“You’ve been saying that all your life, haven’t you, Mom?” Bryce said. “Even when you knew what was going on.”
“I don’t want to talk about it. I’ve got pies in the oven. I told your father I’d bring him a pie next time we visited him in that place you put him.” She pressed her hand into the soft velvet of her chair to stand and leave.
Bryce stopped her from getting up with a simple hand over hers. The action caused her to look at him and he spoke softly, “You don’t have to run, Mom, I’m leaving. I love you, but I can’t watch you put that sick man in front of your children, in front of Kimberly.”
“He’s all I have,” his mother said.
“No, you had us,” Bryce answered quietly. “I’ll find Kim, but she won’t come back here. I’m going to make sure she is happy and I will make up for where you let her down. One of us has to, in this fucked up family, one of us has to.”
He stood and walked to the door.
“Bryce, you’re mama’s baby,” his mother called to him.
“No, I’m my own man, you just never figured that out,” he answered.
He walked out the way he came and passed Jackie still standing at the counter. He kissed her cheek. “Bye, Jackie, call me if anything goes wrong or if she needs anything.”
“I’m assuming that we won’t be seeing you much anymore,” Jackie said.
“I can’t for the life of me understand why she takes him pies and visits him—the man who destroyed his own daughter,” Bryce said.
This time Jackie put down the pen she had been writing with and sighed. “It’s all she knows and his sickness became hers. She thought that to keep him she had to let him have Kimberly, thus letting Kimberly go. This family has been around from the time she and I were both children. Your mother married into the one thing she wanted. The McDowell legacy was what she coveted and she wasn’t going to give that up. This proclivity your father had for his daughter is not the first time something like that has happened. But in those days people didn’t speak of it and your mother is holding true to the stigma.”
“Well, it ends with her. I refuse to carry this diseased past into any future I have,” Bryce said with determination.
“A future with Stasia?” Jackie asked bluntly.
He never knew anyone could see how he felt about Stasia. Cole thought he just wanted to be between her legs, but he could see Jackie knew it was more than that.
“Am I that obvious?” He gave a soft laugh and ran his hands through his hair. “If not Stasia, even so, I’m ending this cycle. When Mom passes, this house and everything inside it is yours.”
Jackie looked at him in surprise. “Don’t go making crazy decisions now, Bryce McDowell. This is your home—yours and Kimberly’s.”
“I don’t want anything in here and I can guarantee that my sister doesn’t either,” Bryce answered. “It’s all yours, Jackie. The paperwork will say so and you can sell everything or burn it to the ground for all I care. When Mom is gone I’m never coming back to this house. I’m never driving back up this hill.” He kissed her on the cheek again and gave the older woman a quick hug. “You’ve been more of a mom to us than she ever was. Call me if you need me.”
“Be safe, Bryce.”
Her goodbye was to his back as he went out the door.
That was hours ago and now he was at his place so antsy he was almost climbing the walls. It was driving him crazy picturing Stasia in some hot little number or, hell, in jeans and a tank shirt she’d still be very hot. Would some guy be dancing close with her and getting lost in those deep chocolate brown eyes? Would she invite him to her room and they’d be a mass of tangled sheets and sweaty bodies? Fuck no, he’d break someone’s damn nose before that happened. He found his shoes and sat down to put them on.
Stasia may want to fight it and, yes, she had a lot to be angry about, but from the time he sank into the sweet depths of her sex and felt her shudder and cling to him from the inside, she was his and he wanted nothing more. He would stake his claim and she’d understand that the past didn’t dictate their future. He grabbed his leather coat off the back of the sofa and was heading out the door when his cell phone rang. He answered with a terse hello.
“You may want to come down to Howl at the Moon.” Cole was on the other end of the line.
“Why should I? In fact, why are you at that place?” Bryce wanted to know. His first stop was going to be Cosmos.
Howl at the Moon was a bar in the middle of the EpiCentre. It was a fun place but boisterous and mainly filled with people looking to hook up. Cole was devoted to his sister so hearing that he was there made him a bit curious and angry.
