Stubborn Truth (The Stubborn Series Book 3)

by Arnold, Jeanne

  “We go way back. Sometimes we jam together. I have a band.” He looked at me as if he couldn’t place my face. “His brother Eli was a legend.”

  Gabe didn’t respond. He took the cup from my hand and sniffed it. Then he downed it and wiped his mouth.

  “That’s good stuff,” Troy told him. “There’s plenty more, man. Let me hook you guys up.”

  I shared a genuine smile. He seemed nice enough. I was finally meeting Gabe’s friends. He hadn’t introduced me to any of them.

  “Merry Rachel roped you into her army, eh?” He pointed to my sling.

  Gabe squeezed my good hand. “No,” he said.

  “Hey, I get it. Can’t be mixing oil with water,” Troy replied.

  “I don’t really like her,” I said. I wondered why he brought her up. “We didn’t get off to a good start.”

  Troy lifted his hat and leaned in. He smelled like a brewery. “I don’t like her much myself, but somehow I keep coming back.”

  “Gabe’s not a fan either,” I said.

  Troy laughed. I didn’t get the joke. “So you’re looking for Josh? I’ll go get him for you. I think he’s outside with my sister and her boyfriend.”

  Gabe gripped his arm. “No. I’ll get him. Av’ry, stay here.” I wanted to grab him and tell him not to leave me. The last thing I wanted was to be left alone.

  “You need a drink,” Troy told me. “It’s easier with a drink.”

  “Easier?” I asked as Gabe disappeared up the stairs.

  “To fit in. Not that you need to fit in. I mean, you fit in just fine,” he said tripping over his words. “I haven’t seen you here. Do you sing?”

  I stared blankly. What was he talking about? “I came out last summer to help my aunt at her boardinghouse. Josh is my cousin.”

  “So you live with Josh? I heard about the fire.”

  “I live with Gabe.”

  Troy’s eyes widened. “Gotcha. I didn’t even know he was around.”

  “Are you from here?” I asked.

  He nodded and scowled at the same time. “Yep, my family’s been farming here for over a century. I work on Lane’s crew. My whole family works for HalRem except my sister. She works at Albertsons. Even my grandpa runs pipe. Haldens put a well on my land.”

  I realized the girl Gabe ran into at the store was his sister.

  “Is this your house?”

  “Uh no. It’s not my place.” Troy gave two boys a shoulder bump as they walked by and eyed me.

  I glanced up the stairs. Why was Gabe taking so long? Had he run into Rachel? Did she provoke him?

  “I should look for Gabe,” I said as a line of girls came down the stairs. The room filled up. Dance music pulsed through the paneled walls, competing with the upstairs speakers. I started to get an uneasy feeling when Troy walked away to follow a girl into the bathroom.

  “I’ve seen you around.” I turned to face the voice. The girl looked older than me. “Do you know Caleb? Is this still his number?”

  I dropped my gaze to her phone. There was a picture of Caleb wearing a cowboy hat, holding his shirt up to his chin. His phone number was scribbled across his chest in lipstick. I had to laugh because I recognized the number and the physique.

  “He wants me bad,” she said with a giggle. She was drunk. “Is he coming?”

  “I don’t know. If he wants you, wouldn’t he tell you if he was?” I watched the stairs. I wanted to tell her Caleb had herpes.

  “He’s a riot. Did you know he’s loaded?” She burped and covered her mouth. She was wearing a wedding band. “Have you seen their father? Oh my god—he’s hot.”

  “I don’t know him,” I lied.

  “He’s a bizillionaire,” she added. “Are you gonna drink that?”

  I handed her the cup. I was losing brain cells in her presence. She spilled the drink on her shirt. I walked away as she tried to wipe it with her sleeve.

  I made a break for the stairs and pushed past a couple making out on the top step. I scanned the smoky kitchen. There was more than one tall boy wearing a HalRem cap, but none of them were Gabe. I did a check down the hallway toward the front door and caught Gabe following Rachel up the stairs.

  I scurried down the hall and narrowed my gaze up the dark stairway. No one was in the hall when I got upstairs. The first two doors were open.

  “Gabe?” I called. “Josh?” Maybe Rachel was helping him find his brother.

