by Demi Donovan
And something’s telling me that my feelings on the matter have very little to do with Robert Stephenson, and everything to do with his three sons.
“Well, I don’t have any proof,” Milan says dramatically, slamming her glass down and pushing the plate away from herself. “But a woman knows, you know? How else could he have met that Amy chick of his?”
“Andrea,” I correct.
“Whatever.”
I nod blankly and pop another forkful of my breakfast in my mouth. It tastes like ash.
Unwittingly, Milan has made me think about the one thing I’ve been trying to avoid in regards to the Stephensons. I didn’t need any more proof, circumstantial or not, to trust them less.
Like father, like son, after all.
Twenty-Four
Lily
After the impromptu brunch, I find myself without anything I need to do, and very little that I want to do.
With my conversation with Milan still firmly implanted in my mind, I decide to take a walk. I’m not sure if it’s the magnetic pull the Stephensons have on me or what, but I end up walking past the twins’ bungalow, the one place I promised I wouldn’t be coming back to this trip.
I steel myself to keep walking, aiming to head to the gardens that start behind their bungalow, but I hear familiar laughter that stops me in my track. Candice is giggling and Troy and Callum are roaring with laughter.
Before I can regain my senses and make my exit, Austin appears from behind the bungalow, carrying an empty tray of lemonade bottles.
“Hey, stranger,” he says with an easy grin, one that I’ve rarely seen on him. “Want to play some board games with us?” he asks.
Candice comes cruising around the corner as well and skids to a stop next to Austin, looking at me with those big blue eyes of hers. I can see the thoughts flitting over her expression.
“I won’t tell your mother,” I say quickly, and she breaks out in a grin.
“Great! Come play with us!”
How could I say no to that?
She waves me along and Austin chuckles, shaking his head. I go in with both of them and help Austin get more bottles of lemonade out of the bungalow’s small private kitchen, before heading out with him.
When we make it out to the back of the house, I’m greeted by the sight of the twins lounging casually on a big picnic blanket, evidently arguing over a game of Monopoly.
“You can be on my team, Lily,” Candice tells me matter of factly as we take a seat on the blanket.
The backyard, if you can call it that, is the first bit of the lavish gardens that the resort maintains. They’ve brought a blanket out under the shade of some palm trees and the scenery is absolutely beautiful.
I get a little weak at the knees, being in the presence of the three Stephenson ‘boys’, but I keep a straight enough face as Candice explains to me how far along they are in the game.
“Glad that you could join us,” Troy tells me with a wink.
I blush immediately.
“I wasn’t planning to. I-“
Callum holds up his hand and silences me.
“It doesn’t matter,” he tells me. “We’re just glad that you’re here.”
“And that you’re not telling my mom,” Candice adds.
I frown slightly at that, looking at the brothers for a clue. I said that because it was the first thing I could think of when seeing Candice’s worried expression. Now the question is, why did I think that she’s afraid of her mother knowing that she’s spending time with her brothers to begin with?
“Milan doesn’t like it when Candice is alone with us,” Austin explains, picking up on my confusion.
“She thinks we’re a bad influence,” Callum adds.
“Just like her father,” Troy finishes.
“Ah,” I say.
What a weird family.
Still, the note about Robert’s infidelity rings in my head then. It strikes way too close to home.
It falls away when we get into the game though.
Time passes quickly as we laugh and play in the garden. It’s an oddly intimate setting, though we’re out in the open where anyone can catch us. I sort of like it.
The brothers are so incredibly good with Candice. They tease her, but just enough, and they let her jab right back at them. They don’t go easy on her, or me for that matter, and how much they love this little girl is evident in every second.
It fills me with this nice, warm, fuzzy feeling. I’ve always wanted a big family and I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I was an only child. Seeing this dynamic, of a family that’s cobbled together from bits and pieces and not all even sharing the same blood, makes me think that this is exactly what family should be.
Together. Looking out for one another.
Which makes what Milan is doing to Candice, keeping her away from her brothers and her father, all the more difficult to digest.
What’s more, hanging out with the twins and Austin like this makes me wonder what they’d be like as fathers. I think they’d be great at it.
For an insane moment, I picture myself with a baby, and these three men with me, making sure that our little family is safe and sound. I think I space out a little, because Candice pinches my arm lightly at one point and I snap back.
“Earth to Lily,” she says, with the brothers looking at me with quiet amusement.
“You alright there, Lily?” Callum asks, wearing a slight smile.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” I rush to say, tucking back a strand of hair. “Where were we?”
I don’t even notice it but an hour turns into two and two turn into four and we’re still hanging out in the garden with Austin, Callum, Troy and Candice. It’s the most at peace I’ve felt in a long, long time. Something’s just right about it.
I can’t stop smiling.
I don’t want to stop smiling.
“Want to come help me get some snacks?” Troy asks during a lull in the game and I clamber up to my feet eagerly.
“Of course,” I say.