“Cool your jets, dude, I wanted a drink and a little noise. If not, I’d go crazy at my place thinking about Kim,” Cole explained. “I could’ve been here and gone if I wanted to hide it from you, but that’s not why I’m calling. Stasia is here and she’s the life of the party.”
“Did she see you?” Bryce picked up his speed as he left his condo. He lived in one of the new contemporary buildings built between Caldwell County and Uptown Charlotte. It would take fifteen minutes to get uptown, maybe twenty if you tacked on trying to find parking.
“Oh, yeah, she saw me, all right, had a drink sent over and raised her glass to me,” Cole said. “She also danced on a table and got behind the bar to make shots. Well, she’s the same little troublemaker from her teenage days, huh?”
“Don’t even go there. You never saw her do anything,” Bryce snapped.
“Yeah, well, her style of clothes is still Ruby House tramp,” Cole retorted.
“I wonder what Kim would say if she knew how you were talking about her friend,” Bryce answered. “At Piper’s Glen today, Mrs. Eden told me it was Stasia who looked out for Kim, even when you were hooked on for her but too shy to ask her out and I was clueless she was being molested. Call Stasia what you want, but she was there when we weren’t. How she dresses or how she acts should not be a direct cause of how she is seen and treated. By the way you’re talking can you see why she wants out of this place? Nothing ever dies here and I’m sick of it.”
“Consider me chastised,” Cole muttered but Bryce heard no remorse in his voice. “I didn’t have to call you, but, whatever, let her make a complete fool of you in public. If you’re sleeping with her, you won’t be the only one.”
“Cole, I love you like a brother, but I just may punch the shit out of you when I see you.”
“Uh-huh, whatever. I need a ride home; I’m wasted.” Cole hung up the phone.
Bryce dropped his cell on the passenger’s seat next to him and considered going MIA like Kim. His life was spinning out of control. Between his sister missing, Cole and his sucky attitude, Stasia who pretended that she wasn’t hurt but she really was, a mother who baked pies and pretended that she was still in social standing even though everyone knew what his father had done, they were just driving him crazy and he’d had it up to his neck with all the bullshit. It was time to clean house, open the windows to air out the damn skeletons in the closets.
He found a parking spot and took the stairs two at a time heading into the EpiCentre and took the secondary escalators to Howl at the Moon. He could hear the pulsating beat from outside but when he pushed the doors open and walked inside the wave of sound hit him.
Instant headache. Bryce did the party scene when he was young, but now he would prefer a cold beer and his television rather than deal with this crowd. The looks he got as he passed showed many were interested but, hell, he had eyes set on only one person—the woman dancing at the far end of the room, dressed in burgundy leather jeans and her ‘fuck-me boots.’ The heels were so tall and slender he wondered how the hell she was standing on them, let alone moving her body the way she was. She was like liquid fire—heat and seduction rolled into one. Watching her, his body was instantly aroused. The guy behind her looked like he was in seventh heaven; his hands were at her hips and running up and down her thighs. I’ll break his hands.
>
Bryce walked over and pulled her away. “Playtime is over. You’re going home.”
Stasia’s face first showed surprise and then anger when she saw who had grabbed her. “I don’t live here, remember? I’m on vacation and having a bit of fun.”
The guy who had been dancing with her stood tall and tried to push Bryce. “Hey, she’s having fun, didn’t you hear her?”
Bryce shoved him right back. “Listen, I’m a cop and I have no problem kicking your ass and then locking you the fuck up in a cell. Step off.”
The guy held his hands up and walked away.
Stasia shook her head. “They don’t make men like they used to.”
“Time to go,” Bryce growled as Cole strolled over casually.
“Oh, I see your guard dog called you.” Stasia flicked a glance over at Cole.
“Happy to see you, too, Ruby House reject,” Cole drawled.