  He didn’t come out. I peered into the first room. Two girls were sitting on a bed. One was sobbing into a pillow. The next door was partially open. I heard Gabe talking and held my breath as I dared to peek inside. Rachel was standing in the middle of the room. She raised her hand and flipped me off. Gabe stepped into my view and then slammed the door in my face. I jumped back. My heart was beating like a small animal about to dash away from its prey.

  “Gabe!” I shouted and held onto my throbbing wrist. The music grew louder. “Open the door!”

  “Not now!” he yelled.

  Not now? My throat tightened. My lungs stopped working. I stepped into a bathroom and turned to the mirror where I tripped on a stool. I caught my balance on the sink and almost knocked over a cup.

  “Shelly?” The name on the cup threw me off. I glanced down at the step stool as I realized Gabe brought me to Rachel and Shelly’s house. I was in their bathroom. He was familiar with the house, which meant he was familiar with Rachel.

  I left the bathroom and skipped down the stairs before I changed my mind and banged my fists on the bedroom door like a scorned girlfriend. I didn’t even look to see if the door had opened. I pulled my phone out of my pocket when I got to the front porch and hesitated when I glanced at the screen. I didn’t have anyone to call. Molly was the only person who would know what to do. Lane was the only person I could trust to pick me up. They were bringing their baby home from the hospital. I couldn’t bother them.

  I sat on the edge of the porch and watched the kids fool around in the snow. I pulled on my hood and attempted to stay warm. After a few minutes, my butt was numb from sitting on cement. Whatever was in the red cups was beginning to look good.

  My phone buzzed. I thought it would be Gabe. It was Deliah. I let the call go to voice mail. I watched the screen light up again. It was Caleb. I let it go to voice mail. There was nothing I needed to say to him. A horn honked in the road. I continued to watch my phone.

  “Are you Avery?”

  I looked up. A girl my age was blowing into her hands to keep warm. I stood and drew my eyes around the yard. I squinted when a pair of headlights aimed at me and flashed.

  “Yeah, why?”

  She swung her arm in the air and pointed behind her. “He said to tell you he’ll behave.”

  The horn honked a repetition. I scowled. “No way,” I told her. “I’m calling a cab.”

  “But he’s a Halden,” she said as if it were a sin to turn down a ride from one of the brothers.

  “Big whoop,” I said and sat down. I wasn’t going anywhere with Caleb.

  “Are you crazy?”

  I didn’t answer. I considered walking back into the house, but Caleb would find me. I didn’t want him to know Gabe was with Rachel.

  When I heard the wolf whistle pierce the air, I knew he wasn’t going away. He whistled again.

  The longer I thought about what Gabe was doing with Rachel in Rachel’s house, the heavier the lump in my belly grew. I needed to leave.

  “Legs! Get your ass over here!”

  Caleb’s Raptor sat high above the other trucks. He leaned across the seat and pushed open the door. The light went on.

  “Oh my god,” I said into my hand when I got a look at his face. Both eyes were bruised, and he had a thin bandage across his nose.

  “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “I didn’t know whose house it was. He said he was taking me to a party,” I answered.

  “I can’t believe he brought you here.”

  “Av’ry!” I spun around to find
Gabe holding Josh’s arm. “What are you doing?” he asked me.

  Josh broke out of Gabe’s hold and took off through the yard. Gabe ran after him and tackled him in the snow.

  “Meggie wants you home.”

  “I don’t have a home!” Josh hollered as he struggled.

  “She’ll call the police if you don’t go now,” I yelled back.

  He jumped up before Gabe could grab him again and hoisted himself into Caleb’s truck. Caleb revved the engine.

  “Let’s go,” Gabe told me.

  I shook my head. “I don’t want to go with you.”

  “C’mon, legs,” Caleb yelled. “Put the chairs in the wagon.”

  “I’m not going with either of you.”

  Josh cranked the volume on Caleb’s radio.

  “He left you outside in the cold,” Caleb said. “He brought you to his ex-girlfriend’s house to party.”

  I could hardly hold up my head. Everything moved in slow motion. I couldn’t hear the music or the kids in the yard.

  “He’s been lying like a tombstone. Ask him about that first summer in the coop when he figured out what to do with girls.”

