Boom

Boom Page 29

by Sabrina Stark

  I asked, "What's so funny?"

  "You." In a snotty voice, she mimicked what I'd said a moment ago. "He doesn't have a sister."

  "He doesn't," I insisted.

  "Sure he does," she said. "And you could've killed her."

  I summoned up a stiff smile. "Yes. And the Easter bunny could've stolen my shoes." I froze. What did that even mean?

  I had no idea.

  But in my own defense, Waverly wasn't making much sense either.

  With a smirk, she said, "They all hate you, you know."

  Her words felt like a slap, but I refused to flinch. "Who? The brothers?" I tried to laugh. "Yeah. Tell me something I don't know."

  "I already did," she said. "And you didn't believe me."

  "Oh, please," I scoffed. "I think I'd know if I could've killed a sister who didn't exist."

  "Oh, she exists," Waverly said. "And from what I hear, Mason was absolutely livid."

  Mason? I paused. "Wait a minute. You're not talking about Willow, are you?"

  Waverly smiled. "I don't know. Am I?"

  I frowned. "But Mason's her dad, not her brother."

  Waverly's smile grew sly. "Oh, really? Are you sure?"

  No. I wasn't.

  Not a hundred percent.

  And for some reason, this shook me to the core.

  I should be sure. Brody and I had been close, really close.

  Hadn't we?

  But then, I recalled the situation with his parents. He hadn't shared those details either – not until yesterday at the tail end of our argument.

  Plus, for months, he'd been lying to me about how he'd acquired the house.

  All things considered, was it really that far-fetched that he'd neglect to mention a sister, too?

  No.

  It wasn't.

  Talk about depressing.

  At the table, Waverly said, "See? You know I’m telling the truth."

  I tried to think. "But even if Willow is his sister, I only met her the one time. And all I did was try to walk her home."

  Even as I said it, I recalled Mason's reaction when he'd found us. He'd been angry, really angry, like he'd caught me trying to kidnap her or something.

  More to myself than to Waverly, I murmured, "They seriously think I would've harmed her?"

  The accusation hurt more than it should've. It wasn't like I'd driven up in a van and offered Willow candy. No. She'd literally knocked on my door.

  Whether she'd said so or not, she'd needed help getting home. And I'd tried to help. In hindsight, maybe I should've done things differently, but at no time whatsoever had Willow been in any danger – not while she'd been with me, anyway.

  I'd been looking out for her.

  Not the nanny. Not Mason. Not Brody either.

  But me, along with Cami.

  Even now, I still had no idea how Willow had ended up on my doorstep in the first place.

  If I had to guess, I'd say it had something to do with the house across the street, like maybe she'd hitched a ride with one of her brothers and had been forgotten in some sort of confusion.

  Brothers?

  Oh, God. Brody was her brother.

  And me? I hadn't known.

  At the table, Waverly said, "That's all I know. But you didn't hear it from me."

  By now, I was practically quivering with agitation. I still felt sorry for Brody's childhood, but that didn't change the fact that apparently, I'd never known him at all.

  And forget his brothers. They were totally awful. Mason in particular.

  I felt like throttling him.

  I felt like throttling all of them.

  This wasn't good, especially a couple of hours later when I happened to glance out the front window and see who else, but Mason Blastoviak, standing in the driveway across the street.

  The way it looked, he was just about to get into his car – the same one he'd been driving on the day I'd tried to walk Willow home.

  At the sight of him, I felt my jaw clench. He might not know it, but he wasn't leaving – not without hearing a little something from me first.

  Chapter 66

  Arden

  Without bothering to put on my shoes, I bolted barefoot out the front door of the crew house.

  Already, Mason had opened his car door as if preparing to leave.

  Not so fast, Buddy.

  I called out, "Hey!"

  He turned to look. At the sight of me stalking toward him, he frowned.

  Without breaking my stride, I yelled, "Don't you dare leave!"

  He was wearing dark slacks, a dress shirt, and a tie. No jacket. Still, he looked exactly like the person he was – a rich, ruthless bastard who cared for no one beyond his own family.