“You say that now that he’s holding my arm,” Stasia snarled. By now they were getting more than just casual glances from the other patrons and security. Yelling over the music was obviously even bothering the DJ who turned it down so he could hear what they were saying. “Tell him to let me go and then say it. See if I don’t knock your teeth in the back of your head.”
“Meow, you’ve grown claws,” Cole retorted. “Better watch out, Bryce, she may scratch.”
“I’ve always had claws. Remember, you tried to see them,” Stasia taunted. “It was that night that Kim shut you down and you wanted to show me how much better you were than Bryce because you thought he was sneaking around with me.”
“What?” Bryce snarled and whirled on a very pale Cole.
“Uh-oh, did I just spill the beans, Cole?” Stasia looked from one to the other innocently batting her eyes and laughed. “Oh, even he was keeping secrets from you, Bryce. Man, who can you trust?”
Cole held up his hands. “Bryce, it was just a bad night for me. I had one too many beers.”
“Yeah, and you came after this Ruby House reject, right?” Stasia picked up her drink by the table close by and took a sip. “Don’t start nothing and there won’t be nothing, Cole, I thought you knew that.”
“You come back to town and bring all this shit back with you,” Cole snarled. “You should’ve just stayed away.”
Stasia pointed to Bryce. “Blame him for that. And that’s what Caldwell County builds into you, huh? Hide the secrets and the dirty laundry from the light, pretend it’s all good and push the bad stuff under the rug. Was that what you were doing for Kim, pretending she wasn’t molested so she didn’t seem dirty to you, Cole? Maybe she couldn’t stand your pretense and your so-called help. Trying to get in her panties while pretending you were helping.”
“Damn you,” Cole snarled.
“Right back ‘atcha.” Stasia tilted her glass in a salute.
Security started to walk towards them and Bryce pushed past his anger to deal with the situation. He held up his badge. “There’s no problem here, guys, I’m taking them outside and off the premises.”
“Please do,” the big, burly man said.
Bryce grabbed her hand and shoved Cole in front of him and moved them towards the door. The music was back to eardrum-bursting level and people were back to enjoying the night before they even reached the exit. The cool night breeze hit him and cleared the smell of sweat and alcohol from his nose. None of them spoke as they went down the escalators and walked towards where he had parked his car. Bryce was steaming mad and it seemed Stasia and Cole could sense that and were eerily quiet. There was a limit to how far he could be pushed and he was one step over that line.
Cole put his hand on Bryce’s shoulder. “Listen, you know it was a long time ago and I wasn’t myself that night.”
Bryce reared back and punched Cole directly in the face. Blood gushed from his nose and Bryce was pleased. Stasia gave a small screech and rushed forward to help Cole. She stripped off the light blue bolero jacket she had on over her white tank shirt and held it to Cole’s nose.
“Are you insane?” she asked.
Bryce looked at her incredulously. “Am I insane? Really, you’re asking me this after he insulted you and I have to practically pull you out of a fight with each other? I can’t take this, it’s fucking enough. You have a hair across your ass because you were wrongly accused and spent twelve years away from home. Stasia Copeland, if your ass wasn’t hanging out with Dani in the first place and you didn’t agree to go with her that night you wouldn’t even be in this situation. You could’ve walked away or said no at any time so take some goddamn responsibility. Cole, you knew full well I cared for Stasia and, still, as soon as Kim said no, you went behind my back. Low, brother, way damn low for my so-called best friend.”
By this time Bryce was in a full-on rage and didn’t care who heard what he was saying. They stood in front of his car warily watching him walk back and forth while he vented.
“I know I should’ve been there for Kim. God knows I beat myself up for it every night,” Bryce continued. “It tears me up inside knowing that I wasn’t, but I accepted my part in her life being fucked up. But, like me, she had to take responsibility and could’ve come to me. I would never put the McDowell family name in front of her, never! Cole, you asshole, when we find her, marry her and go to counseling with her. If you love her like you say, then you’ll do it or if it’s too much, let her go and let her live. Stasia, grow the fuck up and stop blaming everyone for the shit you went through. Eighty percent of it was yours. Get past the damn Ruby Houses stigma and become the woman you want to be. I love you, but I won’t be your damn whipping boy. Both of you in the car now and don’t say one word to me.”
