Bevil stood behind his desk.
I stood on the opposite side.
“Miss Seacrum…”
“Winter,” I said.
“Of course. Winter. How are you?”
“I’ve had better years in my life.”
He smiled. “Haven’t we all?”
“I wanted to come see you in person.”
“That’s good. I’ve been calling about you. You haven’t-”
“If you look at my records, you’ll see I already handed in all the important stuff,” I said. “Quite a while ago. I stayed ahead. I wanted out of here early. What’s left is the bullshit stuff nobody cares about.”
“Well, those are important grades.”
“If I take zeroes in those classes, I still pass overall.”
“But it’ll ruin your chances of getting into a good college,” Bevil said. “I understand so many of you are wealthy, but you have futures. Beyond this building. Beyond your families.”
“I know that. I don’t need a lecture on it.”
“Right,” he said.
“There is something you can do though.”
“Which is?”
I folded my arms. “Cut the shit.”
“Excuse me?”
“Just cut the shit,” I said. “My memory is coming back. I have everything done here. You want to push me to become better? Just stop. I know who I am and what I’m doing. The bullshit classes… just make it right. Get me out of here.”
“I’m not sure I appreciate your tone.”
“Noah, Easton, and Xavier are all out there waiting for me. I have things to do. My family is a mess right now. If you really want to help, then let me get out of here and get things in order in my life. I don’t need some dumb science class like meteorology to fix my life, okay? If I want to know the weather, I’ll check my phone. Understand?”
Bevil looked ready to blush.
“Your memory is returning?” he asked.
“I’d like that to be kept between us,” I said. “I’m not sure what is all there. I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up. But I could use your support right now. That’s what you said you wanted to do, right? You said anything…”
“Okay,” Bevil said. “Considering the circumstances, tell you what I’ll do. I’ll take a look at your transcripts. And I’ll make a decision. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”
“I do,” I said. “I can’t escape this place until I feel safe enough to leave. Studying weather patterns off the coast of Africa won’t make that happen.”
Bevil nodded.
I left the office and all three guys were waiting for me.
“How’d that go?” Noah asked.
“I think I’m done here,” I said. “No more BFH for me.”
“Maybe I should go in there and flip his desk over,” Easton said.
“I’m pretty sure he would pay for us three to leave,” Xavier said.
“Speaking of pay,” I said. “We need to talk about our plan.”
“Look at you,” Noah said. “Same old Winter. Just like before. Always keeping things on track.”
“Yeah. Someone has to do it. Maybe this time I won’t end up in an accident.”
I smiled.
They didn’t.
Xavier put his arm around me.
In a sad way… if things got as bad as they did before…
Hopefully this time the accident would actually kill me.
I was dropped off at the beach house and agreed to meet up with Xavier later.
He had to get to his shop to get some work done, and I had no desire to sit around there and watch him work.
In my head, I began to think about what life could be like.
If we were able to have things normal…
Xavier’s shop was busy and made money.
But to live around this area it meant having a ton of money.
There was no way Xavier’s shop made Bump money. He probably didn’t even bring in Troc money.
Well, that’s a lie… anyone could bring in Troc money…
I wondered if he would be able to expand his business.
Open more shops. Find people who collected cars or whatever and had the money to spend.
Or maybe we could end up being the worst kind of Bump ever.
The kind that took a few dollars from their families and ran off to live free for life.
And why not?
If it was possible…
Xavier and I could leave town and set up somewhere else.
Kind of like what you promised Noah?
I swallowed hard and hated myself for that.
I used Noah. I led him on. I broke his heart.
But I wasn’t doing the same with Xavier.
I loved him.
I always loved him but never knew what to do about it.
Which didn’t seem to make sense in my head… but it had no choice but to make sense.
As I walked through the beach house, I heard crying.
Like real crying.
The sound of someone weeping uncontrollably.
I started to run and when I entered the kitchen, I found my mother crying over a cup of coffee.
I froze when I saw her.
The sight of my mother crying was… weird.
I didn’t know she was capable of crying.
She looked at me and put her hands out and turned her head.
“What are you doing here?” she snapped.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing,” she said.
“Don’t say nothing. You’re crying really hard right now. Something is-”
“I said nothing!”
My mother grabbed her coffee cup and slammed it off the floor.
Then she ran to the door and went outside.
I waited a minute or so, debating what to do. There was a younger version of myself - a tiny voice - inside my head almost laughing at the fact that my mother was crying. For all the times I cried because of her, this felt fitting and fair.
Then there was me. The version of Winter after the accident. The one who cared so much and wanted to figure everything out. Which included whatever kind of relationship I could have with my mother.
I walked outside and up to the railing.
“Winter… don’t.”
“I’m just here,” I said. “Nothing else. Just here.”
“Of course you are.”
