Her small eyes scanned the sheet quickly, widening as they did. “Well… I guess I could consider it.”
“Good. The house is going to shit without you.”
One corner of her lips twitched at that. “But what about you? I’m not going to go back to take orders from you of all people.”
I folded my arms. “Seriously? What exactly is your deal with me, Janey? You know you haven’t been perfect throughout our acquaintanceship either.” Yeah, I felt bad for her, but there was a line.
She bit her lip. “Yeah, I guess so. Would you be my boss though?”
She’d decided to ignore my question, but whatever. I was only interested in getting her the job back, I had no real desire to mend fences and become bosom buddies. “No. We can stay out of each other’s way. Unlike you, I’m not the type to take revenge.”
She winced. “Okay, then. I’ll email Jude my counteroffer.”
“Back to work on Monday?”
“Monday it is.”
I reached out and snagged the Cheeto bag from her hands. “It looks like you’ve had plenty of these ‘til then.”
“Bitch!” She shouted as I walked down the hall, popping a few Cheetos in my mouth. But I heard the smile in her voice.
6
Jude
Brooklyn came home from her errand with a sneaky smile and orange-dusted fingertips.
“We’re about to leave,” I said, giving her the once over. “You ready?”
“Just gotta wash my hands,” she went into the bathroom and came out a moment later. “So… Janey’s set to start Monday but you should expect an email from her first. She said she’ll have to give you a counteroffer.”
I rolled my eyes; so that was what her little errand was about. I still didn’t fully understand why this was such a big deal to her, but whatever characteristic in her this situation showed, I respected the hell out of it.
“Fine,” I said. “Me and Lila have control of the reins for the first time, why not splurge a little? While we’re at it, I can think of another Carlisle Manor employee who deserves a raise…”
“I don’t work here anymore,” she said with a sassy wiggle of her hips that drove me wild. “Someone fired me, remember?”
“That’s true,” I said, pushing her gently backwards onto my bed and leaning over her, our lips nearly touching. “So, no employee harassment to worry about.”
The door flew open behind us. “Hello?” It was Lila, hand on her hip. “Aiden is waiting for us at the ‘restaurant’. We definitely don’t have time for this.”
“Ugh.” I stood up and pulled Brooklyn up as well. Then I realized what Lila was wearing. “Lila… are you wearing jeans?”
She did a twirl. “I am! Can you believe it? And I have to say, I think I’m rocking them.”
They voted that I would drive, so they could drink without worrying. The Village Pub was just a few miles from the house. I used to go there to flirt with townie chicks without Margeaux finding out. That was one foot that would never cross that particular doorway, no matter who she was dating.
Lila seemed to be struggling some as we walked through the doorway into the dark interior. This was the kind of place that had dollar bills taped to the wall with scrawled messages, and the bathroom stalls had Sharpie’d numbers and curses. They had the best cheese fries you’d ever taste, though.
Aiden was at a table in the back. He stood as soon as we entered, kissed Lila and pulled out a chair for her. The picture of the perfect gentleman. So, why were the hairs on the back of my neck standing up?
“Lila Carlisle, you look breathtaking” he said to her, and then turned to me. “Good to see you outside the station,” he joked, shaking my hand.
“Yeah,” I said shortly, dropping into my seat.
When I didn’t pull out Brooklyn’s, he jumped up and pulled her chair out for her with a grin that made me want to punch him in the face. I glared at him. The fuck was that?
Brooklyn gave an awkward little giggle and sat. The four of us, all seated thanks to the idiot across the table from me, sank into silence.
“So, what you do guys want to drink?” Aiden waved over the waitress. “Jude, vodka tonic?”
That was exactly what I wanted, but I was too stubborn to admit it. “I’ll take a beer,” I told the waitress instead.
“Whiskey neat for me,” Brooklyn said, earning her a raised eyebrow look from Aiden.
“Impressive,” he said through a whistle.
