“Gia?” I asked.
She had tears in her eyes.
“What is going on?” I asked.
“You better get downstairs,” she said. “Right now. Xavier too.”
“What?”
“Winter, just trust me,” she said. “Please.”
I looked over my shoulder. “Put some clothes on, Xavier. We have to go downstairs.”
“I’m sorry to bother you,” Gia said.
She started to turn and I grabbed her arm. “Hey. Is it bad?”
“It’s… something… just hurry.”
“We will be right down,” I said.
I shut the bedroom door.
“What’s the deal?” Xavier asked.
“I don’t know,” I said.
I found more clothes to put on and casually watched Xavier get dressed.
I kept wearing his hoodie as we walked down the stairs together.
When I saw everyone in the kitchen, it took me back for a second.
Gia and Talon.
Noah and Easton.
My mother…
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“This is what’s going on,” my mother said.
She turned her phone around.
I could barely see the screen.
And I could barely hear the voices.
“What is it?” I asked.
“They’ve all been arrested,” Noah said.
“Who has?” Xavier asked.
“My mother,” Easton said. “My father. Noah’s father.”
“And your father,” my mother said to me.
“Dad…?” I asked.
My jaw slowly started to fall.
“Oh, Winter, are you okay?” Gia asked.
She ran to my other side and grabbed my hand.
My mother got closer to me so I could see what she was watching.
It was a news story.
About the elite in the BFH world.
And how they had been stealing money for years. They used that money to create some kind of investment scheme. Everything they did was fake. They got people to invest their money into literally nothing but then made up numbers to show growth.
I looked at my mother.
Her lips were tight and she nodded.
“This is real” I asked.
“Very real,” Noah said. “It’s all crashing down now.”
“Wait… are you okay, Noah?” I asked.
“Tell you what,” my mother said. “I’m going to grab a coffee and go for a walk. You all talk this thing out. It’s breaking news everywhere. You don’t need my phone. But when I get back, I want to talk to you, Winter. Alone.”
“Okay,” I said.
My mother slipped her phone into her back pocket, poured herself some coffee and left the beach house.
I moved closer to the kitchen island and leaned against it.
“This is crazy,” I said. “Are we okay?”
“We’re fine,” Easton said. “This is all on them.”
“How…”
“Winter,” Noah said. “Listen.”
I nodded.
Xavier had his hand tight around my waist.
“Want me to leave?” Talon asked.
“No,” Noah said. “It doesn’t matter. I talked to my mother. She said they knew it was coming. They were tipped off a while ago. That explains why my father acted the way he did at the ball. He was agitated about his business dealings. He was explaining to me what to do.”
“And they were trying to find someone to bail them out,” Easton said.
“Holy shit,” I said.
“Right,” Noah said. “So far, my mother is in the clear. I don’t know if that’s the truth or not.”
“But my father…,” I said.
“He’s done for,” Easton said. “Just like my parents. Everything is in the open, Winter. My mother and your father. The affair.”
“Fuck,” Xavier said. “We have to keep Winter out of this.”
“Just hide out here,” Gia said. “All of you. All of us. Let it all blow over.”
“If someone says one thing about Winter, we smash their jaw into dust,” Xavier said. “Got it?”
Xavier made a fist and hit the counter.
“Got it,” Talon said.
They all looked at him.
“I’m in,” Talon said. “I’m not asking for money either. This shit is crazy. I can’t pass up watching it. No offense to you all, but seeing Bumps go down like this… it’s awesome.”
“That’s my fucking family,” Easton said.
“Mine too,” Noah said.
“Do you really care at all?” I asked.
“No,” they both said.
“Neither do I,” I said. “They all did this. They did it right under our noses. They did it to people who probably lost a lot of money too. And now they’re going to pay for it. At least this way, we know the truth. They get what they deserve.”
I walked from the counter and went outside.
I looked at the ocean and took a deep breath.
I was human.
I had feelings.
Ironic enough… I had memories.
So I started to cry.
Xavier hugged me. Noah, Easton, and Talon stood in front of me.
Gia was at my other side again, holding my hand with both of her hands.
I nodded. “I’m good.”
“You sure,” Noah asked.
I nodded some more. “Yeah. Just thinking about things. How things turned out. Just kind of sad to see. There’s probably years of secrets waiting to come out. And there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“We all have each other,” Easton said. “Right?”
“Even a fucking Troc is here,” Noah said.
“Really?” Talon asked.
“I think I can safely say that we all love you, Winter,” Xavier said. “And everything you’ve done has been nothing short of crazy. But look what it did.”