“But—” Stasia began.
He pointed to her. “Did you not understand what I just said?”
“You broke his nose,” Stasia pointed out.
“Well, it was too straight anyway. He can fix it himself,” Bryce said without pity, “in the car.”
Cole got in on one side of the backseat and Stasia got in on the other. No one chose the passenger seat. As Bryce drove he could feel her looking at him and Cole glaring. He was fine with both. He felt refreshed—well, kind of—that he finally spoke his mind. He still worried for Kim but at lease the two in the backseat knew exactly where he stood. He was done being everyone’s pack mule for guilt. He pulled up in front of Cole’s home and waited for him to get out.
Cole tried to hand Stasia her bloodied coat. “Um, here, and, um, thanks.”
She waved it away. “Keep it. It’s kinda yours now with the blood and all.”
“I’ll replace it,” Cole said.
“You don’t have to do that. It was old anyway,” she replied.
“Stop beating around the bush. Just say sorry so I can leave,” Bryce snapped, tired of the dancing around.
“Jesus, I was getting to it,” Cole shot back “I’m sorry about the shit I said, Stasia, you are good for coming back to help Kim.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry I got you punched in the face,” Stasia replied.
“No worries. I was working towards it all on my own.” Cole looked at Bryce. “You’re right, man, I’m sorry for being such a dick.”
“Yeah, okay,” Bryce said. That was all he was willing to say for now. His temper was still simmering.
“You’re like my brother and I don’t want to lose your friendship,” Cole persisted.
“You won’t, you ass. Go fix your nose,” Bryce said softening his stance just a little.
“Goodnight.” Cole slammed the door and walked towards his house.
Bryce drove on silently.
“I think I should point out that you went by my hotel to take Cole home and now we’re not heading towards my hotel but in the opposite direction,” Stasia commented from the back seat.
“You’re staying at my place tonight,” Bryce answered.
“Oh, really? How nice. I don’t have my toothbrush,” Stasia said sarcastically.
He didn’t answer so she stayed qu
iet as he navigated the streets of Charlotte to his condo. He opened the back door of the car and she followed him in dutifully to his home.
“You said you loved me. Is it true?” She said the words quietly.
“It is,” he stated flatly.
“Don’t sound so excited about it,” she muttered.
He looked at her. “Would you? The way we’re at each other’s throat, one step forward, two steps back.”
“It won’t make me stay, you loving me,” Stasia said.
“Did I ask you to?” Bryce asked. “Maybe I want to go with you and get out of this place. Maybe it’s smothering me with its old time religion and values, its lies and…” He sank into the chair behind him and stared at his hands. “I went to that old house on the hill today after I left you at Lake Norman. The one I used to look on with such pride until I knew what went on behind the walls. I saw my mother and she acted like she didn’t know who Kim was, then went on to talk about baking that man pies, pies for raping their daughter. As if she is rewarding him. I can’t…anymore. I can’t look at her or smell those damn pies. I can’t not hear Kim’s tears, the ones she must have cried wanting our mother to help her, anyone to help her, me… I told Jackie she could have it because if it were up to me I’d burn the place down.”
“Bryce,” Stasia said his name and knelt in front of him to take him in her arms.
He let her because only God knew how much he needed to feel something other than guilt, anger and grief. He understood that Caldwell was slowly choking off his air supply and now it had become very hard to breathe. He only stayed for Kim and look how that ended up. He wanted Stasia to love him but for the right reasons, not because of some schoolgirl crush but because of the man he was now. The egotistical jock was no one to love but the man who was trying to make everything right was. But could she ever see past her anger and what happened in the past?
“God, Bryce, you can’t take blame for your father’s evil or any of it.” Stasia’s breath was warm against his ear. “You put the bastard in jail, you took away his power, and Kim began to thrive. I’m sorry that I kept pushing at you about Kim.”
Mistaken Identities Page 18
