She clearly already knows about me, and from the smile on her face, has been looking forward to this moment. “Come on!” She holds out her hand, which I take, and leads me through the tastefully decorated, yet comfortable, living room and into the kitchen. My focus bounces from the white cabinets and marble counters that are eerily similar to ours, to Dad and—my mouth goes dry.
Before he left, I knew how to handle Dad in any situation. As long as I held my head high and kept my gaze steady, I could get through anything. But that was Before. Now there’s a strange woman standing in my mother’s place, clutching Dad’s arm like a lifeline, and my years of training unravel around me.
What do I call this woman who could pass for my mother a decade earlier? Her blond hair is styled differently and her clothes aren’t tailored, but she’s beautiful. Despite her tight smile there’s a calming aura around her. And there’s a rock on a very important finger on her left hand.
Fiancée. She’s his fiancée.
Piper bounces to her side and I realize this woman is as nervous as I am.
Dad clears his throat. “Brianna, this is—”
The Seconds. In the flesh.
“—Susan. And you met Piper.”
Piper beams up at me, oblivious to the tension in the room. “He’s your dad too, right?” I stumble back, but Piper keeps going. “I’ve never had a sister before! Do you want to play in my room?” She flits around the kitchen, waving her imaginary wand.
“Piper, we’re going to visit a bit before lunch. Why don’t you go wash up?” Susan’s voice is soft yet commanding, and there’s not a hint of the frustration or annoyance that I grew up with. Piper doesn’t wince or roll her eyes—she simply twirls out of the room, leaving us alone. Susan steps forward and extends her hand. “It’s lovely to meet you after all this time.” She and Dad exchange a brief look but her smile doesn’t falter. “I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances.”
I shake her hand—it’s cool yet firm—and she doesn’t shrink away from me or try to exert dominance. She simply welcomes me to her home. I get that detached feeling again, like I’m watching us from across the room. Watching Dad watch us. He shifts from one foot to the other, no doubt waiting for me to cause a scene, but while I have every right to hate this woman, something about her makes me want to curl up on the couch with one of the knit blankets. After several moments I find my voice. “Thanks for inviting me.” I may not have had much choice in the matter but I know my manners, especially when Frank Vines is standing next to me.
“Would you like anything to drink? There’s fresh water in the teapot, or I could make coffee.”
“Water’s fine.”
She moves through the kitchen with an ease I don’t feel, grabbing a glass from the cabinet and filling it with filtered water from the door in the fridge. When she sets it on the counter in front of me, the clink of glass on marble echoes through the otherwise silent room. I don’t think Dad has moved since I got here. Susan gestures to a round table under the window overlooking the backyard, and I carry my glass to one of the wooden chairs.
Dad finally relaxes when he sits, but he lets Susan lead the conversation. She asks about school and my interests, and on the outside it’s a perfectly normal afternoon, except this is my father’s mistress! Or other woman! Or whatever you want to call her.
She lifts her coffee to take a drink and the diamond catches the sunlight.
“So when are you getting married?” I blurt, interrupting her.
“Oh!” She sets her cup down and her hand flutters to her chest, then, as if realizing that’s the hand with the diamond, rests it in her lap.
Dad’s eyes grow wide and he looks back and forth between us.
“We haven’t announced it yet.”
I’m starting to like her, despite my determination not to, but I can’t stop the anger that surges through me and threatens to erupt all over the room. I glare at Dad. “Worried what people will think?” My voice is harsh, any sympathy I may have felt for them quickly evaporating.
“Brianna,” he warns.
Susan’s shocked expression is replaced with shame. She stares at her hands, no doubt at the ring that sparked my wrath.
“Perhaps you should have taken it off before I got here.”
Her mouth falls open and she looks up at me, eyes brimming with tears.
I shake my head to clear it. He had to have warned her about me. But if I’m honest with myself, I’m not mad at her. Now that I can see what kind of person she is, all my anger is directed toward my father. “I’m sorry. As much as I should be, I’m not pissed at you. I’m mad at him.”
