“Not much. We’re still done. He sent Bentley over today with stories about how wonderful he is to try and convince me to give him another chance.”
Frankie bit her lip. “He really is crazy about you.”
I couldn’t meet her eyes. “Or, he’s a really excellent actor.”
She shrugged. “Maybe.” She stared out the window for a long moment. “He stopped by, you know.”
My jaw dropped. Worthy knew Frankie, but the two of them hadn’t hung out. “Wow,” I said. “That’s…um, that’s great.”
“He was really sweet. He brought me some magazines and a book to read. He said Bell recommended the book.”
I nodded, something catching in my throat. He was nicer than me, I’d only brought Frankie candy.
“He said that the magazines were Harrison’s idea. I kind of expected Harrison to come see me.”
I dropped my eyes to the floor so she wouldn’t see anything in them that might upset her. I didn’t know how to explain his reason for not visiting. “I…I know he wants to see you, Frankie. He was here every day when you were in a…when you were sleeping. He just…” I looked up and met her eyes. She deserved more from me. “Honestly, I think he’s crazy about you, but for some reason he’s got this idea that he’d be bad for you. If anything, he cares too much and that’s why he’s stayed away.”
She flinched and her brow twisted. “Then, I’m glad then he didn’t come. I need a break from intense emotion.” I thought I saw tears in her eyes, but she recovered quickly and forced a smile. “That’s why I was really glad when Worthy left. He was just whining about how much he missed you and begging me to put in a good word for him with you. Talk about intense emotions. Whew.” She pretended to fan herself.
“I can’t trust anything he says,” I said. “You have to understand that. I mean, could you ever trust Duran again?”
She bit her lip. “I don’t plan to ever have to trust Duran again, but Worthy’s not Duran. I believe him, Remy. I think he’s really crazy about you and wants to be with you for real.”
“Oh, my god,” I muttered. “He’s got you, too.”
She just laughed. I changed the subject to the group of locals who’d tried to pretend they were students and get into the cafeteria. They’d flirted with me endlessly trying to convince me to let them in. Frankie was laughing when I left, but she looked tired and a little sad behind the laughter.
WTF! Stay out of Frankie’s head, I texted Worthy while I waited for the bus.
Worthy: Did it work?
Me: What?
Worthy: Did she tell you how wonderful I am and convince you to give me another chance? I promise to never lie to you again.
Me: I hate you!!
Worthy: Then why do you keep texting me?
I wanted to throw my phone at the bus as it pulled up, but I calmly put it in my pocket. Worthy had manipulated Frankie, no matter what he called it, and he had clearly used her to get in my good graces. He was still a manipulator and a liar. And I hated him. I hated him. I repeated that over and over in my head, until I believed it. Or at least told myself I did.
***
I didn’t see Worthy for the rest of the week, except in biology class where he sat far away from me, but I did see six more of his frat brothers. All of them told me stories about what a good friend Worthy was and how he’d helped them or saved their lives. If I was honest, I had to admit it was wearing me down, but I couldn’t get past my fear that Worthy would hurt me or my uncle. His persistence did convince me that his interest in me went beyond what information I could get for him about his father’s death. He had no reason to pursue me unless he wanted to be with me for real or he wanted to get revenge on my uncle. I wasn’t sure which it was, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever know with any certainty. I didn’t text Worthy to complain about his friends visiting me, because I didn’t want him to accuse me of soliciting his attention again.
Byron showed up at my door on the seventh day.
“Oh, for the love of tomato sandwiches,” I said. “Are you serious with this shit?”
Byron pushed past me and sat on my bed. “Dad and Betty are getting married,” he said. “Betty should be calling today to tell you. She wanted to be the one to do it, but Dad is feeling like he should tell you. I’m giving you a heads up so that you can call him and congratulate him as soon as Betty tells you.”
“Oh,” I said, a bit disappointed he wasn’t there to tell me more stories about Worthy.