We walk out of eyesight of the rest of them and then Troy throws his arm over my shoulder, pulling me close to him. It’s not an inherently romantic gesture, more like something you’d do with someone you feel really close and comfortable with. I don’t flinch against it, instead letting myself lean into it.
“You’re in a good mood today,” he says lightly as we step into the bungalow.
“I think I am, now,” I say, giggling slightly.
It’s a good thing that their bungalow is a bit further than the main body of buildings. With how few people there are at the resort at the moment, it gives us more privacy than we could otherwise probably hope for.
Our little hideaway paradise. I wish it could last forever.
“Now?” he asks, cocking a brow at me as we make our way to the kitchen.
He pulls out materials from the refrigerator to make sandwiches and we both get to work around the kitchen island, side by side.
“You want to elaborate on that? We’re in a veritable paradise here, you’re supposed to be in a good mood all the time,” he says when I don’t immediately offer an explanation.
I shrug my shoulders, worrying my lower lip a little. I can’t talk to him or his brothers about the case or what Milan tells me, even if what she has told me makes me want to ask one question after another.
Like does Troy think Robert’s been unfaithful?
Has he ever been unfaithful to anyone?
Why did Austin’s marriage end?
Instead, I shake my head and choose to stick to my principles. That’s really the only thing that can get me through life without me having to look back on it with shame.
“It’s nothing. I had a tough morning but I really love hanging out with you and the rest of your family.”
“Well, let’s not go that far,” he laughs, nudging me with his shoulder. “I think we can safely remove some people from the equation. Like my stepmother.”
“I don�
�t know what you’re talking about,” I say, feigning innocence.
He laughs and I hide a private grin, cutting up cucumber slices for the sandwiches.
“Do you have a big family?” he asks then. “I don’t mean to pry, but I want to know more about you. No matter how things end up.”
There’s a hint of sadness in his tone. I look up at him and find myself staring into his soulful green eyes. Troy and Callum are known for their quick banter and harsh words when they’re on air, but I’ve found the twins to be sort of… irresistible. They’re rough around the edges and sometimes they’re absolutely infuriating, but my opinion has definitely changed about them.
Especially when I see them with their little sister.
“No, I don’t have a big family,” I tell him. “I always wanted one though. Thought I might even have one by now, or be starting it.”
I don’t know why I’m telling him this but the words just come out.
“You’ve got plenty of time,” he assures me.
“What about you? Do you want a big family?”
“I love kids,” he says, and my heart swells. “I’ve always figured I’d have at least four. But us Stephenson men don’t have the best luck with marriages, it seems.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, frowning.
Is he talking about Austin?
Considering Austin’s net worth and his status as a financial genius in New York City, it was surprising to me that his divorce was kept as quiet as it was. There was almost nothing in the tabloids – I know, I went and checked! It’s been eating me up inside, wondering what exactly caused his marriage to fall apart, but it felt far too personal to ask about.
Which in itself is ridiculous. I mean, I fucked him and his two stepbrothers at the same time. How much more intimate can you get, right?
“Well, my dad, for one. And Austin.”
“What about Austin?”
I bite my tongue, wishing I could stop being so damn nosy, but I really want to know. That tan line around his finger has been plaguing me and I’m not sure if I imagined it, but I think it haunts him too, somehow.
“You don’t know?” Troy asks, frowning.
I shake my head.
“He hates it when we bring her up… Selina. He didn’t use to be like that, you know. Dark and dreary and gloomy. At least not all the time. I keep thinking that she fucking broke him somehow.”
Troy shakes his head, his expression stern and his jaw set tightly. I can see the muscles in his arms flex. I don’t say a word, waiting for him to continue.
“She cheated on him.”
It feels like a kick in the gut. Not because of what it might mean to me, but because I know exactly how Austin must have felt like when he found out. It’s all too close to home.
I can feel my throat constricting and I keep my eyes on the task of assembling the sandwiches because if I don’t, I’m afraid I might tear up.
“It went on for years. We all knew. We told Austin and he wouldn’t believe us. He’d say that Selina wouldn’t do something like that to him. That she knew how important loyalty was to him. Growing up with our father, with him skipping through wives since my mother died… well, I guess it has left a mark on all of us.”
“And Austin’s seen it the most,” I say with a shaky voice, nodding my head as I cut sandwiches in half.
“Yeah. He used to be a playboy. Wouldn’t settle down with anyone. Sort of like Callum and I are… or, you know, were,” Troy says, nudging me again.
I smile slightly at that. The implication is not lost on me but I try not to make too much of it.
“Then he found Selina and everything changed. It was like he found what he was looking for and nothing else mattered anymore. They were married in six months and divorced five years later. He’s been a broken man since that ring came off… Up to the point that you came into our lives.”
I look up, expecting Troy to be grinning and joking around as usual, but he isn’t. He’s dead serious.
“I… I don’t know what you mean,” I say.