Dad scowls at me, his gaze so menacing most people would shrink away. But I am my father’s daughter. I match his gaze with equal fury.
“You’ve handled this very poorly.” I lean closer. “I realize there’s no good way to announce you have a secret family, but—” I stop. “You know what? Never mind. You have fun playing house with The Seconds. Maybe you can actually be a father this time around.” The chair screeches as I push away from the table and I stalk out of the kitchen.
“Brianna!” Dad’s voice echoes off the walls but I don’t stop.
I’m almost to the front door when a small voice stops me. “You’re leaving?” Piper’s standing on the steps, her fairy wings replaced with a purple helmet, her lower lip sticking out the same way mine used to when I was little. She takes a step toward me, her hand on the railing. “I was gonna show you my room.”
I glance toward the kitchen, but neither Susan nor my father is coming after me. Anger simmers in my chest, leaving no room for other emotions, but Piper takes another step toward me and holds out her hand. “Okay, but just for a minute.” I slip my hand into hers and she grips mine in that unhesitating way only kids can. She leads me up the stairs to a small landing with four doors. Two are closed, one is the bathroom, and the fourth—where she brings me—is bursting with color. Pink and purple walls surround a canopy bed with more pink and purple pillows. The sheer fabric on the top is a light lavender, unlike my plain white, but it suits the room.
“I have a bed like this.”
She stops in the center of her room and her eyes widen. “You do?”
“Yep.” I smile, reaching up to run the fabric through my fingers. “But mine’s white, like clouds.”
“I really like pink and purple.”
“I can tell.”
She sinks to the gray carpet and stares up at me, the helmet both out of place and making perfect sense in this girly room.
I sit facing her, folding my legs so our knees are inches apart. “Do you like to ski?”
She giggles. “Skiing is boring! I snowboard.” She points at a board sticking out of the open closet. It’s a deeper purple than the décor in the room.
“I bet that looks cool on the snow.”
She nods, her helmet bobbing. “It does. I can’t do tricks yet but Mom says I can learn when I’m ten.”
Based on her enthusiasm, I think they’re going to have a hard time getting her to wait three more years. She jumps up to grab her board, then sits with it cradled in her lap. “Do you snowboard?”
I glance at the door before leaning close and lowering my voice. “Can you keep a secret?”
She nods again, a smile breaking over her face.
“I’m learning now. Dad thinks I only ski.” My brain stumbles over the collective Dad and I’m hit again with the reality that this girl sitting in front of me is my sister.
“He tried to get me to ski but there’s no way.” The excitement in her eyes at the thought of being on the slopes reminds me of someone else: Cally.
That’s it. She may be my flesh and blood but she’s totally a mini-Cally.
“Have you been to Switzerland? Mom and I haven’t. Dad says he’s gonna take us for spring break and I can’t wait!”
The amount of information thrown at me in two seconds makes my head spin. I’m glad he’s never taken them to Switzerland. That w
as always our trip and knowing he went there with them would just add to the betrayal. “Yeah, I’ve been there. You’ll love it.”
“Can you come too? I can help you snowboard. It’ll be so fun!”
I don’t tell her about Dad’s promise, but suddenly the thought of having to babysit her doesn’t sound so bad. “Maybe. It’s up to Dad.”
She gives me a knowing look. “I’ll work on him.”
I burst out laughing. She’s definitely my sister.
“So where do you live? Do you have a boyfriend or girlfriend? What do you want to be when you grow up?”
I lean back on my hands, still laughing. “One at a time! My house isn’t too far from here, but we’re moving soon and I don’t know where. There’s a boy I like, but he’s not my boyfriend yet. And I have no idea.” Spitting it all out at once makes it sound almost real.
She leans closer. “What’s he like?”
My lip catches between my teeth. It’s one thing to tell her about snowboarding, but I’m not ready to share all my secrets. “He’s really cute. And he snowboards.”
“Do you have a picture?”