“You aren’t happy about it?” he asked, his tone defensive.
“No! I mean yes. I’m thrilled. And of course I’ll call Uncle Leon as soon as Betty tells me their amazing news.”
Byron eyed me for a moment, before a slow smile lit his face like the sun after a storm. “Oh, I get it. You were hoping I was the latest salvo in Worthy’s battle to win you back, weren’t you?”
“What?” I pretended to be distracted by a hangnail. “No, of course not. I was just thinking about this big test I have—”
“Bullshit.” His laugh was a roar that filled the empty spaces in my room. “The truth is he asked me to talk to you for him and I said no.”
“Because you don’t trust him?”
He studied me, and I could see his mind working. “Of course I trust him, and I will trust him until he gives me a good reason not to. I promised I’d stay out of your love life, and I’m going to keep that promise. Even if I do think he’s being an idiot.”
“He’s an idiot?” I asked, trying to get a read on what my cousin really thought of Worthy and damning myself for telling him to butt out.
“Hell, yes, he’s an idiot. He’s sending all of the guys over here to speak for him and he’s never once done anything directly to convince you of his intentions. I told him he needs to get off his lazy butt and start wooing you properly.”
“Really?” I asked. “Wooing me?”
“Yes, as you should be wooed. I’m talking flowers and candles and reservations and all that prissy shit you deserve.”
“I’m not exactly that kind of girl,” I said, thinking I was more the paintball, rock-climbing, hiking in the forest kind of girl.
“Like hell you aren’t.” He stood like he was going to leave.
“Byron, I know I told you to butt out, but do you think I can trust him?”
“I’m not going there, little sister, because if I do and you take him back than every time he does anything you don’t like, I’m going to get the blame.”
“What if I promise I won’t?”
He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me in for a tight hug. “I’ll see you later, Sis.”
***
Betty called later that afternoon and I acted appropriately surprised. Then she asked me to be her maid of honor, and I was truly surprised. I may have even shed a tear or two, but I’m not admitting to it.
I still had tears in my eyes when I called my uncle to congratulate him.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you myself, baby girl, but your aunt wanted to give you the news and I couldn’t tell her no.”
“I’m just happy to know,” I said. “I don’t care which of you told me. Did you know she asked me to be the maid of honor?”
Leon was quiet for a long while, but a few telltale sniffles gave him away. “I didn’t know that, darlin’, but I’m so glad she did. There’s no one I’d rather have standing up with us. Keats is going to be my best man, and the other boys will be groomsmen. I believe Betty has some friends to stand with her.”
“That sounds really nice.”
He cleared his throat. “I didn’t know which of the boys to ask to be my best man, so I just picked the oldest. I hope Byron isn’t upset.”
If I knew Byron, he was just looking forward to the reception and was probably glad Keats would be responsible for the best man duties. “He didn’t seem upset when I saw him this morning.” I realized my mistake a moment later. “Not that he told me about the wedding, of course.”
Leon chuckled. “Of cou
rse he didn’t, but maybe we better keep that bit of information from Betty.”
“Okay,” I said, smacking myself on the forehead.
“Are you going to bring the Stanley boy with you?”
I didn’t want to tell Leon about me and Worthy breaking up, because I knew he liked Worthy and I didn’t want him to worry. “No. He won’t be able to make the wedding.”
“Well, that’s too bad,” he said. “I like him. I hope everything’s okay between you two.”
“Sure is.” I hated to lie to my uncle, but I hated him worrying about me more. “I’ve got to get some work done, but congratulations again. I’m so happy for you.”
“Thank you, sugar. I love you.”
I hung up and tried to focus on my school work, but an idea kept niggling at the back of my brain and I couldn’t let it go. I finally stood and banged on the wall between my and Bell’s rooms.
“What?” she yelled.
“Got a minute? I need to bounce an idea off you.”
She popped her head in the room a moment later. I did my best not to moan when I saw the dry erase board and the markers in her hands. She plopped down on Frankie’s bed, still bare, and waited.
