“Like where?” My heart pounded at his closeness after not being near him for too long, and at his proposition.
“I don’t know, the beach?”
It sounded wonderful. But completely unrealistic. “I don’t know. My mother is going to show up at any minute and the last thing I need is her having a meltdown in front of all of these people.”
“Do you really think she’d act up in front of the upper crust?” He ran his hand along the side of my stomach. I squeezed my eyes tight to stay focused.
“I wouldn’t put anything passed her. Especially when you’re involved.”
“Ahem,” Keisha announced her entrance. I pulled away from Tristan and spun to face her, now convinced she was a spy for my mother. She looked gorgeous, in a yellow halter dress and leopard print heels.
“Oh my God, Callie, you look so grown up! Gorgeous!” She ran over and gave me a hug.
“You, too.” It felt good to not be mad at her for that moment. “Is Ray here yet?”
“No, he’s coming as soon as he’s done with some meeting.” She pulled away from me, but led me by the hand out of the room in to the main area. “Come on, your dad is here setting up with the band.”
The great room had filled in some with early arrivals and began to feel festive. The band was doing sound check and tune ups. My dad crouched down in front of an amplifier, making sure everything was perfect. He didn’t hear or see me come up behind him, and I tugged on his guitar strap to get his attention.
“Sweetheart, you look so beautiful,” he looked up in almost disbelief at me. I felt tears well in my eyes.
“Thanks, Daddy.” I needed to say something before I did burst into tears. “What are you guys going to play tonight?”
“Well, we have a set list that was approved by the President. Don’t tell anyone,” My dad looked around the room and lowered his voice a bit, “But he might even get up and sing with us!”
“Oh my God, that would be so awesome!”
“Wouldn’t it?” His eyes lit up like a little kid’s would be on Christmas morning.
“Okay, I’m going to let you get back to work. Love you, Daddy.”
“Love you too.”
Party goers began to form groups around the round tables, with the catering company working their way through with platters brimming with food. I had yet to see my mother. I took a mushroom stuffed with buttery crab filling and a napkin and went to join my friends, who were hanging out on the deck off of the dining area.
Everyone laughed at some joke that I missed as I slid under Tristan’s arm. Ray had joined the group, so I’d be willing to bet he’d just finished some funny work story. He had a way of commanding the conversation. I was glad Keisha had found him. Although, the end of her time on the island was coming soon, too. I wondered if she dreaded leaving Ray as much as I dreaded Tristan leaving me.
Everyone had drinks in hand. I hoped Tristan’s was just soda. Please, I prayed silently, don’t let him embarrass himself in front of all these people, and most importantly, The Obamas.
I scanned the circle and my eyes landed on Matt, still looking rumpled and uncomfortable. I was sure Taryn’s life would continue seamlessly without him after she went back to California. I never paid much attention to anything he said, it was always obnoxious.
Inside, there had been a call to order and the invited guests began to take their seats. Our group began to make its way inside as well. Keisha and Ray parted ways from me, Tristan, Taryn and Matt, who headed to the main table soon to be joined by Caroline, her date, the Obamas.
Once everyone was comfortably in place and the din of getting settled died down, a man in a suit walked up to a podium. He introduced himself to the room as a young Kennedy whose name I was not familiar with. He thanked us all for coming and contributing to the Obama campaign, and then began speaking of the importance of supporting the campaign, echoing the message of hope and change that the president promised.
Mr. Kennedy was an engaging speaker. I was completely enthralled by his message. It saddened me only because I wasn’t old enough to vote. My mother always rambled on about politics, but I tuned her out. This was different. This was exciting. Tristan squeezed my hand under the table and looked to me and smiled. He felt it too.
On top of everything else, I was really excited to have a chance to meet the President. He was like me, didn’t quite fit in anywhere, but he made it work.
“Charlatan!” The spell was broken by shouting closeby. “Idiots! You’re all idiots!”
The shouting came from Matthew. Mr. Kennedy had captured my attention so wholly I didn’t notice the eruption going on just three seats from mine. Matt was on his feet, a bit shaky, probably unsure of his plan as it unfolded, a slick of sweat on his forehead.
“He’s not even American! He’s a plant, here to bring us into communism! Look at his birth certificate!”
Thick silence fell over the room. Taryn looked up at her date, her face frozen in horror. I reached for Tristan’s hand again. In their shock, no one thought to do anything to stop Matt’s outburst.
“I’ll support him over my dead body! Over all of your dead bodies!” He drew a gun from the waistband of his rumpled trousers.
Everyone gasped in unison.
“Drop the gun, Matt.” I knew that voice as it came up behind me. I turned to see Ray approaching with a weapon of his own.
“I can’t do that, Ray.”
“Drop it, and let’s just forget this whole thing happened.” Ray’s pistol was trained on Matt. The only muscle in my body able to move was my heart, which thundered in my chest. I’d never been in eyeshot of one gun and now two were close enough for me to reach out and touch.
In a move almost too fast for me to comprehend, Matt grabbed Taryn roughly around the shoulders. “Shoot me, Ray, and you’ll have to get through the golden girl. I know everyone cares way more about this rich little bitch than they care about me.”