My hand instinctively goes for my phone, even though we’ve never taken a selfie. “I don’t. But I’ll try to get one next time I see him.”
She nods, eyes wide. “You should. Then come back and show me.” Her smile is so trusting and innocent that I almost lie to keep it there. But based on how things went downstairs, I don’t know if I’ll be welcome anytime soon.
“I’ll try.”
Seeming satisfied, she jumps to her feet, dumping her snowboard on the floor between us. “Let’s play Barbies!”
Was I ever this exuberant? “I can’t today. I have to get going.”
She stops in the middle of the room and it’s like being in the eye of a hurricane. It’s calm now, but you know the swirl of energy will be back any second. “But Mom said you’re staying for lunch.”
“I know but—”
She thumps onto her knees next to me, grabs my hand, and pets it. “Did Daddy say something to make you sad?”
So she’s not completely oblivious to the tyrant. “A little.”
“He’s probably sorry. Don’t go yet.” Her blue eyes shine like she’s on the verge of crying and my cold, brittle heart starts to melt.
“You get your way a lot around here, don’t you?”
She blinks and the tears are gone, replaced by a mischievous smile. “Uh-huh.”
Damn, they’ve got their work cut out for them with her.
She springs to her feet, still holding my hand, and tugs me to the door. “Come on. Lunch is probably ready.” At the last minute she tosses her helmet onto the bed. “I’m not supposed to eat with it on.”
We march downstairs and I can’t help but flinch when we round the corner to the living room, but Dad and Susan are still in the kitchen. She’s making sandwiches at the island while Dad arranges veggies on a platter. This domestic side of him is new to me. We’ve always had a housekeeper who handled menial tasks, or Mom did it, but apparently he’s learned a thing or two from Susan.
My back is straight and my shoulders pushed back when I enter the room.
Susan looks up and smiles. “Oh good, you’re still here.”
She still wants me here after what I said? “Piper was very convincing.”
As if on cue, Piper twirls around us, laughing and waving her arms, and I get the feeling she’s orchestrated most of this.
Susan rubs Piper’s head as she spins by. “Yes, she usually is.”
We share a smile and guilt pricks me. I shouldn’t feel bad for getting angry. My feelings are legit and lashing out is how I handle them. But Susan is so warm and seems like she already understands everything I’m thinking, that I wish I could take back my words.
When Dad carries the veggies to the dining room, Piper in tow, I step closer to Susan. “I’m sorry about earlier. I shouldn’t have said that.”
Her face crumples. “If we start playing the ‘I shouldn’t have’ game, I’m definitely the loser here. Or winner. However you want to look at it.”
The urge to hug her or comfort her is overwhelming, but I settle for resting my hand on the counter near hers. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to act or what I’m supposed to say. This whole situation—”
“Is beyond messed up,” she finishes for me. A smile lifts the corner of her mouth. “I can never make up for what I’ve done to your family. But you’re Piper’s sister, and that’s important. Whatever feels comfortable for you is enough for me.”
I’m touched by her words. Since Dad’s announcement about The Seconds, I’ve imagined a jewel-draped temptress living in a penthouse apartment, laughing at Mom and me. But Susan is nice. Normal. Someone I can see myself wanting to know better. “Thank you.”
She brushes crumbs from the counter into the sink and hands me the plate of sandwiches. “Can you bring these to the table?” She grabs a pitcher of lemonade from the fridge and follows me to the dining room, where Dad and Piper are already sitting.
“I’m glad you decided to stay,” Dad says, and I almost drop the plate. He’s never been grateful or thankful for anything in his life. Or at least he’s never said it to me. But sitting at this table, flanked by The Seconds, he seems content. Not stiff or angry, like he’d rather be anyplace else.
A chill sweeps through me. All those years of excruciating dinners, he probably was wishing he could be someplace else.
Here.
And now I’m here with them. Which means Mom is completely alone.
I drape my napkin over my lap while I compose myself. I can excuse away being here, but betraying Mom feels worse than I imagined.