  And yet, he waited, looking only mildly impatient, as I crossed the street and joined him in the driveway.

  Without wasting any time, I said, "So how's Willow?"

  "Fine."

  "Really?" I said. "Even after her 'near-death' experience?"

  His eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

  "The way I hear it," I said, "I almost killed her." My tone grew sarcastic. "That must've been pretty traumatic for all of you."

  His mouth tightened. "Yes. It was."

  I almost rolled my eyes. "I was being sarcastic, as you darn well know."

  "It's no joke," he said.

  "Well it's not funny. I'll grant you that. But you must be joking if you think I would've done anything to harm her. Do you realize, she showed up on my doorstep with no adult in sight?"

  I gave him a hard look. "And where were you when all of this happened?" Before he could even think of responding, I added, "And just so you know, your nanny sucks. Do you realize, she actually told Willow that she doesn't like being a nanny? Can you imagine how that makes Willow feel?"

  I made a sound of disgust. "And then, the nanny freaking loses track of her. What's up with that? And what's up with you? Where were you when your kid's wandering around on her own?"

  Now that I was going, I couldn't seem to make myself stop. "Oh, and here's another thing," I continued. "Is she your daughter? Or your little sister? Because it seems to me, that detail's pretty darn important in the big scheme of things."

  Thinking of Brody, I swallowed an unexpected lump in my throat. "I mean, I should've known. Maybe not from you, but I'm just saying…"

  I sighed. "I don't know what I'm saying. Not about that. But about the rest of it, I don't appreciate being made the villain here. Willow, she's a great kid. And super smart, too. And I never would've harmed her regardless of what you might think."

  By now, I was nearly breathless, whether from talking nonstop or from all of the conflicting emotions swirling around in my head. I was so angry, I could hardly think. And yet, through all of that anger, I still felt the dull ache of loss – the loss of Brody of all people, although for the life of me, I couldn’t imagine why.

  As for Mason, he looked way too composed as he stared down at me. After a long moment of silence, he asked, "You done?"

  "I guess." I shrugged. "For now."

  I half expected him to simply get into his car and drive off without telling me squat. But to my surprise, he didn't. Instead, he said, "You're right about the nanny."

  I blinked. I knew I was right. Still, it felt obscenely good to hear him admit it. "Really?'

  "And she's gone," he said. "So don't worry about it."

  "So she quit?"

  "No. Fired and replaced."

  "Oh. Well, that's good." I hesitated. "Is the new one any better?"

  "Ask me in a month," he said, not looking too hopeful.

  "So…" I bit my lip. "Willow…is she your daughter? Or…?"

  "I'm her dad," he said. "And that's all you need to know."

  "But that's not true," I protested. "I do need to know."

  "Oh yeah? Why's that?"

  It was a good question. But the answer was too complicated for me to put into words, so all I said was, "I just do. It's important."

 
; He studied my face for several beats before saying, "I'm both."

  "Sorry, what?"

  "I'm her dad. And her brother."

  Eauw. "Really?"

  He gave me a look. "I'm not talking biology."

  "Oh. Of course not." I winced. "Sorry. And, uh, you were saying?"

  "She's my sister. But yeah, I'm the only 'dad' she's ever known."

  "So…Does she know that you're really her brother?"

  "She knows."

  "But she calls you her dad?"

  His expression darkened. "Yeah. Because she wanted one. And a mom, too."

  Now that made me pause. "But about a mom, she told me—"

  "That she doesn't have one. I know. But hey, it is what it is."

  "Oh, well yeah. I mean..." I gave an awkward laugh. "Those aren't so easy to get, huh?"

  Good lord. What on Earth was I saying?

  By now, I had no idea. The truth was, Mason had already told me a lot more than I'd ever expected. And even though I'd never call him friendly, he was acting surprisingly civil, all things considered.

  And now, I just had to ask, "So, how'd Willow end up on my doorstep? Do you know?"

  "I do. And it won't happen again."

  "But what happened?" I persisted. "Did she stow away in your car or something?"