“Can I see your wine list, please?” Lila asked, and I bit back a laugh. Shit, we really should have walked her through this before we took her out in public.
“She’ll take a Chardonnay,” Brooklyn piped in with a warm smile at the waitress, who popped her gum and left. Lila shot Brooklyn a grateful look, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t mean a lot to me to see the two of them bonding.
Aiden seemed to have sat back and watched all of this silently. Maybe that’s what I didn’t like about him, his tendency to watch quietly, to fade into the background soaking up everything happening around him like a judgmental sponge. Considering he was a cop after all, and a detective to boot, that personality trait made sense. So maybe I should cut him a break.
Nah.
“So, Aiden. You from here?” I asked, my tone a little bit too loud.
He smiled as if he knew exactly what I was doing. “Born and raised,” he confirmed.
“But we’ve never met? Seems strange. Hampshire is an awfully small town,” I said, leaning in just a little.
He shrugged. “Well, I didn’t go to private school.”
“Oh, did you go to public? Maybe we know some of the same people,” Brooklyn piped in.
He shifted in his seat. “I doubt it, I actually grew up closer to the docks.”
“Where by the docks? Eastside? Oak Marina? Craw Landing?”
Lila glared at me. “Enough with the inquisition,” she said through gritted teeth. “I’m starving,” she said in a bright tone. “Aiden, you’re the expert, what should we get here?”
I almost fell out of my chair. Who was this bubbly, flexible date? The Lila I knew refused to even share an appetizer with someone, she was so picky and hell bent on having exactly what she wanted.
He grinned and put his arm around the back of her chair. “The cheese fries are absolutely the best. You have to get those.”
Fuck, now I couldn’t even get my cheese fries.
Below the table, Brooklyn squeezed my knee. Partly in warning, and partly to tell me to chill. I took a breath and tried to relax. I mean, we hadn’t even ordered yet.
Pull back a notch, or Lila will have your testicles later fried up to her pleasure.
The waitress came back with our drinks. “You ready to order?” she asked, looking bored.
“A burger please,” I said.
“I’ll take the hot wings,” Brooklyn said.
The waitress and Brooklyn and I looked at Lila, but she just turned an expectant smile on Aiden.
“Yeah, the lady here will take the house salad, I’ll get the chicken sandwich, and can we get an order of cheese fries to share?”
The waitress nodded and left.
I opened my mouth to ask Lila when she had lost her voice, but she kicked me sharply under the table. Damn twin intuition. I shut my mouth with a snap and took a sip of beer.
“So, Jude, tell me about growing up with Lila,” Aiden said with a possessive hand on my sister’s shoulder.
“Not much to tell,” I said, taking out a cigarette and putting it between my lips. “She’s always been the same. Used to joke she came out of the womb fully formed. She had a full personality for as long as anyone can remember. That’s what our nannies always said at least.”
Brooklyn leaned her head on my shoulder. “And how about Jude, then?” she asked Lila.
Lila leaned across the table and snatched away my cigarette, lighting it herself and taking a drag. “Jude was always a troublemaker, even before he could get into any real tro
uble. But I’m sure that doesn’t surprise you, Brooklyn.”
“Hm, you know, it doesn’t,” Brooklyn said through a soft giggle.
“And your mom?” Aiden looked at Lila. “Were you guys ever close?”
Lila cocked her head to the side and blew the smoke towards the wall behind us. “You know, I can’t ever remember feeling close to her, even when we were little. Can you, Jude?”
I shook my head.
“She was never very nurturing, you know?” Aiden nodded, as if he knew. “I think she just had us and passed us to the nanny, glad all of her work was done.”
“Tell me about your dad,” he said, leaning his chin on his hand and looking at her.
They had eyes only for each other. I took my cigarette back from Lila, grabbed my beer, and nudged Brooklyn. “C’mon, let’s go play a game of darts.”