  “Piss off!” Gabe shouted as he rammed his boot into the side of the Raptor. I feared Caleb would get out of the truck and fight Gabe again, but Caleb laid on the horn, threw the truck in drive, and tore out before Josh could close his door.

  I jumped back. Snow shot up from the tires and covered me. My phone fell in the snow just as it lit up. Deliah was trying to do FaceTime with me.

  “We’re leaving,” Gabe said.

  I wiped the snow off my face. As I stood up from digging my phone out of the snow, Caleb turned around and drove straight at me. He opened the door and offered me a hand. I grabbed it and he lifted me in. I climbed over his lap.

  “Don’t do this, Av’ry,” Gabe yelled.

  I couldn’t look at him. Caleb and Josh didn’t talk on the ride to Lane’s. All I wanted to do was crawl into a bed and hide my face. I didn’t know where I was going to sleep, but I was certain it wouldn’t be at Gabe’s.

  Lane’s truck was in the garage when we pulled in. I followed Josh up the kitchen steps. I could feel Caleb’s breath on my neck when he was standing behind me at the door.

  “How long are you gonna ignore me?”

  “Forever,” I told him.

  He opened the refrigerator and helped himself to a beer and then circled the table and sat against the wall. Josh walked through the room and opened the sliding door to Lane’s deck.

  “Don’t wander off, little man. I’ll hunt you down,” Caleb warned.

  Josh slammed the door.

  Lane stood in the hallway. He had a baby cloth over his shoulder, his sleeves rolled to his elbows. “Avery, do you want to see Molly? We’re just getting Eli settled in.”

  I tried to smile. I wanted to tell her everything that happened to me. I needed a girlfriend.

  “Meggie’s downstairs with Emmie and Deliah. My dad hasn’t been around much,” Lane said as we headed to the master bedroom. “Where’s Gabe?”

  My throat thinned. I couldn’t get out the words. Lane turned around when I stopped walking. He looked exhausted.

  “He’s...with Rachel,” I whispered through my tears.

  “Oh really?” he said.

  “I don’t want Molly to see me like this.”

  He set a hand on my shoulder and furrowed his brows. I knew what he was thinking. He was thinking he was up to his eyeballs with girls and drama.

  “Hi, Avery,” Molly said in a hushed voice. “How’s your wrist?” The baby was asleep in her arms. I glanced around the room and remembered when I first spotted Molly’s things on Lane’s bedroom floor and figured out they were seeing each other. It seemed like ages ago.

  “He’s so little,” I said without answering. I settled on the side of the bed and leaned over to study Eli’s face. He was definitely a Halden boy. If Gabe had a baby, he would look like him.

  “He just fell asleep. He usually stays like this for an hour before he gets fussy. Where’s Gabe?”

  I bit my lips together and rolled onto my back. Why did everybody care where Gabe was?

  “Did something happen?” Molly reached for her glass of water and took a sip from a straw. “Your makeup is all smeared.”

  I wiped under my eyes with the side of my finger. “You don’t need to hear about my problems,” I told her.

  “Sure I do. I need something to distract me from the fact that I will never see the light of day again. I have no idea what’s going on besides what I see on the news. Lane’s quiet about everything. He worries I won’t be able to nurse Eli if I’m stressing.”

  The baby squeaked and stretched. We stopped talking and then he settled.

  “Gabe took me to Rachel’s house. He was with her in a bedroom alone,” I said almost unable to believe it myself. “She was his girlfriend. His first real girlfriend. According to Caleb—his first everything.”

  Molly’s eyes stretched. “I didn’t know. She was younger than me in school.”

  “He acted like he hated her after the whole protest thing happened. And then he took me to her house and slammed a door in my face!”

  “He did not.”

  “He was pissed off that Caleb was going after her. Now I get it. I can’t believe he didn’t tell me they had a history.” I grunted. “He acted like he was jealous of Caleb, which means he still has feelings for her. I can’t trust him. Things were really good with us.”

  “Deliah said Caleb and Gabe got into a fight during the fire. Was that over Rachel?”

  “It was over me. I told Gabe that Caleb kissed me, so he punched him. You should see Caleb’s face. It’s awful, Molly. He doesn’t look like himself.”

