by Bijou Hunter
“Oversee house remodeling projects. I assume they’ll need help managing all the businesses too, but they don’t seem to have thought that far out. They’re panicked about the work, and they don’t trust anyone which is typical Johansson. Pop could have delegated a lot of legal and business stuff if he weren’t paranoid about everyone outside of our family and the Reapers.”
“You didn’t want to work for the family business.”
“No, but that’s because Pop doesn’t need me. He has everything running so smoothly these days that he barely gives Colton anything to do. I’d be getting a pity salary, and that isn’t how I want to live. But here, it’d be real work, and we’d have a say in stuff, and I’m kinda curious on what it’ll be like once we’re done.”
“But your mom,” Sissy whispers.
Despite the panic in her voice, I smile at her meaning. Sissy’s love for Farah Johansson rivals her hero-worshipping of Lily. Not that I blame her. Sissy’s mother was never gentle, so Farah’s kind treatment is bound to be addictive.
“It’s only an hour away,” Lily says, clearly talking herself into this choice. “We could visit a few times a month just like how Audrey and Cap drive up from Tennessee. During the summer break from school, Mom could stay with us too.”
“Us,” Sissy says, worrying about getting left behind. “I can’t come, though.”
Already edgy from the double hot guy attention, Sissy quickly spirals at the thought of us leaving her behind. Before I can step up with reassuring words, Lily takes over.
“You’re coming too. If you can’t, we don’t. It’s a package deal.”
Eyes full of tears, Sissy shakes her head. “No, you shouldn’t miss out because of me.”
“What about me?” Lily asks, now tearing up. “I need my best friend with me.”
“Ladies, if I might,” I say as they console each other with hugs. “I have an idea.”
“What?”
“We just do whatever we want.”
“But Topher.”
“What’s he going to do? I was thinking about how the school in Ellsberg doesn’t call him if there are problems. He isn’t even on the emergency contact list. So doesn’t that mean they don’t know he’s the kids’ guardian? If so, then moving here and enrolling them shouldn't be a problem. And what’s Topher going to do? Show up with a lawyer?”
“Here’s what I was wondering,” Lily says, taking both our hands. “You never said you went to court. Was there even a lawyer involved in the custody paperwork?”
Sissy shakes her head, and I don’t recall anything beyond Topher announcing my sister wasn’t guardian anymore because she was a loser and couldn't take care of her kids. I don’t even remember the Child Services woman finalizing anything with Sissy.
“Does he even have custody?” Lily asks when we remain silent. “Or did he just say he had it?”
“I signed the papers.”
“He can’t just print something out and have you sign it and claim he is their legal guardian. I’m fairly certain the courts would need to sign off. Otherwise, people would just sign their kids over to family members all the time in Ellsberg.”
“So I have custody?” Sissy asks, unwilling to get her hopes up.
“I think the monster cad lied. I bet he even got those women to show up to scare you. Then he said he fixed it, but there’s nothing legal about what he did. I bet if we called up Child Services they’d say they closed the complaint because they didn’t find anything. I bet they even said something to that effect or sent paperwork saying that, but Topher pretended otherwise. Or worse, they might not have even been Child Services. Topher is so awful he could have made the entire thing up.”
“And I’m so stupid I believed him.”
“I believed him too,” I point out.
“You’re stupid then too,” she says, fighting a smile. “The fourth dummy.”
“Yeah, and speaking of dummies, we have those idiots coming from Ohio soon. Why not get them to ask Topher about the guardianship? If he’s lying, he’ll get tripped up by their questions. It’s not like he’ll be expecting them to ask.”
“Why would they help me?” Sissy asks.
I think to mention how Haydee might be one of the idiots’ daughter, but there’s no reason to rub salt in that old wound. My cousins don’t need a reason to mess with Topher.
“We remind them of how Topher killed off so many Mullens, and now there’s no one left to run anything.”
“He killed their daddies.”
“Moms too. Now he’s running the business into the ground.”
“He’ll blame us.”
“Yes, but he’ll be cornered. Fuck, they might even end up killing him if Topher lashes out.”