  "You might say that." Mason flicked his head toward my grandparent's place. "I drove out here looking for Brody, and didn't realize that Willow was hiding in the back seat."

  "So you didn't see her when you got into your car?"

  "I didn't look," he said. "And she was hiding under a blanket."

  As I listened, Mason went on to briefly explain that according to Willow, she'd snuck into his car while it had been parked in the garage at home. And then, she'd snuck out of the car when Mason had gone inside my grandparent's place to look for Brody.

  Apparently, Willow had planned to take a quick look at the beach and then return to her hiding spot before Mason emerged from the house.

  Unfortunately, thanks to bad timing, she'd returned to the driveway only to discover that Mason's car was already gone, leaving her stranded.

  When Mason finished talking, I said, "But I don't get it. Why didn't she just tell me all of this herself? I mean, I did ask."

  "My guess?" Mason said. "She figured that if you walked her home, I'd be none the wiser."

  "But you said it was ten whole miles."

  He gave a curt nod. "Which to Willow is a fifteen-minute drive."

  I saw what he meant. She was, after all, only seven years old. "But speaking of driving," I said, "how'd you happen to drive past us that day? Were you out looking for Willow?"

  "No, because I didn't know she was missing." He grimaced. "So you can imagine what I thought when I saw her walking down the street with a couple of strangers."

  I bristled. "Hey, I'm no stranger."

  "You were to her."

  "But not to you," I pointed out.

  "Trust me," he said. "That's no mark in your favor."

  So much for civility. I couldn’t stop myself from saying, "Just why do you hate me so much, anyway?"

  "You've gotta ask?"

  "So you're admitting you hate me?" This shouldn't have been a surprise. And yet, it bothered me more than I liked. "Is this about Brody's truck?" I said. "Because it really was an accident."

  "So he says."

  Now that got my attention. "You mean Brody says? When?"

  In what felt like a change of topic, Mason said, "Do you know why you weren't fired?"

  "Fired from what? My consulting job?"

  "What, you got another one?"

  "Not yet," I admitted. "But even with this one, I was never almost fired."

  "You sure about that?"

  "Reasonably sure," I said. "I mean, I think I'd know, right?"

  "Wrong," Mason said. "That day I saw you with Willow, I told Brody you had to go." He gave me a serious look. "And that if he didn't fire you, I would."

  Unbelievable. "But you can't fire me," I protested. "I don't even work for you. And technically, I don't work for Brody either."

  "Trust me," Mason said, "if we wanted you gone, you'd be gone."

  I started to argue, but stopped myself just in time. His claim was truer than I cared to admit. In fact, I'd concluded the very same thing on my own not too long ago.

  Mason continued. "And you wanna know what Brody told me?"

  "What?"

  "That if you were forced out, he'd leave, too."

  My jaw dropped. "What? He didn't."

  "He did."

  "But when?" I asked. "And why?"

  "The 'when' is easy," Mason said. "It was after I brought Willow back home. By then, I'd gotten the full story on what had happened, and…" He gave a tight shrug. "I figured I might owe you an apology."

  Holy Hell.

  So he was admitting it?

  I gave him a tight smile. "Oh, you might, huh?" With an expectant look, I added, "Just so you know, you can start any time."

  "Later," he said. "And, as to your second question, the 'why,' – Brody said it wasn't right for you to pay for my screw-up."

  "Wait. Your screw-up?"

  "Willow's my responsibility. Not yours. And not Brody's. It was my fault she went missing."

  "And the nanny's," I said.

  "Nanny or not," Mason said. "Brody was right – even if he was lying his ass off."

  "Wait, what?"

  "His reason was bullshit, and I told him so."

  I wasn't following. "But you just said you agreed with it."

  "No. I said I agreed with his analysis – that it was my fault, not yours. But that's not why he threatened to walk." With a rueful laugh, Mason added, "Or kick my ass."

  "Wait, he did?" I was so stupidly touched, I felt my eyes grow misty. "Seriously? He did that for me?"