  “He kissed you?” She glanced at the baby. “He hasn’t come in to see me or Eli.”

  “He’s out in the kitchen,” I told her. “Why does he always try to ruin everything with me and Gabe? He can have any girl he wants.”

  Molly sighed. She dropped her chin and then began rubbing the baby’s head. “He can’t have every girl.”

  “He doesn’t really want me. He just likes to tease Gabe at my expense.”

  She shook her head and gestured toward her dresser. “Look in the top drawer.”

  I walked to the dresser and opened the drawer. I slid my hand under a pile of pink and purple bandanas and found a photo of Molly sitting on Caleb’s lap. They were wearing swimsuits, and he had his arms around her waist and was kissing the side of her face. They looked happy.

  “He sent you this?”

  “He put it there. He must have come in when I was at the hospital. Flip it over.”

  “There were many…but you were my only,” I read. Then I crumpled my forehead and made a face. “Is this supposed to make you want to leave Lane for him?”

  “I don’t have a clue. I just had the baby. He wanted nothing to do with any of it. He didn’t try to fight for me or Eli. He let Lane take all of the responsibility. He didn’t stop me from moving in. He didn’t try to talk to me at Deliah’s dance. He’s still chasing you.”

  I glanced at the photo again.

  “He was preoccupied with Rachel at Deliah’s dance,” I reminded her.

  “He’s not stable,” she said quietly.

  “Lane said the same thing. You’re lucky he’s normal,” I told her.

  She got quiet and her gloomy gaze met mine.

  “Wait a minute, Molly. Do you…um…you don’t still have feelings…do you?”

  Baby Eli woke up and his face turned red. Lane opened the door and poked his head in when the baby began to cry.

  “Come back later,” Molly told me as Lane lifted the tiny package out of her arms to his shoulder. “We’ll figure them out.”

  I marched through the kitchen to the basement steps without looking at Caleb.

  Meggie was walking Emmie around the pool table in the basement. The surface was covered with clothing and blankets. She stopped and stare
d.

  “What happened? Are you crying too?” she asked. “It must be a full moon.”

  “I’m fine,” I lied. “Why? Did something happen at the house?”

  “Deliah won’t talk to me. We made a lot of progress today. I might be able to move back in a few weeks if the house is considered structurally sound. For now, Lane’s being so gracious. All of the hotels that Joel deemed decent enough for us are booked. I forbid him to buy them out.”

  I was crumbling inside. My face was about to give me away. Tears were on the brink of spilling.

  “I knew something was wrong. Sit,” Meggie told me. I sat on a new couch. “Where’s Gabe? Did he bring Josh back?”

  “Caleb did,” I said. I didn’t want to tell her about the party or Josh’s drinking. She wouldn’t understand. “Deliah tried to call me.”

  I reached for Emmie and Meggie propped her on my lap inside my good arm. She was wide awake and smiling. It was pretty clear she had a cheerier disposition than her siblings. She reminded me of Brianna.

  “Just tell me what happened.”

  “Do you know who Rachel is? Did you know Shelly’s sister before Deliah met her?”

  Meggie straightened Emmie’s bib. “She’s been out of the picture for years.”

  I huffed and the baby giggled. “See, you knew too. How come nobody told me about her? How can any of you stand her? She’s always going after HalRem.”

  My aunt touched Emmie’s cheek. “Kiddo, I suspected that’s why Gabe was seeing her. She was trying to sabotage thirty million dollars in fracking equipment.”

  I set my chin on the baby’s head and smelled her hair. She smelled better than expensive perfume.

  “He dated her to irritate Mr. Halden?” There was still no excuse for his behavior.

  “You betcha. I remember that summer quite well. Deliah told me Caleb is in love with Rachel now. Their dad won’t be happy. He’s spoken to her parents numerous times about trespassing and vandalizing HalRem property.”

  I couldn’t stop thinking about the photo Molly showed me. I didn’t think Meggie had to worry about Caleb bringing Rachel to a family picnic.

  “I’m going to put the sweet pea down for the night. I don’t think Joel’s coming home to say goodnight. He just doesn’t get it. He can’t get these moments back when he finally realizes his children are growing up.”