“And we’d be free.”
Sissy exhales deeply, momentarily optimistic, but then reality comes crashing down.
“What would I do in Conroe? I don’t have skills.”
“You know math.”
“Adding is little kid stuff.”
“You can subtract too,” I say, and Lily rolls her eyes.
“You can do lots of stuff,” Lily says, taking over. “You both help run the Mullen business, and we can use those skills in Conroe. You can be project managers too.”
“Sounds hard.”
“We’ll have a list of tasks the workers need to do. You just make sure they do them in the right order and using the right materials. That’s not hard.”
Sissy looks around and sighs. “I don’t know.”
“Let’s step back a second,” I say before the women get teary-eyed again. “We have been in Conroe for like an hour. We can’t decide anything yet. Sissy, you need to go downstairs and see your kids. I should warn you there are many other children around, and they are very loud.”
Sissy looks at Lily, and I know she wants permission to bail. When my sister gets this wound up, only her kids will settle her back down. They’re the one good thing she’s ever accomplished.
“We’ll hang out later,” Lily reassures Sissy who nearly bolts out of the room once she gets the green light. Once we’re alone, Lily whispers, “I worry I’m pushing her too fast to change.”
“You probably are, but nothing’s gone slow and gentle since you outed our relationship. We’re on a speeding train right now, so let’s just strap ourselves in and see what the fuck happens.”
Lily grins at my enthusiasm, but I feel her building barriers to prevent this great leap. If she decides Ellsberg is where she belongs, I won’t put up a fight. Our address and my job title don’t mean shit to me. As long as I have Lily next to me, I’m already living the dream.
THE PRINCESS
Pop taught me long ago to fear a pitch where the salesperson is in a hurry for you to agree. Don’t trust your judgment, he said. Step back and let your common sense kick in before you agree to something you can’t walk back.
So I don’t jump feetfirst into the idea of moving to Conroe. Dash and I sit in the pool room, enjoying the quiet.
“I think I might be able to get my cousins to deal with Topher,” he says when our lips part.
“If not, I’m asking Pop to kill him.”
“Damn,” Dash says, laughing. “Lily Bear’s got her claws out.”
“I’m fed up with his behavior. I want him dead, and I want Sissy to get a chance to live her own life. I know you can walk away, but she can’t as long as he’s around.”
“If we moved here, he wouldn’t follow. Topher’s evil is Ellsberg specific. He’s even better behaved up in Columbus because he’s out of his element. So Sissy can get away even if he does have custody. We just go, and he’ll have to deal with the new reality. Fucking hell,” he says, laughing. “He’ll have to run the entire business alone since Cy remains a no-show. Topher can’t do it on his own, and he’ll get pressure from my cousins and your dad just because he’s fucking up their income stream.”
Exhaling, I rub my stomach protectively. “It’s easy to imagine moving here when we’re i
n this house, and we just left Ellsberg. I think I just want to walk down the street without anyone giving us side-eyes.”
“Then let's give it a try here and see if the anonymity is worth moving.”
“We also get the Victorian.”
“Lil, you know I’d live in a fucking shed if it made you happy.”
“I know, but the Victorian is supposed to be huge. We could easily turn it into a duplex so Sissy would be right next door like my plan in Ellsberg. There might even be enough space for Hart and Haydee to get their own rooms.”
“Don’t spoil Mullens. We don’t do well with excess.”
“Don’t worry,” I whisper as my fingers tickle under his jaw. “NO matter how upscale the house we live in is, we’ll still eat your favorite trashy desserts.”
“Ambrosia salad is the fucking bomb,” he says with complete sincerity. “I was hoping you’d start craving it while baking our mutt so he’d get a taste for my bloodline.”
“We’ll see,” I say and lean closer. “I feel like maybe Conroe is where the misfit toys go, but I think I might be too conventional, dull even, to fit in here.”
Dash bursts into laughter while cuddling me closer. “What about Grunge-Delta or Stoned-Lily or any of the other non-dull sides of my Lily Bear?”