“NO!” Tristan bellowed as he began to get out of his chair. Ray’s strong hand pushed him back down by the shoulder.
“Tristan, let us handle this.” Ray insisted. “We’ve been watching this guy. We’re prepared.”
Matt waved the gun in Tristan’s direction. My heart stopped. “I’ll shoot him too. He’s just as useless as this one.” His grip on Taryn tightened.
“Everyone needs to clear the room!” A voice boomed from the back of the dining area. A stream of men in black dress pants and polos emerged from God only knows where. They all had weapons. A quiet chaos erupted as everyone did their best to comply with the wishes of the men with the weapons.
I didn’t move. Neither did Tristan. I didn’t know what to do. I was so close to the guns, and this crazy person holding Taryn hostage, I was terrified to do anything.
“All of you need to go.” Ray said quietly. “We’ve got this, I promise.”
“But my sister …”
“Tristan, we’ve got this. I promise you. Take Callie and go. Please.”
I tore my eyes away from Taryn being held hostage in that maniac’s arm to look at Tristan. He looked pale and childlike.
“We need to go.” I put my hand on his arm, my voice barely above whisper.
Matt continued to wave the gun in Tristan’s direction, mocking him. I refused to acknowledge him.
Tristan finally rose to his feet, still reluctant to walk away from his twin. I leaned against him, to support him, to try to move him away from the table.
“I love you, Taryn,” He said as he convinced himself to walk away. I followed, having to walk double time to keep up with him. He didn’t look back to the table, probably afraid he’d change his mind if he did.
Chapter Seventeen
I followed Tristan up to his bedroom, a carbon copy of Taryn’s without the girly mess, and crawled up on the bed next to him. He sat with his back against the wall, elbows on knees, head on hands. Empty.
He made no attempt to draw me closer, but I didn’t shy away. I ran my hand
lightly along his arm, hoping he realized I was even there. It was all I could do, be there.
“It’s going to be okay.” It felt stupid even as I said it, but what else do you say at a time like this?
“What if it’s not?” He whispered, barely moving his head enough that I could see his eye peaking through the hair that had fallen in his face.
“It will be.” I willed myself to smile at him, hoping he could believe it.
“I can’t lose her, Callie,” he slid his head so I could see both eyes without lifting it. “She’s all I’ve got. My family is falling apart, which is probably my fault, and now we’re here and this is happening and that’s my fault.”
“It’s not.”
“We wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t such a screw up.”
“Maybe this guy would have found her regardless. Tristan, you can’t blame yourself for this. Not even the worst thing you could do would be the reason Matt acted like this.”
He rolled his shoulders back, lifting his head and tilting his face towards the ceiling. All the blood had drained from his face. He sighed as if maybe he was asking the heavens for help.
“I can’t explain how it’s different, being a twin, but I know it is. We share everything. We always have. If she’s gone, a piece of me goes too.”
I rested my head on his shoulder. Nothing I said would make this less painful or terrifying.
Time had entered its own dimension. The room began to dim as night fell. Every so often we’d hear an outburst from downstairs that would make us both jump off the bed and then nothing, which was even more nerve wracking.
“I should go down there.” Tristan started to get up, I did my best to stop him.
“No! Ray will take care of it. He said they’d been watching Matt all summer.”
“Who the hell is ‘they’?”
“I don’t know, but he was in the military, and since this is the President, The Secret Service would be involved. Maybe that’s who all those people were?”
Tristan stopped, more from defeat than reason. “Why should we believe any of them? What if they’re all working with Matt, not against him?”
“No. That wouldn’t make any sense.”
I held on to his arm, as if that was enough to keep him from leaving the room. Miraculously, he stayed. Again the silence stretched time painfully. If only we had any idea what was happening downstairs. If only I knew my parents were safe. If they knew I was safe.
Explosions that sounded like firecrackers broke the silence. Gunshots. The sound ripped through my body. My mouth went dry and I could barely move enough to look at Tristan. He squeezed his eyes shut as his mouth fell open, almost in a soundless scream. He fell to his side, lifeless, as if he took the bullet.
I jumped off the bed and kneeled in front of him, so he could see me from where his face landed on the pillow. His eyes were still shut, tears streaming silently down his face.
I reached up and stroked his hair. “It wasn’t her. It’s going to be all right.” Maybe if I kept saying it, I’d start believing it too.
The door opened, startling me. I turned to see who it could be, a little piece of me scared to see Matt pointing a gun at us. The only light in the room came in from the driveway, and now from the hallway through the open door.
Caroline flipped light switch, burning my eyes. My dad came in behind her. “It’s over.” She announced flatly. My dad slipped by her and came to me, I rose to hug him. Guilt washed over me for leaving Tristan’s side, but I needed my daddy right now.
“She’s okay,” Dad whispered into my ear. At once I felt all of the tension I didn’t even know had built leave my body.
Caroline sat on the bed beside Tristan, giving him the good news as well. It didn’t stop his tears, but now at least they were tears of relief as he held his aunt.
