Sterling

by Willow Summers

  “She’s…something, all right.”

  “She’s fun. Your mother, though…she’s almost like Colton’s mom, but a bit more…Stepford Wives.”

  Janie pointed at her beat-up Honda, parked in front of Cynthia’s. “Let’s take mine. It’s slightly newer than yours. I feel like that gives us a better chance of not breaking down after the drive.” She pointed at the passenger door before getting into the driver’s seat. “It’s open. I didn’t figure anyone around here would want anything inside. Not with all the other options.” When they were both in, Janie put her key into the ignition and looked at Cynthia. “Is it Charlotte, or Cynthia?”

  “Cynthia. I don’t know why my aunt calls me Charlotte. She may or may not have an onset of dementia. The doctors think so, but I’m not so sure. She has faked illnesses in the past. She has a doctorate in physics, so she’s no dummy. She researches the illnesses she plans to assume. Lou Gehrig’s disease suddenly went away not that long ago. No treatment. Amazing.”

  “Why would she want people to think she has dementia?” Janie started up the car. “Or any other illness.”

  “I have no idea. She was put in a home where they looked after her, paid for by her. The home was picked by her. My mom had a fit. Like her aunt had been abandoned. So she brought Aunt Bessie to live with her—she is incredible at talking people into doing what she wants—and they’ve had a very strange relationship ever since. Aunt Bessie is in the wheelchair to fool my mom into thinking she can’t help in the kitchen or clean up.”

  “I like Aunt Bessie. I’m stealing her.” Janie stopped at a stop sign. “I’m sure there are ten thousand Starbucks in this town. Want to direct me to one of them?”

  Cynthia pointed left. “So, once again, why did you drive all the way up here?”

  “Because Colton and the boys have decreed that you are in. You’re in the group. The girls have agreed with their assessment, though it really isn’t up to us where the boys are concerned. Don’t ask. They have thick heads and explain things in grunts. Reasoning is futile. So that means that we all help each other. Right now, you’re in a fix. So I’m here to help you. Or light things on fire with you. Whatever you need. I also came to stop Noah from coming. I figured that if you’re anything like me, you’d cut a bitch. I like the guy. I’d rather not help bury him.”

  Cynthia laughed despite the terrible pain in her heart. “Fair enough.” At the next stop sign, she pointed again.

  “Dave’s mom lived in a trailer park, and his aunt lived in this fucking town,” Janie muttered. “Good gracious. No wonder the guy is used to straddling the line between poor and rich. One wonders why the aunt didn’t help the mom.”

  “Have you ever asked?” Cynthia asked.

  “No. His aunt died, leaving him nothing. His mom is in a good place right now. That’s enough. I’ve just never come up here. I didn’t have a rich aunt.” Janie glanced over. “Or a crazy one. I really missed out.”

  “The thing is, if she is of sound mind, why is she eating butter?” Cynthia scratched her nose.

  Janie started to laugh but didn’t comment.

  “It’s weird, isn’t it?” Cynthia asked.

  “Yes. It makes me like her more.”

  At the closest Starbucks, they ordered coffee and sat in the leather chairs in the corner. Each looked out over the rest of the store, not at each other.

  “So you didn’t know he was a hooker,” Janie said nonchalantly. An older man at a nearby table jerked and glanced over.

  Heat infused Cynthia’s face. “Coming here to talk about this was probably a terrible idea.”

  “Nonsense.” Janie sipped her coffee. Plain black. Because, she’d said, she considered anything else pretentious. “So you didn’t know, and that sucks. What’s the worst part about it?”

  “That he was keeping it from me. He dropped some truth bombs, including about his various jobs, but that wasn’t one of them. He was deceiving me with all the half-truths.”

  “Ah.” Janie nodded solemnly, and Cynthia was afraid she would make light of her concerns.

  She needn’t have worried.

  “I probably would’ve destroyed all his shit, then punched him in the face and run.” Janie crossed an ankle over her knee. “Do you want to hear his side of it? I asked about it after Dave called him a moron.”