Fuck that. I know exactly what he means. I just can’t accept it because the enormity of what he’s suggesting is no less suffocating today than it was today. Life has taught me that I can’t have what I want and when I start thinking that I can, that’s when I get hurt.
I don’t want to get hurt anymore.
“Yeah, you do,” he tells me, calling me on my bullshit. “Listen, I don’t know what’s happened in your past, Lily, but I’d sure like to know. We all have things that we’re not proud of, that we wished had never happened, but we can heal. Together at least. Apart? Well…”
He looks up, shrugging his wide shoulders for a moment. Troy looks so grim like that. He’s the more serious one of the twins to begin with, but when he gets dark, he gets really dark.
“It’s not like we’re individually so fucking perfect right now to begin with. Together, we have a chance. Alone, I don’t think we’ll do so well.”
Somehow, these men have an uncanny ability of knocking the breath from my lungs every time I’m together with them. Whether it’s by showing me a side of myself that I didn’t even know existed, or baring their souls to me in ways that I had long ago stopped expecting from men, they’re full of surprises.
“I’ll think about it,” I tell him softly, basically repeating my words from yesterday.
Somehow, I had been sure that they would have forgotten about what they told me yesterday. That a good night’s sleep would clear their heads and make them realize that what they’re suggesting is fucking crazy. And yet here Troy is, telling me that the only way forward should be together.
And I almost believe him.
Twenty-Five
Lily
It’s almost dark when Candice and I finally excuse ourselves from the twins’ bungalow and walk back to the house she shares with Milan.
It has been a completely wholesome day – all we did was play board games, talk and laugh and then go for a swim in the evening – and I feel revitalized. I didn’t have a single hidden moment with one of the brothers, no stolen kisses, no nothing. And still I feel like a million bucks.
The theory I’ve been working with that this whole thing is just physical is starting to look less and less believable. I’m deep in thought, trying to figure out what my next great excuse will be, when Candice yawns and stretches her arms above her head mid-step.
I look down at her and grin. She’s an opinionated, tough little girl who won’t take any crap from anyone, yet she’s a sweet, thoughtful kid at the same time. Despite the madness of her family, they’ve done a really good job raising her right.
“So what do you think of this whole thing?” she asks me suddenly, noticing that I’m watching her.
“You’re going to have to be a bit more specific.”
“Nah, I don’t think so,” Candice quips with a smile. “You know, the thing with my mom and my dad, my brothers… what do you think of it?”
“I think life’s complicated,” I tell her, and she immediately rolls her eyes.
“That’s the biggest non-answer I’ve heard this week,” Candice says. “And I’ve heard several.”
I sigh. Like I said, she’s a great kid, but the problem with great kids is that they’re absolutely excellent at catching you on the spot.
“I think as long as you guys stick together, it’ll be fine. You’re very close with your brothers and your father from what I understand. They and your mom won’t let anything bad happen to you or the family, no matter how the divorce goes.”
I wasn’t exactly prepared to have discussions this deep with a teenager today, but I think we can safely say that it’s the Stephenson clan calling the shots for the last couple of weeks and maybe it’s high time that I get used to it.
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Candice says, suddenly grim.
“Do you want to expand on that?” I ask her, quirking a brow, calling her out like she did me.
“I don’t thi
nk there’s much my brothers or my dad can do if my mom decides on something,” Candice says vaguely.
I don’t have a chance to question her further on it as the tall two-story building is now right in front of us, bathed in dim, cozy lights. Milan and Mallory decided to share accommodations and grabbed one of the bigger family-style buildings in the resort.
“Thank you for walking me over,” Candice says, looking tentatively at her front door.
“No problem. And we can go and do that surf class tomorrow if you want. I have like no balance so we can fall into the waves over and over again together.”
“That sounds cool!”
It was Callum who offered that we should go and grab a class after seeing the way Candice and I were watching surfers tackle the waves. I’m eager for any activity that gets my mind off of the brothers and Candice seems to have plenty that she’s eager to not deal with as well. We make the perfect partners in crime in that sense.
We wave at each other and Candice skips off, making a beeline for the front door. I half-expect her to throw it shut behind her with a bang, but she’s surprisingly gentle with the door, shutting it almost soundlessly. I don’t make much of it and continue on my path past the house, which requires rounding it to get to the beach path that would take me to my bungalow.
I’m taking a deep breath, letting the emotions of the day roll around in my head, when I notice the lace on one of my sneakers has come loose. I kneel down in the shadows to tie it, when suddenly familiar voices catch me off guard.
“I think she’s in her room now,” Milan says, obviously having waited for Candice to get out of earshot.
I frown, looking around for the source of the voice. She and Mallory are on the first floor balcony, lounging in recliners around a small fire pit that illuminates their faces, both holding a glass of wine. I try to loop the laces on my shoe quickly, but not quick enough.
“Are you sure you want to do that, Milan?” Mallory asks.