone.

  “Twice. I’ve been home twice in the last decade, and yes, I remember where Molly’s is.” Did I sound defensive? Maybe.

  “Good. Meet us there.” He ended the call without waiting for a response.

  Ugh. I hesitated for a full sixty seconds before asking Carver to change direction.

  The last time I went to Molly’s was when I was twenty-one and finally feeling like I’d come into my own. Four years in California not giving a shit about what anyone thought, along with developing and selling a few apps while I was in college, had improved my confidence measurably, not to mention my finances.

  It had only taken one night at Molly’s to grind all that newfound cool-kid attitude into dust, though, and of course it was all because of one guy. Rhett Hennessy. I swear, he could be linked to every good and bad memory I had in this town, which probably had something to do with why I only came back when it was absolutely necessary.

  To this day, I hadn’t forgotten what it felt like to walk into that bar with my newly legal ID and see my brother and Rhett in the middle of a group of girls vying for their attention, each one taller, skinnier, and prettier than me. I was going through my Cali no-fucks-given phase, so I was wearing ripped boyfriend jeans and a worn white T-shirt shredded on the sides with a black bra under it. For me, it was the height of daring, especially knowing who I would be seeing.

  Except Rhett hadn’t teased me like usual. Hadn’t asked me why I’d stolen his T-shirt (except I hadn’t . . . not this time). No, he’d ignored me. Pretended I didn’t exist.

  The only saving grace was that he’d been blind to the pack of girls too, or so I’d thought. When he left an hour after I arrived, and I might have kept track down to that last minute, one particularly gorgeous stacked blonde exited the bar through the same door two minutes later.

  The next morning at breakfast with my dad, I caught a glimpse of Heath’s texts with Rhett giving him shit about going home with someone.

  I still couldn’t help but wonder if the escape happened because he was taking pity on me, not wanting me to see him leave with someone else because he knew about my ridiculous crush. How pathetic, right?

  But tonight, I wasn’t worried about any of that. Not my crush, not the past. Tonight was about helping an old friend, even if I used the term loosely, escape from some heavy stuff. My heart clenched when I thought of how Rhett must be feeling. His father, the man he’d looked up to his whole life, had been accused of terrible things. And then to know his dad had been blown up? Possibly by his own hand?

  I cringed at the horrific reality.

  Honor was a cornerstone of Rhett’s character, and to think that his father had betrayed what he held most dear . . . how devastating.

  Carver navigated his way through traffic and pedestrians to get as close to the bar as possible. “Would you like me to park and find a discreet place to wait inside?”

  What he really meant was will extra security be necessary? But with Heath and Rhett both there, I wasn’t worried about my safety.

  “You don’t need to stay. Go find a place to grab dinner, and I’ll text when I’m ready. I’ll be a few hours.” Long enough to miss any potential call with Carlos.

  “Yes, ma’am. Enjoy your evening.”

  “Thank you, Carver.” I hopped out of the car and headed for the door to the bar.

  Molly’s was a bit of a dive. Even with its proximity to Bourbon Street, it had a distinctly different crowd from the tourist-jammed bars a hundred yards away. Locals filled the stools here.

  “Flounder! You made it!”

  The yell came from beyond the pool table, where my brother and Rhett had taken up position at a high-top with a bottle of whiskey between them.

  That mental groan? It was for my childhood nickname being shouted across the bar.

  Cue the question I’d gotten all too often during my life: are you named after the little mermaid? Why, yes. Yes, I was.

  My mother was diagnosed with cancer while she was pregnant with me, and lack of medical technology at the time meant she couldn’t be treated until after I was born. I lived, and she didn’t. I steeled myself for the full-body wave of emptiness that came every time I thought about the woman who gave up her life so I could have one. My eyes burned with familiar tears.

  How can I miss someone so badly when I never knew her? My logical mind railed at me every time, but there was no reasoning away the pain. My brother didn’t realize that every time he used that nickname, it reminded me of the story my dad had told me about my mom spending her whole pregnancy watching Disney movies and telling me all the things she wouldn’t be able to share with me as I grew up.

  How different would my life have been if I’d had a mom? Rhett might have just lost his dad today, but despite everything that happened, he had over thirty years of good memo
ries he could recall, regardless of whether the last one was shit. I didn’t even have that. I had nothing. The sense of loss dogged my every step as I blinked back tears and crossed the floor, avoiding meeting anyone’s eyes.

  “Shut up, Scuttle.” My brother laughed as I reached the table, the scent of whiskey wafting off him.

  Another couple of blinks and I finally looked up. Bam. Rhett’s brilliant green gaze slammed into mine.

  “And miss my chance to tease my little sister in person for a night? Not likely. You don’t give me enough opportunity, so I gotta get it in while I can.”

  It was another jab at how rarely I came home, but I ignored it.

  “How’s it going, Ari?” Rhett asked, his voice rumbled as deeply as I remembered.

  “I’m so sorry for your loss. I didn’t get to tell you that earlier. I meant to. Just missed you at the service,” I blurted, finally getting my chance to pay my respects.

  Rhett’s gaze dipped to his whiskey glass. “Not talking ’bout that tonight.” He tossed back all three fingers in a single gulp.

  I didn’t watch the movement of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed. Okay, that’s a lie.

  “Duly noted.” My words came out bright and chirpy, at least until I choked on the saliva in my mouth and coughed twice. I’m such a hot mess.

  Heath raised a hand to signal the waitress. “We need another glass over here.”

  “I’m more of a bourbon fan than whiskey these days,” I mumbled as I pretended to study the drawings carved into the table. Wait, is that an abnormally large penis and hairy ball sac? No longer pretending, I tilted my head to fully appreciate the detailed carving. Impressive.

  “Guess you’re gonna have to slum it with us anyway,” Rhett replied.

  My attention snapped to him as his gaze traveled up from my hips to my face.

  Is Rhett Hennessy checking me out? Surely not. I had to be wrong. Heat started in my belly and licked up my chest and face.