“I’m sorry about your father,” Gia said. “I don’t know what else to say. I want him to be innocent, but I know he’s not.”
“I’m just going down memory lane,” I said. “Because I can remember. At the same time, I’m thinking about the future. It’s just a lot to take in at once. I’m thankful I have you all here. And while we’re clearing the air of truths… I’m sorry for everything I did to you all.”
“You don’t have to apologize to me again,” Gia said.
“I am sorry. And I’m sorry to you, Talon. And I’m sorry to the three of you. Noah, Easton, and Xavier. All the stuff that was happening to you guys, it was me. I was the one doing it or I had help doing it. I was angry and wanted revenge.”
“That’s all in the past,” Xavier said. “Now we all move forward.”
“Hey, whatever’s left of their companies, we get,” Noah said. “I already have the business look, right?”
I smiled. “Yeah, you do.”
“I’ll just sell everything,” Easton said. “I don’t want my name associated with anything to do with them.”
“I know it’ll work out,” I said. “I’m just taking it all in. Feeling it all. That’s what Gia kind of taught me.” I looked at her. “To stop. To run. To feel.”
“Just don’t learn anxiety from me,” she said. “That stuff is terrible.”
I saw my mother on the beach coming back toward the beach house.
“I need to talk to her,” I said. “Will you all go inside?”
“Let’s go,” Xavier ordered.
He kissed the top of my head.
They went one direction and I went the other.
I met my mother on the beach.
She wasted no time in throwing her arms around me and hugging me.
“Oh, Winter, I’m so sorry,” she said.
I hugged her back. “Sorry? For what?”
“Your father,” she said. “What he did. You two were so close.”
“I’m… I’m okay right now,” I said.
/> My mother broke the hug. “How?”
“I saw some things,” I said. “I knew some things too.”
My mother swallowed hard. “Winter… are you in trouble with this?”
“No,” I said.
I thought about the money.
All that money… hidden in the closet in my bedroom…
That could end up being a problem down the road, or maybe not. I’d have to cross that bridge if it ever appeared. My best guess was that when Dad and Caroline knew they were in hot water, they wanted cash to make a run for it. That’s why they demanded it the way they did. They thought they were going to get away with it.
“Are you sure?” my mother asked.
“I’m sure,” I said.
“I thought you were close with him…”
“I was,” I said. “Things change. Everything has been changing around here.”
“That’s true,” my mother said. “I made some calls and if anyone from the media comes around, we’re going to be okay. I’ll make sure nobody bothers you. It’s going to get crazy for a little bit.”
“I know.”
“We can leave,” she said. “We can go rent a house somewhere else. Or maybe a cabin in the woods. Just us.”
“Just us?” I asked. “You want to be alone with me?”
My mother rolled her eyes. Then her eyes filled with tears.
“You’re my fucking daughter, Winter,” she said. “I love you. Okay? I love you. I hate myself for leaving when you were so young. I hate that you hate me. I hate that I never did more to be involved in your life. And now everything is too late. I missed it all. All the firsts and…” She took a breath. “Fuck. When you showed up, I just wanted to watch what you were going to do. But now I want more than that, Winter. I want to know my daughter and be there for her. I don’t want you to leave. But if do, I don’t want you to forget about me. Even though you have every right to do so. For everything I’ve done…”
“Mom,” I said.
She stopped talking.
She blinked fast.
“Mom,” I said. I nodded. “I’m not going anywhere right now. I want to be here too. I like it here. I like getting to know you. All that stuff in the past… is in the past. We can talk about it. Slowly. Together.”
“Yeah?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “Thank you for letting me be here.”
“I love you, Winter,” she said.
“I love you too, Mom,” I said.
She laughed and cried.
We touched each other’s arms.
I opened my mouth to say something else when I heard the sound of glass shattering.
I turned my head and saw Talon on the deck.
Easton stepped out from where there had just been a glass door.
Talon hurried to his feet.
“They just destroyed the door,” Mom whispered.
“Sorry,” I said.
I ran toward the deck as Talon jumped at Easton.
Noah, Xavier, and Gia slowly came out to the deck next.
“What the hell is this?” I yelled.
“They’re working some stuff out,” Noah said.
“Gia,” I said.
She shrugged her shoulders. “Talon wanted to fight him.”
Talon and Easton wrestled each other to the other side of the deck.
Xavier approached me and picked me up and carried me down the deck steps.
“Ignore them,” Xavier whispered to me.
“Kind of hard to do,” I said.
“Fucking Trocs,” he said.
“Fucking Bumps,” I said back.