  “Sure.”

  “At first he worried the truth would call his past into question. Then he didn’t have the courage. He didn’t think you’d stick around. Wait…” She tilted her head. “Those might be switched around, but you get the idea. I doubt it’s easy telling a girl that you’ve worked as a hooker.”

  “True. But he should’ve done it before I moved in. He didn’t know I excel at leaving places at a moment’s notice. A normal girl would’ve been mortified to return home so soon after moving out.”

  “Leaving places at a moment’s notice? What kind of places?”

  “Name it. Jobs, parties, homes…”

  “Man. That’s cool. Anyway, you’re right. Everyone knows you’re right. Noah knows you’re right. When you were at Colton’s last night, he asked us all for advice on how to tell you.” Janie held up a hand. “And just in case you think we betrayed you, we were surprised to find out he hadn’t told you. He was trying, but…”

  “My sister told me about it.” Cynthia wiped away a tear. “She was gloating about it. Taunting and pitying me at the same time. It is the thing I’ve been dreading most since we got together.”

  “The sister?”

  “Yeah. The scorned one, though the scorning was her fault. If he can be believed.”

  “He can. Noah is usually a strait-laced, honest guy. This is a large snafu.” Janie held her hand up again. “Which is easy for me to say.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket before working on the cracked screen. She handed it over to Cynthia.

  Noah’s page was gone. The website said, Looking for more help. Come back later.

  “He’s out,” Janie said. “He told the guys he was done when he was still up here. Probably after he met you. It was just the website that hadn’t been fixed. If that helps at all.”

  “For some reason I can’t explain, I half don’t want you to talk me around.” Cynthia wiped away more tears.

  “I know. Because then you’ll have to face the fact that you will someday marry a whore.” Janie started laughing as the man at the other table startled and looked around again. “I mean, I get it. Obviously. I totally paid Dave for sex, too. That shit was hot. I paid with a painting. He would’ve done it for free, but paying was hotter. I’m cracked, so don’t worry about me. At least our story about meeting the one didn’t stem from a paid date, am I right? What the hell are Madison and Kaylee going to tell their kids? Well, little Timmy, you see, your father was a prostitute, and I was his john. Love at first transaction.”

  Cynthia spat out a laugh. Her frou-frou latte, which was compensating for something, or so Janie had said, sprayed over her jeans.

  “So, we’ve established he should have told you…what’s next?” Janie asked.

  Cynthia sighed. “I don’t even know. All of this doesn’t seem like such a big deal when you talk about it.”

  “I don’t think it is, that’s why. I’ve had much bigger things to worry about than this type of stuff. But I get that I’m different.”

  “If I forgave him, how could I trust him not to keep things like that from me again?”

  “Trust me, he’ll be ready to tell you how many times in his life he’s picked his nose. The guy is…not doing well. I’ve never seen him like this. Which isn’t meant to affect you in any way. I’m just saying that he’ll think really hard before doing something like this again if you were to take him back. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, as they say. He learned the hard way.”

  Cynthia dropped her head forward. “I love him. This has made me realize that. I just don’t know what the smart move is.”

  “I don’t either. I’m just here to keep you from blowing something up.
”

  “I think we process grief differently.”

  “Story of my life.”

  Twenty-Four

  “I wonder if Kaylee would be willing to move to this area,” Ethan said as he looked out of the glass wall, studying at the yard. “I’m really into it.”

  Noah and Ethan were sitting in Noah’s hot tub. Cynthia had been gone for a day. She hadn’t left anything behind but her intoxicating smell on his sheets. It felt like a giant hole had been punched inside him. He’d tried to call. And text. All his messages had gone unanswered. If Janie hadn’t taken charge of the situation, threatening him bodily harm if he didn’t stay put and get out of her way, he would be in front of Cynthia’s house right now, begging forgiveness. Pledging to do anything to win her back.

  He hadn’t slept at all last night. He couldn’t eat. She was it for him. She was everything he wanted. And he’d fucked up out of cowardice and driven her away. It was more than he could bear.