Giggling at his amusement, I do miss my grunge look. Brushing my hair has always felt overrated, and I rock flannel. That Lily wouldn’t work at the pharmacy, but who knows how she might feel in this hick town.
“Moving here is a harebrained idea, right?”
“Why?” Dash asks, still amused by my earlier comment. “It’s a town where you have family, friends, a job offer, and home lined up. That’s more than a lot of people who move. And like you told Sissy, you’d be close to Ellsberg so you wouldn’t get too homesick.”
“All good, but I’m afraid to make a mistake.”
“Don’t start getting cold feet now. You’ve been full-on balls to the walls for weeks. Maybe this move isn’t what you really want, but don’t chicken out.”
“Bach-bach,” I say, making my lamest chicken noises.
“I’m more like ‘baa-baa.’”
Before I can make more farm animal noises, my stomach gets into the act with its impression of a growling dog. Dash and I walk hand in hand back to the living room where Gram welcomes me with cheese.
“It’s not melted,” she says, pretending to feel bad. “I’ve heard how you love a good fondue.”
Lots of snickering at my expense occurs while Dash whispers that my fondue parties are sexy. I smile at his comment, but I’m more interested in the cheese.
“So are you moving here?” Bailey asks while I stuff my mouth with cheddar cubes.
“I don’t know. More food, please.”
Sawyer appears next to Bailey. “Feed her so she’ll agree.”
Their frantic nature makes me edgy, and I wonder if I’d enjoy working with them. My pop might treat me like a kid, but there’s only one of him. Two people bossing me around might have me running back to Ellsberg.
I’m leaning very heavily toward telling them no until the entire group of us heads out for dinner. Bailey makes a pit stop before we invade a local buffet so she can show us the Queen Anne Victorian.
“Oh,” I groan, and Dash wraps me in his arms protectively.
“Are you in pain?”
“No, I think I just had an orgasm,” I whisper, and he snorts.
With a vast stone porch, the house provides sapphire blue clapboard siding along with peacock blue trim, bay windows, and a large tower. Each unit in my Ellsberg duplex is a tight thousand square feet, but this place is massive. Inside, we find four small apartments, but the layout allows for an easy remodel into a duplex. Sissy and the kiddos would have so much room, and Dash and I could expand our family if we wanted.
“What do you really think?” I ask Dash and Sissy when we’re sitting at the buffet. “I won’t be upset if you hate it here.”
“The yard is perfect for the kids,” Dash says and nudges his frazzled sister. “It’s like Lily’s cool duplex style mixed with our dumpy house’s yard.”
Sissy can’t dream of moving here until she’s truly free of Topher. Yet I noticed her eyes when we were looking around the house. She also mentions three times how we could all sit on the porch together. Yeah, Sissy is on board if we are, but I worry about rushing Dash.
“House is good,” he says that night while we rest in bed. “The job situation sounds interesting. Your aunts slightly terrify me, but Nick is a good guy. I’ve always liked Phoebe and Leo. Plus, it’d be cool having the kids attend the same elementary school Nick works at, just like how they see your mom at school now. I like it all, but we haven’t really tested out the walking-down-the-street thing.”
So the next day we do walk around the main street of Conroe with its small shops. We get coffee at one place and then walk two doors down to enjoy a slice of pizza before walking away to try a scoop of rocky road ice cream. Classic small-town Americana, Conroe isn’t exciting, but no one gives us a second thought. They might suspect one of us is a Johansson, but they’ve never even heard of the Mullen family.
This place is perfect.
THE CHAPTER WHERE THE MULLEN FAMILY DOES WHAT IT DOES BEST
THE LOSER
After our trip, Ellsberg feels like a drag, and I blame Sissy. Not only is she tense since we returned, but she refuses to leave her hair pool-party-poofy. I miss her wild waves plus she smiled a lot during the weekend away. She and the kids spent most of the Saturday evening and Sunday morning in the pool. Lily and I had to finally drag them out so we could return to Ellsberg where none of us want to be any longer.
To make matters worse—or better if we hope to be proactive—our idiot cousins arrive from Columbus.