Chapter Eighteen
Keisha looked only slightly better than I felt, she came behind the counter to deposit a tray of dirty dishes in the washing pile. I couldn’t believe that anyone expected us to work that next morning, after turn of events last night. In business, the show must go on, and we were unexpectedly short staffed that morning. The restaurant was busier than usual that day, the swell of customers hoping for some gossip. I hoped my face said it all without a word.
Matt was dead. He’d shot himself instead of dealing with the consequences of the mess he created.
Taryn was safe. Shaken to the core, of course.
Burning my hands on hot water and steam was the only thing that reminded me that today was real. I couldn’t get my head in the game. Exhaustion, disbelief, heartbreak. How was I supposed to make coffee?
“Where are the twins?” I asked my mother. It didn’t surprise me they weren’t here after last night’s ordeal, but the silence surrounding them was eerie. Almost like we’d lost them too.
“Gone.”
“What do you mean, gone?” She ripped my heart out of my chest with a single word.
“Just what I said, gone. Their father had them flown out of here first thing this morning, in case there were any more threats towards them on the island.” My mother kept rolling dough like she was telling me the weather report.
“That can’t be.” I barely whispered.
“It is. Honestly, it’s for the best. They were nothing but trouble here. We don’t need that. I’m looking forward to getting back to our old routine. Now get back to work, Callie, it’s busy out there.”
Dismissed, as usual, like my feelings didn’t exist. I turned on my heel and headed back to the barista station that would now forever remind me of Tristan. I tried to regulate my breathing while I caught up on the back log of orders.
Gone. Like they were never even here. Like nothing had happened. Just business as usual.
I didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye. I thought I’d have a chance to say so many things between now and goodbye, and now that chance for all of that was gone, just like Tristan.
“How are you hanging in there, kiddo?” Keisha asked as she passed.
“The twins left this morning.” I announced.
“I know.” She scraped the bussed plates slowly, watching for my reaction.
“You knew? And you didn’t say anything?”
“I knew it would upset you. You’ve been through enough in the last day.”
“How did you know?” I winced as I burned my hand on coffee, and then tried to keep my composure as I placed the coffees on the counter.
“Ray told me. Turns out he is Secret Service, sent here because they knew Matthew was a threat. He’s going to be leaving shortly too, after the investigation wraps up.”
“Oh my God.”
“I know? Sexy as hell, isn’t it?”
I rolled my eyes, hoping none of the tears threatening to fall made it past my lashes. “That’s not what I’m talking about. You should have said something. Maybe I could have seen Tristan before he left.”
“Tristan’s gone?” One of our female customers asked as she waited for her coffee. I tried to hide my annoyance while Keisha nodded sadly at her. The customer sighed gruffly as she left with her iced coffee. I made a face at her back.
“Sweetie, you knew he was leaving all along. Come on, you didn’t think this was going to last forever, did you?” She looked at me and sighed, hugging me loosely as I continued to work when she realized I took my summer romance a bit more seriously than she did. I’d never done this before. My heart had no practice.
“I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.”
“Don’t be sad, Callie. He’ll call you when he gets back to California. He really likes you. This isn’t the end.”
I looked up sadly at the tourist who was waiting impatiently for their iced cappuccino. I squirted whipped cream on the top and handed them the drink, barely watching what I was doing.
“He’s going to forget all about me.” Taryn’s warning thundered again ominously in my head. I felt myself crumbling even though no one else seemed to understand why. “H
e’s always going to think of last night when he thinks of me.”
“No, he’s not! He’s going to think of all of the other good things that had happened this summer.”
I poured another coffee, narrowly missing my unburned hand, and sighed. “I hope you’re right.”
Once the rush quieted, I stole a few minutes to sit outside at the picnic table behind the restaurant reserved for our breaks. I didn’t wait for anyone else to take break. I wanted to be alone. I wanted to embrace the silence, reacquaint myself with it. Tristan’s spirit surrounded me. I welcomed the memories, like a hug. I prayed Keisha knew what she was talking about.
All I could do now was wait.
About the Author
Kristen shares a birthday with Steven Tyler and Diana Ross. She spends each day striving to be half as fabulous as they are. She’s worn many hats, none as flattering as her cowboy hat: banker, retail manager, fledgling web designer, world’s worst cocktail waitress, panty slinger, now makeup artist and aspiring author. She loves sunshine, live music, the middle of nowhere, and finding new things to put in her house. Kristen is represented by Pam van Hylckama Vlieg of Foreword Literary.
Acknowledgements
In a galaxy long ago, Julie Hutchings and I used to pass a notebook back and forth and make up stories about rockstars. If it wasn’t for our goofy foolishness then and now, this book wouldn’t exist. I can’t write this acknowledgement without giving a nod to my Chapel Hill girls, Johanna, and Marie and the rest of the crew who helped me get into more trouble than Callie ever dreamed of. Somehow, we came out unscathed. I should probably thank God for that one. Finally, thanks to my agent, Pam van Hylckama Vlieg, who loved these characters enough to take a chance on them.
Also from Fast Foreword
Coyote Run
Once Upon a Time: Queen of All/Enemy Inside
Find out more at http://forewordliterary.com/fast-foreword.
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