  Noah shifted his gaze to the glass wall, not seeing anything.

  “Have you heard from Janie lately?” Ethan asked in his laid-back way. Noah knew the crew had chosen Ethan as his waiting companion because of his relaxed demeanor. Nothing got to the guy.

  Noah couldn’t relate.

  “Not since this morning,” Noah said in a monotone. “You know she stayed up there last night?” They’d talked about it earlier, but for the life of him, Noah couldn’t remember what had been said.

  Ethan nodded without comment. If he was annoyed by the repeated information, he didn’t show it.

  “Right, yeah. Janie said something about trying to steal Bessie,” Noah said.

  Ethan frowned. Apparently they hadn’t talked about that.

  “Cynthia’s great-aunt,” Noah clarified.

  “Huh.” Ethan nodded, probably not understanding. Then again, unless a person had met Cynthia’s great-aunt—or her uncle, for that matter—they wouldn’t understand.

  “Janie said Cynthia was thinking through all the angles,” Noah said.

  “She seems reasonable,” Ethan said. “Zany, but intelligent. She strikes me as the kind of girl that relies heavily on facts and deductions. If you explain why you waited, she might have an easier time getting out of the way of her heart.”

  “It’s been less than a week since we reconnected. I have no idea how strongly she feels about me.”

  Ethan threw an arm over the lip of the hot tub. “Just as strongly as you feel about her, I’d wager.”

  Noah shook his head and looked away. He didn’t see how that could be the case. He loved her all the way down to his soul. While he had laughed at all of his buddies for falling so hard and fast for their women, the same thing had happened to him. It might’ve been because they’d all dated so many women over the last couple years, knowing what made them tick, and a woman who jibed with that was easy. It was a tall order to hope that it had happened to her, too.

  Silence fell between them, and while blackness pressed on Noah, Ethan projected a light and easy feeling. Noah appreciated it more than words could say. Still, it wasn’t fair for him to drag more people down.

  “You don’t need to hang out,” Noah said. “I’m sure you have things to do.”

  “I’m doing the things I have to do. I’m sitting here and taking in the day with a buddy while he deals with a nightmare. She’s a helluva girl. Perfect for you, and perfect for our group as a whole. I really hope it works out, brother.”

  Noah’s phone chimed and his heart leapt into his throat. He snatched at it, careful not to drop it in the water as he unlocked the screen.

  A text from Janie. Charlotte wanted a distraction from things. She chose working on Colton’s playground. The woman does not do peer pressure. I couldn’t get one drink into her. Thankfully, Aunt Bessie was another story. I’ve been banned from the Bell household.

  Janie had apparently taken a note out of Bessie’s book and re-named Cynthia.

  His thumbs flew as he typed back a response. Has she said anything about me?

  He waited impatiently, watching the little dots that indicated she was typing.

  “What’s up?” Ethan asked.

  “Bessie’s been rubbing off on Janie, apparently, and Cynthia has been working on the marketing plan for Colton as a distraction. Which means she isn’t thinking about me.”

  “I disagree. Women can think and feel about a hundred million things all at once. Her heart will be nagging at her mind. Maybe this is her way of cutting out the majority of the noise, and deciphering what comes through the loudest.”

  “Maybe,” Noah muttered, staring at the screen.

  Janie’s text finally came through. She’s been asking about your personality. About your habits. She’s asked the same things about Colton. Madison says Charlotte is trying to sort out true from false to better judge your real character or something. Charlotte was most interested in how you helped me with Dave’s mom. She asked for a lot of details. Kind of annoying, actually. Thank God for Bessie and her secret stash of whiskey. Btw plain butter is better than you think.

  Noah frowned at the screen. “I’m not sure Janie was the best one to go.”

  “No one better.” Ethan moved up so he was less immersed in the water; he was probably getting too hot. “Janie will give her right hand to help a friend. That makes her the best person to figure out what needs to be done, and to do it. Madison was convinced that if Janie went, all would work out. I have to agree.”