“So my Uncle and Betty are getting married, and I’m thinking about inviting Worthy to the wedding.”
Bell’s eyes widened and she dropped her board and markers on the bed next to her. “You’re going to get back together with him?”
“Yes. No. Maybe. I don’t know. What I was thinking was that if he could restrain himself from causing trouble for my family at my uncle’s wedding, then I’d know he was telling the truth when he said he was done with his quest for revenge. If I can be sure of that, maybe we have a chance of working past all the other stuff.”
Bell’s fierce frown was not the reaction I’d expected. “So, let me see if I understand this. If he ruins your uncle’s wedding or hurts someone in your family, then you’ve proved he’s not trustworthy?”
I deflated a bit. “Yes, but I don’t think he’ll do that.”
“You don’t think? It’s still a big risk to take on the most important day of your uncle’s life.”
“Yeah,” I said. “You’re right.”
And I knew she was right, but I couldn’t help feeling that it would all be fine. Worthy wouldn’t hurt anyone and I’d prove he was trustworthy by throwing a huge temptation in his face and watching him not take the bait. And I would watch him, I’d make sure he didn’t hurt anyone or ruin the wedding. I’d protect everyone, and I’d prove once and for all whether Worthy was my friend or my enemy. It wouldn’t solve all of our problems, but it would be a start and maybe seeing Aunt Betty and Uncle Leon together, he’d realized they weren’t the liars or the horrible people he seemed to think they were.
I could have called Worthy or even stopped by his place, but the truth was, I didn’t want too much time alone with him. I was afraid I might cave or forgo the plan. So, I caught up to him after biology class.
His bright, unguarded smile when I called his name, made me hesitate, but I squared my shoulders and stuck out my chin. I had to do this or I’d never know where we stood. “My uncle and Betty are getting married,” I said. “I wondered if you might like to go to the wedding with me.”
His smile widened, his eyes going that crazy amber shade. “Of course. I’d be honored.” He walked with me for a few moments before his step faltered. “Do they…know I might be there?”
“Sure,” I said. “Uncle Leon specifically is looking forward to seeing you.”
“Good,” he said, but he still looked nervous. “I’m heading to lunch, want to join me?”
“Um, thanks, but I’m actually on my way to the library to study for a bit.”
He frowned. “Sure, yeah. Maybe we could get dinner tonight?”
“Sure,” I said. “Text me.”
I hurried off in the direction of the library before he could say another word. His bright smile and kindness were already eating away at my resolve, and I couldn’t afford to back down.
When he texted me that night for dinner, I told him I had a study group I’d forgotten about. For the next week, I made myself really busy and really scarce. I even skipped biology one snowy day, just to avoid having to lie to him. And don’t think I missed the irony that I was lying to him to figure out if I could trust him. The problem was, I didn’t have a better way and I wasn’t ready to give up on him again.
On Saturday, I convinced Byron to drive me to see my dad for the second time. I should have known Byron didn’t do anything for free.
“I know I promised to stay out of your love life,” he said, as soon as we were on the interstate and there was nowhere for me to run. “But, seeing as how I’m doing you this huge favor and we’re stuck in the car together for a couple hours, you want to explain to me exactly what kind of mind fuck you’re playing on Worthy?”
I stared out the window at the mountains, still white with snow from a few days before. The sun was warm, beating down on my face like summer time, heating up the interior of Byron’s truck and making the whole cab smell like the peppermint breath mints he was addicted to. I considered dropping my head to the glass and pretending to be asleep, but chose silence instead. I cursed myself for not waiting to invite Worthy until the day before the wedding. Now I had another week to get through. At least this week would be final exams, so it should be easier to avoid him.
“Okay,” he said. “Let me tell you what I think. I think you just wanted a date for Dad’s wedding and you’re letting Worthy think the two of you are back together so he’ll go through with it. What I want to know is why you feel it’s so important for you to have a date. Are you nervous about the wedding?”