The lovebirds didn’t even look up as we left the table. I took a drag of my cigarette and started pulling the darts from the board furthest from our table.
Brooklyn took one from me. “You’re doing alright, but there’s definitely room for improvement,” she said, aiming and then throwing her dart a few inches off the bullseye.
I threw mine and it didn’t land even close to the bullseye. “Yeah?”
“Yep.” She snagged a sip of my beer. “You could try a little bit harder to act like you don’t totally hate the guy.”
“But why?” I took another shot and got within spitting distance of the target.
“Because it’s important to Lila,” she said, giving me a look.
“Guys! Food’s here!” Lila called from across the bar.
“Let’s go,” Brooklyn said, draining my beer and tossing the last dart where it smacked dead center. “Bullseye,” she said, without looking back.
Damn, she was hot.
Red was the only thing that got me through the rest of that interminable dinner, listening to Aiden ask Lila everything about our childhood and the two of them moon over the most mundane shit you could possibly imagine. Honestly, I could barely finish my burger.
I nearly had to drag Lila out of the bar when it was time to go, after Aiden made a big show of paying for all of us.
“Thanks man,” I said, and went out to get the car and leave the rest of them to work through goodbyes. We’d parked two streets down and I still ended up waiting for them out front of the bar.
Finally, after honking the horn a few times, they came out. Aiden waved from the doorway.
I waved back, a big fake grin on my face. “Bye, asshole!” I said, knowing in the dark he couldn’t see me.
Lila and Brooklyn slid into the car and I started the drive home.
“Thanks for inviting us, Lila,” Brooklyn said from the backseat. She was sweet like that, always the first to take the backseat or offer the last fry. Another thing I found irresistible about her. There had never been a whole lot of sweetness in my life.
“Of course!” Lila was using that bubbly voice again, and it sounded wrong as hell coming from her of all people. “So, what did you guys think?”
“I don’t like him,” I said flatly, not taking my eyes off the road.
“Jude!” Brooklyn hissed from the back.
“No, I want to make it clear. Obviously, Lila, you can date who you want, but I want to go on the record saying that I don’t like him.”
“What is there possibly not to like about him?” Lila demanded, shooting daggers at me from the passenger seat.
“Hm, let’s see. I don’t like how he looks at you. Or talks for you. I don’t like his smug smile. There’s something oddly possessive about him in a bad way, and I just don’t like him in general. There’s something about the guy that’s off.”
“You’re being ridiculous,” Lila huffed. “Don’t you think, Brooklyn?” She twisted in her seat to face Brooklyn, and I prepared myself to be ganged up on.
“Actually…” Brooklyn’s voice was hesitant. “I’m sorry, Lila, but I have to agree.”
“What?” Lila said, her mouth agape.
She had managed to shock us both.
“I’m sorry, really I am but I want to be honest with you as well. Obviously, we don’t know him like you do, and maybe we need to get to know him better but…” Brooklyn caught my eye in the rearview mirror. “Jude’s right, there’s something off.”
“Like what exactly? And no more ‘it just is’ bullshit answers from either of you.”
“Like…” Brooklyn trailed off, looking for an example, so I jumped in.
“Like what do you really know about him? I mean, he spent the whole night asking stuff about you, about us and our family. And he kept calling you ‘Lila Carlisle’.”
“Well that’s my name.”
“Yeah, but he said it at least three times,” I said. “That’s pretty weird.”
“So, it’s weird he says my name and it’s weird he asks me questions about myself?” she asked skeptically. “Yeah, you’ve got me there, Jude.”
“But what do you know about him, Lila?” Brooklyn said. “Because he’s right, he only wanted to ask you questions all night long.”
“I know he’s a detective, I know he’s 27, we all found out he’s from here,” she lost steam there. “I… guess that’s it.”
“The only other thing I would say besides that,” Brooklyn said slowly, “is something I always look for when I meet someone new.”
“What, how well they clean?” Lila asked sarcastically.