“I don’t know what that means, but whatever.”
“Did you talk to your father yet?”
“My father… no. Is that what this is about? Are you upset because you think I’m going to leave?”
“What?”
“You know, it’s okay to show emotion and have a heart,” I said. “It’s not the worst thing in the world. Especially with me. I am your daughter. And if you want to know the truth… I don’t plan on leaving here. My father isn’t perfect.”
“You’re just realizing that?” my mother asked.
“Funny,” I said. “I’m being serious.”
“You know, Winter, you need to just step back and wonder how he ended up with me. Or how I ended up with him. It’s not all smiles and love.”
“I know that.”
“You say that,” she said. “But… please… go on…”
“I’m just saying I appreciate you letting me stay here. I hope we’ve gotten closer. I don’t want to refer to you as my mother all the time. And I don’t want you upset. I’m not leaving.”
My mother nodded. She wiped under her eyes. “Well… that’s all good to know. But that’s not why I’m crying.”
“It’s not?”
“No.”
Oh…
I felt three inches tall again near her.
“Of course not,” I said.
I pushed from the railing and my mother grabbed my arm.
“Winter,” she said. “I have to tell you something.”
“What?”
“I’m in love with someon
e.”
“Who?” I asked.
“I’ve never told anyone this. But since you caught me in a moment and since you’re getting all damn emotional yourself about it… I might as well tell you. So you can drop the mother-daughter dream again.”
“Wow. Thanks.”
“I’m just being real, Winter.”
I stepped back to the railing. “Let’s hear this.”
“Before you pass anymore judgment, I’m in love with a man my age.”
“That I don’t think I can ever believe.”
“Okay, Winter,” she said. “You done yet?”
“I don’t know. I liked watching you cry.”
My mother nodded. “Good to know. Anyway, I love someone. He’s my age. He’s the perfect man. The greatest man I ever met. And, no, it’s not your father. And it’s not anyone you know. It’s a man who lives a few hours away from here. I met him when he came through on business. We had a good time when we met.”
“Your specialty,” I said.
“Except with this one, I didn’t want it to end. Neither did he. He stayed. For three extra days. And it was just… amazing. Then he kept coming back. Every month. Sometimes every other week. It just got to be so… real. Then I found out he was married.”
I gasped. “Oh, no.”
My mother nodded.
“Is that why you were crying?” I asked.
“No,” she said. “I found that out a long time ago.”
“So then…”
“Marriage didn’t stop us.”
My heart sank. “Oh.”
“Call me what you want,” she said. “I don’t care. I love him. I want him.”
“So he comes here to have you and then goes home to his wife?” I asked.
“Yeah. And that sounds terrible. And it is terrible. Oh well.”
I didn’t say anything else.
“I was crying today because I was thinking about him. I haven’t seen him in a few months. We never really talked about his marriage. Whether it was good or bad. I just kept it between us. Our feelings. Our love. Then I made the dumb decision to check up on him. Stupid social media. I know why he hasn’t been around.”
“Why?” I asked.
“His wife is pregnant.”
I touched my mother’s arm. She nodded and looked at the ocean.
“Say what you want,” she said. “But that hurt.”
“I’m sorry… Mom…”
She looked at me. “Are you?”
“I am. Your feelings matter. You fell in love with someone. Maybe it was someone you’re not supposed to love. But love doesn’t know that. In your mind and heart you thought something was going to happen. That matters to me.”
I inched closer to my mother.
I wanted to hug her.
Just before I could she backed away from the railing and wiped her eyes again.
“You think too much into things, Winter,” she said. “I’m upset because he’ll probably end up worrying about his wife until the baby comes. That’s a long wait for me to get my hands on his body again. That’s all it is. Better him knocking her up than me. You know?”
My mother winked and went back inside.
Whether she liked it or not, she had a heart.
And her heart was capable of breaking.
I stood on the deck alone, shaking my head.
I heard a noise and looked down to the beach to see Gia and Talon approaching me.
Talon with his arm around Gia’s shoulder. Gia with her hand up, her fingers interlocked with his hand.
They walked and laughed and bumped into each other.
“Hey, Winter,” Gia called out.
The second I saw her eyes, I knew why she and Talon were so happy.
Talon grinned at me.
I just kept shaking my head.
It had been a weird kind of day.
And it was only going to get weirder.
Chapter 17
Take the pic
“So I’m just cruising around then?” Talon asked.
“That’s about it,” Noah said.
“Do I get one of these rides?” Talon asked as he looked around Xavier’s garage.
“No,” Xavier said. He kicked a chair out of the way. “This isn’t a fucking joke either.”
“Xavier,” I said.
I smiled at him.
He curled his lip.
“Calm down,” Gia said. “You don’t have to be protective when it comes to Talon.”
“Listen to your sister,” Talon said.