“No,” I said, tears pooling in my eyes. I was beginning to feel like the biggest jerk. “Just stay out of it, Byron. It’s not your place.”
“Does this have anything to do with who his daddy was?”
I bit down on my lip hard enough to taste blood. It had been so much easier to keep up this game when I kept busy and kept moving. Stuck in that truck with Byron and his judgment, I couldn’t escape myself or my thoughts and I didn’t want to think. “How am I supposed to know?” I asked.
“What?”
“How am I supposed to know if I can trust him?”
He took his eyes off the road long enough to look at me like I was crazy. “How are any of us supposed to know? He didn’t have to come clean about who he was and what he was doing, Remington. He could have claimed he never knew about the connection between our families. But he told you everything and then he voluntarily told me everything. I really can’t imagine what more you want.”
His words hit me in the gut like a sucker punch, because I knew he was right. Worthy had done nothing but right by me, he’d done nothing but support me, and I still didn’t trust him. I still had this horrible sinking feeling that he would betray me and hurt my family, and I couldn’t take the risk of loving him until I was sure. “He lied to me,” I said, though I couldn’t remember any actual lies, more like lies by omission. “And he used me and you. And then there’s the little, insignificant fact that my uncle killed his father. What kind of basis is that for a relationship?”
Byron shook his head and tapped his thumbs on the steering wheel. “I’ve always admired your stubbornness, Remington. I think that’s how you survived almost being killed by Worthy’s daddy without losing your ability to smile and find joy in life. But when you lose sight of what’s important, stubbornness just becomes pure pigheadedness and that’s not an admirable trait.”
I groaned. “For the love of hash browns, Byron, quit speaking in riddles and tell me what you mean to say.”
“I’m asking, what is your real problem with Worthy? Is it that he wasn’t upfront with you about his own past or is it that he pulled one over on you and hurt your pride? Is this really about you thinking Worthy has plans to hurt any of us in retaliation for what Dad did or this about you being a little bit relieved he never
has to see you vulnerable?”
I sucked in a gasp, because his words hurt. Whether they hurt because I suspected he had a point, or whether they hurt because I was surprised he thought that of me, I was too angry and hurt to say. “You really think so little of me?”
He shrugged. “I think the world of you, Remington, but at some point, you’re going to have to let someone in, you’re going to have to let your guard down. If you run every time the people you care about show a weakness or make a mistake, you’re going to have a very lonely life.”
I’d listened to his lecture, but enough was enough. “What about you, By? How’s that girl you’ve been seeing? Oh, wait, that’s right, you aren’t seeing a girl. You’re not seeing any girl longer than a night or two. Why don’t we talk about your inability to let anyone in?”
He snorted, but he kept his mouth shut and quit trying to tell me what to do. I tried to find the sense of peace the outdoors and the mountains had always given me, but I couldn’t stop the dark, restless feeling that threatened to consume me.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
My father smiled when he saw me. “Well, hey there girl, it sure is good to see you,” he said. “I know it’s a long drive. Is that boyfriend of yours waiting out in the car?”
“Byron brought me,” I said. “Worthy and I broke up.”
My father sucked on his teeth for a moment. “That’s a shame. I like that boy.”
I smiled, bemused. “You haven’t even met him.”
“Oh, no, sugar, I did. Didn’t he tell you? He came to see me. Thought he should tell me himself that he was Arle’s son and that you two were dating. I think he was looking for my blessing.”
My chest was tight and I was having trouble breathing. “Did you give it to him?”
He shrugged. “Sure, why not? If you can see past what his father did to you, then so can I.”
I nodded, wondering if I should be put out that my father was so willing to admit the son of the man who’d tried to kill me into our lives. “Do you think he’s like his father?” I hadn’t realized I was going to ask the question until the words were out of my mouth. Worthy believed he was more like his father than his mother, and I was curious what my own father thought.
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