I turned to her. “Hey,” I said sharply. “Uncalled for.”
“He’s right, shit, Brooklyn. I’m sorry. Habit or something,” she said, sounding genuinely apologetic.
“Whatever. What I look for is how they treat staff, like waiters or cashiers. It tells you a lot more than you’d think about who a person really is.”
“And?” Lila asked, interested despite herself.
“And he was pretty shitty,” Brooklyn admitted. “He wouldn’t even make eye contact once with the waitress. When we left, I snuck a look at the bill. All that food and all those drinks we got, and you know what he tipped her? Three bucks.”
“Seriously?” The Carlisles were raised to be excellent tippers. I guess it was due to the real truth in what Brooklyn said. Going around and tipping shitty, or even tipping just decent when the whole town knew you were rich was a surefire way to get people to hate your guts. Mom had always taught us to tip 30-40% minimum. She usually did 100%, sometime 200%, because to her, every vote counted and that was just an easy way to hopefully buy one.
“Well… he’s not rich like us, you know,” Lila finished lamely.
Brooklyn cleared her throat in the backseat.
“Okay, okay, I get it. God!” Lila put her face in her hands. “I’ll think about what you guys said, but seriously, I do really like him. Maybe there’s an explanation behind all of this, you know?”
“Sure,” I said. We were almost home anyway, and we’d ganged up on her enough. “Everyone in for a movie?”
7
Lila
We spent the evening cozy in the basement living room, which was one of the few rooms in the house that allowed for comfort since it was out of sight.
While Brooklyn and Jude cuddled and threw popcorn at each other throughout the horror movie we’d picked, I ruminated on what they’d said. Were they right? Was there something wrong with Aiden?
I didn’t sleep very well, my mind turning over the facts. The thing was, I was logical at heart. People who saw my perfectly maintained hair and curated outfits never thought so, but I was a science nerd at heart. And logic was my Bible. Logically, nothing they said really made sense, except for Brooklyn’s point about the tip. Even I was bothered by that.
I looked down as my phone buzzed with an incoming text.
7:01 AM
Good morning, beautiful. Can I see you today? I miss you already.
My heart warmed at the sight of this message. Was I really going to end something so promising because of one tip? What if he�
�d made a mistake? Or what if we’d spent more than he had and that was all he could give? I mean, really, that waitress’s problems were hardly mine.
I responded with a smile on my face and an ache in my loins I desperately wanted to put out.
7:02 AM
I’m ready when you are XXX
I hated it as soon as I sent it. Did it sound desperate? Should I have said I was busy? These were the questions Margeaux would be able to answer. She was the queen of the snappy text. I flipped my phone in my hand, debating on whether or not to open that door and text her.
No. I couldn’t. The things she’d done were too far. I couldn’t forgive the way she’d treated Jude, even if I did miss my best friend.
I got dressed for the day, thinking that I’d go shopping later to grab some jeans now that I was hooked, when I heard a commotion downstairs. I didn’t think too much of it, there was always some shit going down at this house.
Until I heard Jude’s voice.
“Lila, come down here!”
“What?”
There was no reply. Fine, I’d go to him. As I walked down the stairs, I could hear shouting, and the sound of something rolling? What was going on.
Jude and Brooklyn were at the foot of the stairs, her hand resting on his wrist, as if both to reassure him and to be ready to hold him back if necessary. There was a flood of uniformed men measuring everything in sight, making lists, and shouting orders to one another.
“Jude?” I said. “What’s going on?”
And then I saw my mother.
8
Jude
I could feel both Lila and Brooklyn shrinking at the sight of Mother, home from jail. What the fuck was going on? And thanks a lot for the head’s up, Aiden. What good was my sister dating the asshole cop if he wouldn’t warn us when something like this was happening?
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I asked her.
She was standing in the doorway, a look of utter triumph on her face as the marshals catalogued and wheeled items out of the house.
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