“Don’t act like you know anything,” Xavier said.
“But I don’t know… everything,” Talon said.
“Are we going to do this again?” Easton asked.
“No,” I said. “We’re going to get answers. So we can figure out how to end this thing. I want all of this behind me. Behind us.”
“What about our plan?” Noah asked.
They didn’t want Talon to know about the money.
Which I understood.
“One thing at a time,” I said. “First… we need to know who’s following us.”
“So tell me again what you want me to do,” Talon said.
“You keep a good distance,” Noah said. “You know where we’re driving to. Then you wait and see if someone follows us. It’s usually a big SUV. Dark color. Once you see it following, you have to catch up and get some pictures. But don’t get caught. We will not help you if you get caught.”
“I don’t like that part,” Gia said.
“It’s fine,” Talon said. “Nothing will happen.”
“Just don’t fuck it up,” Easton said.
“The money will help clear my head,” Talon said.
He looked at me.
I swallowed hard.
“Talon…”
“What?” he growled.
“Don’t talk to Winter like that,” Gia said.
“I know where this is going,” Talon said. “You know the deal…”
“I haven’t gotten back to the castle yet,” I said.
“I don’t care,” Talon said.
“You got half of it from us,” Noah said.
“But not from Winter,” Talon said.
“Don’t do this,” I said. “There’s stuff going on at the castle. I don’t want to be there right now.”
“What’s going on?” Gia asked. “Are you okay?”
“My father is back,” I said. “I have to figure some things out. I just don’t want to be there. But I will get the money, Talon. Okay? Later. Just not right now.”
“I don’t work without being paid first,” Talon said.
“It’s Winter,” Gia said. She faced off with him. “You can’t do this for her? For me?”
“Ah, fuck,” Talon said.
“Wow,” Easton said. “She must have gold between her legs.”
Gia looked back at Easton. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Actually, I would love to know,” Easton said. “Come here…”
Talon jumped toward Easton.
Xavier grabbed Talon’s shirt. “Not here. Not now.”
Easton laughed.
Talon was pissed.
He stepped back and looked at me. “I’ll do it. But you owe me, Winter. More than what I said.”
“Fine,” I said. “Not a problem. Just find out who’s following us.”
“Is everyone ready?” Noah asked.
“And what am I supposed to do?” Gia asked.
“You’re going home, darling,” Talon said.
“What?” Gia asked.
“He’s right,” I said. “Go home, Gia. And wait.”
“I’ll take her home,” Talon said. “Then I’ll meet you back here and we’ll take a drive.”
“I’m going to smoke a few and think,” Easton said.
“I’m going to think this all through,” Noah said.
Xavier put his arm around me. “I’m going to waste some time staring at Winter.”
�
��How sweet,” Gia said.
Me, Xavier, Gia, and Talon all left the garage together.
Gia and Talon drove away a minute later.
I looked up at Xavier.
“Is this going to work?” I asked.
“You’re putting your faith in a Troc.”
“So that’s a no.”
“That’s an I don’t fucking know what to think.”
“Are you nervous?”
“No,” Xavier said.
“Why not?”
“The truth is… because I have you.”
I let Noah drive Tank Two.
He adjusted the seat and the mirrors for his height. He did it in such a slow way just to make fun of me for my height and size compared to his.
Easton sat in the passenger seat.
Xavier and I were in the backseat.
Holding hands.
The ride was silent.
Too silent.
“Hey, Easton,” I said.
“Yeah?”
“The beach house… the paint… how mad were you about it?”
He turned and looked at me. “It was a pain to clean up, Winter. Took money to do that. And I can’t possibly imagine why someone would do that to me. To my house. What have I ever done to deserve it?”
I smiled.
He winked.
“Tell them about Cassie,” Noah said.
“What about her?” Easton asked.
“She should have burned your house down,” Xavier said.
“Oh… let’s hear this story,” I said.
“Nah, it’s nothing good,” Easton said.
“Easton couldn’t perform one night,” Noah said.
“Oh, no,” I said.
“No, no, no,” Easton said. “I was fine. It wasn’t me. It was her. She couldn’t perform.”
“Not a chance,” Xavier said.
“So what happened?” I asked.
“Nothing,” Easton said. “We had a good night together.”
“She left,” Noah said.
“After we had a good night together,” Easton said.
“He gave her a bottle of water and sent her home,” Xavier said.
“No, that’s a lie,” Easton said.
“Then tell the story,” Noah said.
Easton sighed. “Fine. It was a fun night. Partying. The normal. I locked in on Cassie and that was it for me and her. It was all set. Then when the party became private, things weren’t happening. Trust me, it wasn’t me. It was her. So I gave her a bottle of water. All I said was to drink it. Thinking… water… hydration… wetness…”
Devious Love (Bay Falls High NEXT Book 3) Page 16