“There’s turkey and ham,” Susan says, pointing at the plate I carried in. “Let me know if there’s anything else you need.”
Sure, if you could flip my life upside down and shake it like a snow globe so everything would go back to normal, that’d be great. But I don’t say that.
Her smile wavers and Dad reaches for her hand. They watch me, waiting for a response.
“This is great, thanks.”
The rest of the meal goes smoothly, thanks to Piper and her never-ending energy. At one point Dad gets a bunch of texts but he simply glances at them before resting his phone face-down on the table. When it’s time to leave, Susan gives me a hug. It’s awkward, but I get the feeling there will be more in the future. Piper doesn’t hold back. She flings herself at my waist, squeezing so tight my sandwich almost comes up. “I’m so glad you’re my sister.”
Unexpected tears burn my eyes as I hug her back. “I am, too.”
Dad walks me to my car. He clears his throat and looks down at his feet for several moments, then clears it again. “I know this hasn’t been easy. Thank you for coming. For Piper and Susan.”
“But not you?” I can’t help it.
He meets my eyes. “I deserve that, I know. Yes, for me too.”
I didn’t expect him to admit it. Maybe this new life really is better for him.
“Switzerland is still on the table.” Always negotiating a deal.
“I’m on track to finish on time, but the Chain—the trash thing is ending so I have to find something else.” Calling it the Chain Gang might ruin this borderline touchy-feely moment.
His brow furrows, the Dad I know returning. “It won’t be a problem, will it?”
“Nope. I’ve got it under control.” Which is a lie, but he doesn’t need to know that.
“It would mean the world to Piper if you were there with us. And to Susan and me, too,” he quickly adds.
A trip with him and The Seconds would be different from what I’m used to. There definitely wouldn’t be any French boys, but having an adorable sister around wouldn’t be so bad. “Thanks.”
He waits in the driveway until I turn onto the next street and I wonder for the hundredth time who that man is and what he’s done with my father.
The whole way home I’m itching to tell someo
ne about The Seconds, but with one caveat: I’m not looking to tear them down. If I ignore the fact that they’re Dad’s other family, I can admit that they’re really nice and I wouldn’t mind seeing them again. Mike might tolerate a text from me, but I’ve yet to earn back my right to randomly text her. Xavier’s the only one who knows about them, so I text him.
Met my dad’s other family today.
Mom’s not home when I get back, so I settle in with my homework until he replies.
How’d it go?
Better than expected.
That’s good, right?
Yes and no. I have to choose my words carefully, find the right balance between normal feelings of hurt and betrayal and the diabolical way I usually react.
Why no?
I feel like I’m betraying my mom.
Does she know you went there?
Not yet. There’s no sense trying to hide it from her. Miranda Vines has a Masters in Sleuthing. Well, most of the time.
A door closes downstairs, followed by the sound of keys being tossed on the marble counter.
Gotta go, Mom’s home.
I miss you.
My heart does a little flip-flop. You sure you can’t come Tuesday?
lol. Not a chance in hell.
I miss you too. Bye.
Adios querida.
I press my phone to my chest, imagining the look in his eyes when he says that and the way his lips part when he’s about to kiss me. “Aye, dios mio,” I mutter. “How did I let myself fall for him?”
“You up here?” Mom calls from the hall.
“In my room.”
She appears in the doorway, all smooth linens and styled hair and the calmest expression I’ve seen on her face since Dad left.
“You look nice.” Maybe if I butter her up she won’t get as mad when she finds out where I was.
“Thank you. I had a massage, then a hair appointment. There’s really nothing like a day of self-care to make you feel better.” She glides across the room to my desk and sits in the chair, and she practically oozes relaxation. One leg crosses over the other and she drapes an arm over the back of the chair. “How was your afternoon?”
I don’t mean to break eye contact. That’s the first sign of lying or deception, and she knows it.
The Edge Rules (The Rules Series Book 3) Page 19