Xavier stopped walking and I was eye level with him.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Gia’s voice yelled. “You made your point.”
“I’m not done,” Talon’s voice yelled.
“You’re a dead man, Troc,” Easton growled.
“Where’s your bitch in the nice clothes to help out?” Talon asked.
“Shit,” Xavier whispered.
“Oh, you’re really dead now,” Noah said.
“Wait!” Gia yelled. “That’s not a fair fight!”
“We should break that up,” I said to Xavier.
“We should,” he said.
We didn’t move.
Gia screeched as Talon took on Noah and Easton.
It was like the world around us was collapsing.
But as long as Xavier held me tight, I felt safe.
Epilogue
The missing pieces - quickly
Okay.
I stood in the kitchen with a cup of coffee and thought.
My father, Caroline, Aldrich, and Roland were done for.
For a long time.
Their scheme had been going on for three years.
They had stolen millions of dollars from several people.
Most of which were those who attended that ball.
The tight knit group of money and power had fueled their scam, and it was all in the open now.
Every detail.
And every rich and powerful person who got their butt hurt over it all hired big time lawyers to make sure nobody got away with it.
It was a hard thing to think, but my father and the others were probably going to end up dying in jail.
I wasn’t sure what kind of jail they would be going to though… I highly doubted it was going to be some rough and tough prison.
But.
They were done for.
My father wrote me a letter and I read it.
Then I threw it out.
Maybe we’d eventually talk, but for now, I needed space.
I needed time.
I needed to figure out exactly who Winter Seacrum was.
So far, my days were the same.
Every second possible spent with Xavier.
Going to his shop and watching him work.
Learning a few things here and there.
Helping him with the business end of things.
Writing checks. Organizing invoices. Making calls to people who owed money.
It was actually kind of fun.
Not a forever kind of fun, but a for now kind of fun.
Noah was involved with whatever was left of his father’s business. He was trying to see what he could do to keep things going, rebuild trust, and try to take it all over. When someone told him he was too young for it, he reminded them that his father was the one behind bars.
Easton cashed out like he said he would.
A few of the elite that got screwed over showed their hearts and agreed that Easton shouldn’t have been left high and dry when he did nothing wrong.
Talon and Gia were just Talon and Gia.
Walking the line between Bump and Troc still.
I was happy for Gia.
And I was happy for Talon.
He could have his tough guy act all he wanted, but he loved her.
They were good together.
And good for each other.
As far as Mom went…
She walked into the kitchen, but wasn’t alone.
Behind her was a shirtless man.
Someone her age.
A guy named Mike.
Mom looked at me and she blushed.
“Good morning,” I said.
“Oh, hey there,” Mike said to me.
Mom put her hands together, begging me not to say something.
Mike was the guy she told me about.
Yes.
My mother was sleeping with a married man whose wife was pregnant.
Was it a horrible thing to do?
Yes.
But that’s who she was.
She swore to me that Mike and his wife weren’t together anymore. They were getting divorced and trying to figure out how to navigate it all with a baby on the way.
And here you thought I was in messy situations.
I put my coffee cup into the sink and went outside.
Xavier was down near the water.
I ran do
wn after him and jumped onto his back.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and he started to run forward into the water.
“Don’t you dare,” I warned.
“Oh, we’re going swimming.”
“I have my phone in my pocket, Xavier,” I said.
“Oh well.”
“You are such an…”
Xavier laughed and kept running into the water.
Xavier jumped forward and I let out a scream and shut my eyes.
We hit the water which was salty and cold.
He laughed.
I was pissed.
I climbed around to the front of his body and stared into his eyes.
He kissed me.
A wave hit the side of us and Xavier held me so I wouldn’t get swept away.
He broke our kiss and looked toward the beach.
I looked too.
Someone stood right near the water.
“Fuck,” he whispered.
“What?” I asked.
I looked at the person.
Full dressed.
Staring right at us.
“Do you know who that is?” I asked Xavier.
“Yeah,” he said. “I know exactly who that is.”
His voice sounded deep and mean.
“Xavier…”
“Stay here,” he said.
“No. What’s happening?”
Xavier looked at me. “It’s just another wave about to crash into us, Winter…”
Want more #bfhnext?
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You may have about HCH in this book or read about #hch on social media… well, that’s the rival town for Bay Falls High. And I’m inviting you RIGHT NOW to start reading Hidden Creek High! Trust me, you’re going to want to know the story of Wes & Aira (and Nova & Elijah… and more). It’s simple. How? Check this out here: bit.ly/hch1-us
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Devious Love (Bay Falls High NEXT Book 3) Page 21