  A few moments passed in silence. His hands itched to text her again, to blow up her phone until she called him back—at the very least, to listen to her voicemail greeting over and over, just to hear her voice. Every time he reached for his phone, though, Ethan said, “Nope. Not wise.”

  An unbearable couple hours later, another chime sounded from his phone. A text, this one from Colton. Cynthia is here. Keep your distance. Let the girls handle it. Janie sounds confident, but she’s here to team up with Madison. Have faith, brother. It’ll work out.

  The whole crew had banded together to help him. That spoke volumes of their regard for Cynthia. If it was just him they cared about, they’d focus on consoling him and, eventually, helping him move on—not on helping him fix his fuck-up.

  “I should’ve just told her,” Noah said, mostly to himself.

  “That’s not an easy thing to tell. None of us have had to deal with it but you.” Ethan crawled out of the hot water and grabbed his towel. “C’mon. Let’s get out. Your skin is going to fall off.”

  “I told her about getting that scumbag off in the murder case, but I didn’t tell her about this. That’s so backward.”

  “Get out.” Ethan leaned down and flicked Noah on the side of the head.

  Noah scowled, but did as ordered, taking the offered towel.

  “Those two things are totally different,” Ethan said. “One is a legal system that you played, fair and square, and the other is completely illegal. I doubt you would’ve wanted to tell her you were a drug dealer, or an arms smuggler, or something. It was going to suck no matter how you did it. You tried to buy a couple days, and it didn’t work out. Here you are.”

  “It’s annoying how nonchalant you are about all this.”

  “Not really.” Ethan led them into the house and to the kitchen. “She’s going to be in Colton’s house now. Surrounded by all your friends. It’s just a matter of time before they break her down. Do yourself a favor. Get dressed, make sure you look like a million bucks, and be prepared to beg for your life.”

  Twenty-Five

  “Hey, are you listening to me?” Cynthia prodded Colton’s large shoulder. They sat at his messy desk upstairs in what passed for his office. She was trying to go over the outline she’d come up with in a cloud of misery and desperation. By focusing on work, she’d managed to block out how much she missed Noah. To stall on the decision she knew must come.

  Colton blinked, shook his head a little, and shifted, leaning closer to the computer screen. “Yup.”

&n
bsp; “It’s foolproof, I guarantee it. I’m borrowing from something my team did in one of my jobs. That was an amusement park, but it’s similar. I’ve tweaked parts, of course, and embellished others. Don’t think you’re just getting run-of-the-mill work here; I wouldn’t do that to you. Also, these graphics are rudimentary. You really need a digital designer—or Janie—to spruce them up. Oh. And part of the plan is to use Janie for all she’s worth. The murals will draw a crowd in itself. She has a big name, or Chris Perrin does. You need to use it. And if she tries to say no, just send her to me. She owes me after all the trouble she caused acting as my aunt’s accomplice. I’ll never live down bringing a friend like her over.”

  Colton frowned at the computer screen before looking down at the graphics for the ads she’d done. He shook his head slowly. “I get what you’re saying, mostly, but there is no way I’m going to be able to carry this out. I still haven’t worked through the other list you gave me, and you seemed to think that was a snap. I don’t have any experience in marketing.”

  “Well…” She leaned on the desk. “If you don’t mind me taking the lead on this, I could get it going for you. The only problem is, I’m not great about stopping and getting approval for each thing I implement.”

  Relief crossed Colton’s face. “Fine, whatever. Do your thing. Just keep the business in a positive light.”

  “Obviously. Branding is one of the items in the outline. I gave you two directions, but maybe I should do up some proposals so you can see them in action.”

  “Right…” Colton pushed back from the desk. He was definitely not as into all of this as she was. “I don’t have a lot of room left in my budget, so we’ll have to work out some sort of payment schedule—”

  “Nah.” She isolated her papers, pushing away the rest of the mess on the desk. She hated clutter when it came to her workstation. “This is a good challenge for me. I’ve put some nearly unreachable goals in here. Usually it would take a whole team to pull this off, but I think I can do it. I’ve got nothing else to do.”