Lloyd and Clyde are big guys. Like Cooper in height and shoulder size, but wide as in they drink too much and refuse to eat anything that hasn’t been deep-fried. The huge twosome prepared a speech for us with lots of threats and ultimatums. Unfortunately for them, Sissy is so on edge that she bursts into tears the moment they arrive at the house by the lot.
“What’s her problem?” Clyde asks, scratching at his scruffy jaw.
“She worries about the family business,” I lie since I get a sense I best keep the custody push on the down-low until I know what Dumb and Dumber have planned.
“Where’s Cy?”
“Gone,” I say and shrug while standing next to a now sniffling Sissy. “Dead or hiding. Who knows? He’s probably shacked up with a woman somewhere.”
Clyde and Lloyd look at each other and adjust their dirty trucker hats. “So is he how come the money is shit here?”
“Money is always slow around the holidays.”
“How come?”
In my head, I scream “for fuck’s sake” before explaining—again—how a college town works. They nod as if they understand, but then ask how come we’re making less money.
“My loser twat son ran off,” Topher growls from the doorway, startling everyone. Much like an old alley cat, the man knows how to lurk. I try not to stare at my father despite this being the first time I’ve seen him since his face exploded. I sense he’s wearing dentures, but his bruises have unfortunately healed. “What are you fuckers doing here?”
“We said we were coming.”
“And I said to fuck off,” Topher snarls, overly aggressive even for him.
Sissy’s tears ended the second she heard Topher’s voice. Her fear of the cousins can’t compare to a dread born of daily terrorism by our father. She hopes to disappear, inching away from where Topher circles the cousins.
“We have an agreement,” Lloyd tells Topher. “You claimed you could run shit on your own, and the rest of us stayed out of Ellsberg. You’re failing.”
Topher smiles at the comment and lights a cigarette. The more relaxed he pretends to be, the edgier I get. Is he insane enough to do to the cousins what he did to their parents? Topher’s ability to wipe out large
parts of the Mullen family was always based on his sneakiness. He never killed anyone in front of witnesses. People just disappeared, and everyone assumed he was the reason, but he never had the balls to take on anyone with an audience.
More than once in the last few weeks, I’ve wondered if Topher is why Cy never came back and doesn’t respond to texts. Did my brother return to find a vengeful Topher? In the old man’s mind, someone needed to pay for the humiliation of having Cooper Johansson bash his face in, and Sissy and I weren’t available. Plus, we were somewhat protected by Lily’s influence.
Are we still safe or is Topher prepared to burn our family to the ground today? My gut begs me to run. Topher’s smiling face makes me think I ought to grab Sissy and take off before we’re dragged into whatever he has planned for Clyde and Lloyd.
Or maybe I’m ready to bolt over nothing. Does Topher have the balls to take them on at once? His MO would be to take them out for a meal and drinks. Once they’re drunk, he’ll have free rein to get rid of one or both of these clueless wonders.
Despite their lack of brain power, the Ohio dipshits seem to realize Topher’s smiling too much. Clyde’s jaw clenches, and his hand slides for his jacket pocket. If these two idiots start shooting, I don’t know if any of us will get out alive.
“Sissy, go clean yourself up,” I whisper, hoping to get my sister out of the crosshairs.
Wiping her eyes, she makes a beeline for the bathroom. Topher attacks suddenly. He throws himself on her back, causing my sister to hit the ground hard. She cries out in shock and pain. Then he flips her onto her back and straddles her. He raises his fist and I rush at him.
Feeling me coming, Topher pulls his gun. The muzzle is a foot from my face. I can’t breathe as I imagine dying today and never meeting my boy. Frozen, I put up my hands to show him I’m no threat.
“You and I don’t need these fuckers,” he says, smiling his creepy grin while still pointing the gun. “You were the only smart one of the bunch.”
I swallow hard, stuck between rage and fear. No way do I want to die, but I can’t listen to the repeated thuds of his pistol against Sissy’s hands that she uses to hide behind. Unable to bash in her face, he takes her by the hair and slams her head against the floor.