  "He did it for someone," Mason said. "And it sure as hell wasn't me."

  I stared up at him. "But why are you telling me this?"

  "Because I owe you," Mason said. "And I always pay up. For good or bad."

  That last part sent a shiver down my spine, and I suddenly recalled how much he hated me, even now. Choosing to focus on the positive, I asked, "But why would you owe me?"

  "For your help with Willow. And for doing it low-key." He shook his head. "We've worked hard to keep her out of the spotlight. And if you'd played it differently, well…" He paused. "Let's just say I don't want to see her name or picture on the internet."

  I saw what he meant. Still, I had to say it. "I don't want to be rude or anything, but if all of this is true, why did you wait so long to tell me?"

  "Good question."

  "So…?" I prompted. "What's the answer?"

  "Maybe that's how long it took."

  "For what?" I asked.

  With something that was almost a smile, he said, "For me to pull my head out of my ass."

  I was so shocked, I could hardly speak.

  Mason said, "So consider this your apology."

  I almost laughed. "So, are you gonna actually say it?"

  "I'm sorry," he said. "There, you happy?"

  As far as apologies, it was seriously lacking. And yet, I was surprisingly happy. But it wasn't because of the apology. It was because of the rest of it. I was insanely touched that Brody had fought – almost literally – to keep me from getting fired.

  But all too soon, my happiness faded as I recalled everything else that had come between us, the lies in particular.

  To Mason, I said, "Well, thanks. Not just for the apology, but for letting me know that Brody stuck up for me."

  "You're welcome." And with that, Mason turned once toward his car.

  Apparently, I was being dismissed.

  But then he paused and turned back. "There's something else you should know."

  "Really? What?"

  He flicked his head toward my grandparent's place. "That house? It's all Brody's. But I handled the transaction. Not him."

  Chapter 67 />
  Arden

  Cami said, "Oh, my God. Is that true?"

  As usual, I was hunkered down in my bedroom trying to talk on my cell phone without Waverly overhearing. I'd just finished repeating to Cami everything I'd learned from Mason, and she sounded just as shocked as I felt.

  I replied, "That's what he said."

  "Wow," Cami breathed. "Talk about a snork-show."

  This wasn't the word I would've used, assuming it was a word at all. But I knew exactly what Cami meant. Mason had driven away from my grandparent's place nearly an hour ago, and I was still reeling from everything he'd told me.

  Into the phone, I murmured, "Yeah, tell me about it."

  "So, what are you gonna do?" Cami asked.

  "I don't know," I groaned. "God, I've been such an idiot."

  "Oh, you have not," Cami said. "I mean, how were you supposed to know that Mason was the real lunk-blaster in all of this?"

  Lunk-blaster was right. As I'd just learned first-hand, it was Mason who'd done everything I'd been blaming on Brody.

  It was Mason who'd strong-armed my cousin into selling the house. It was Mason who'd handled all of the paperwork. It was even Mason who'd written that callous note on the bottom of Jason's heartfelt letter.

  In my mind, I could still see those three irritating words scrawled on the bottom of the first page. "Not my problem."

  Boy, he was right about that.

  Now it was my problem, because I'd been so awful to Brody.

  To Cami, I said, "Well, I could've asked Brody what was going on. But did I? No. Instead, I just hinted around, hoping he'd tell me on his own." With a bitter laugh, I said, "But now, come to find out, there was nothing to tell."

  "But you didn't know that," she said.

  "Right. Because I never asked." I sighed. "No wonder he's so angry."

  "But I don't get it," Cami said. "Why'd Mason tell you any of this at all? I mean, if he hates you so much, he surely would've preferred for you and Brody to stay mad at each other."

  "Well, that's the funny thing," I said. "At first, Mason tells me that he's doing it to repay me for helping out with Willow. But then, just before he leaves, he says the strangest thing."

  "Oh yeah? What's that?"

  "He tells me that he loves his brother more than he ever hated me."

  At this, Cami's tone grew thoughtful. "Huh. Well that's something."

  "So, any theories?" I asked.

 

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