Chris’s face lit up. “Oh thank god. I thought for sure that I was going to have to scrape up the money for a replacement.”
Scott handed it to him and tried to ignore the way Chris’s fingers brushed against his own.
Chris was almost hugging the phone to his chest and his smile was back. “Thank you.”
“I didn’t look at it,” Scott blurted, and Chris gave him an odd look. Scott stumbled on. “I mean, I didn’t look at your contacts or texts or anything. Molly did, though, a little. She told me to try coffee shops.” Scott realized he was rambling, but thankfully, Chris looked more amused than anything. “She saw her number in there and said to call her if you want. Or text. Or whatever.” Scott winced. “I’ll stop talking now.”
A small smile bloomed on Chris’s face. “You’re fine. And tell Molly thanks, that was sweet.” The bell jingled to announce a customer, and Scott stepped back from the counter. Chris looked at the customer and then back to Scott. “Can you wait just a minute while I take care of this order?”
“Sure.” Scott took a seat at a table out of the way and pulled out his phone so that he could at least pretend that he wasn’t watching Chris. The way he smiled at the customer and chatted with them as he made their drink. The way he confidently did whatever magic a barista did and made it look easy. The customer paid and left with a wave. Scott turned back to his phone so that he didn’t get caught staring but had a feeling that he hadn’t been quick enough. The small shop was empty again except for the two of them, and Chris came around the counter and sat in the other chair at the table.
He picked at a small flaw in the surface of the table for a few seconds. “I want to apologize for yesterday.”
“You don’t have to—”
Chris shook his head. “I kind of do.” He sighed and laced his fingers together on the tabletop. “I was having a bad day. I didn’t mean to dump all of that on you.” His pale eyes were so very sincere, but Scott could still see a hint of that resignation that he’d seen earlier. “I don’t think you’re like those other people. I just wanted you to know that.”
“Don’t worry about it. I told you, I’m a good listener.”
Chris gave a small laugh, and it made Scott want him to do it again.
“Well, thanks.” Scott nodded, and the bell rang again. Chris went to help another customer, and Scott watched him, openly this time. He felt torn and found himself wrestling with his own conscience. Chris was having a rough time. It was not the right moment to ask him out on a date. It was probably the last thing that he should do.
But Chris also looked like he desperately needed a friend. So maybe, he reasoned, he could just do that. Chris finished up with the customer and walked back over to him, and Scott couldn’t take his eyes off him. His worn jeans and faded Islanders T-shirt looked just as good as a tailored suit. He smiled, and Scott felt that flutter in his stomach again. It wasn’t going to be easy, but it felt like the right thing to do.
And it wasn’t like he dated much, anyway. The last time had been a disastrous blind date who had been the son of a friend of his dad’s friend, and he’d only been interested in getting the son of Edwin Prince in bed. Like he was a checkmark on a list. It had been horribly awkward, and he had banned his dad from setting him up ever again. His dad had agreed after laughing his ass off, of course. Friends would be a good place to start.
“Can I take you to dinner?” Scott almost bit his tongue in an effort to stop himself. “I mean, as a friend. Or not. Whatever you want.”
Chris hesitated. “I would love to, but I can’t.”
“Oh.” Scott swallowed and tried to keep his face composed. “Are you seeing someone? Or, I mean—”
“No, nothing like that. I mean, I’m not seeing anyone. I just—I just can’t.” He hesitated. “I shouldn’t.”
“I understand.” The reply was automatic, but Scott realized he didn’t mean it. “No. I don’t understand at all. I mean, you don’t owe me an explanation or anything. You have no reason to say yes, I mean, but I’d really like you to.” He covered his face with his hands. “God, I’m so sorry.”
“Look, I do like you but—” Chris hesitantly put his hand on Scott’s, probably to shut him up for a second, that adorable crinkle back around his eyes. “I wish I could. Really.” He squeezed Scott’s hand and then let go. “I’m sorry.”
“Okay.” What else could he say? The door opened, and another customer came in. “I’ll get out of your way.”
Chris nodded and took his place behind the counter again. “Thanks. Maybe I’ll see you around.”
“Maybe.” Scott hoped so. He stood to go and wondered if, after all of that, it would be completely inappropriate to offer a hug. If anyone ever looked like they needed a hug, it was Chris. It was awkward between them at the moment, and he was certain that he’d messed up any chance of friendship with him too.
“Hey.” Chris held out a cup, his face a mix of sad and something else that Scott couldn’t put his finger on. “It’s not Starbucks, but it’s close.”
Scott took the cup and gingerly took a sip. It was his regular order. Chris had remembered. “It’s better.” He tipped the cup at Chris in appreciation and walked toward the door. “Thanks.”
Chris gave him a faint smile and wiped down the pristine counter. Scott took a final look and walked out the door.
“YOU, MY DARLING, are ridiculous.” Molly only called him that when she was being especially condescending, so Scott threw a pillow at her head. She caught it and tucked it behind her, where she was leaning against the arm of the sofa. They were at her apartment this time. Scott had to admit that he probably was being a little bit melodramatic.
“I’m not ridiculous. I’m worried.” It had been days, and neither of them had heard from Chris. Molly had convinced him to give Chris some space, so he had avoided Starbucks and the coffee shop. “Why do I ever listen to you?”
“Because I am smart and know what I’m talking about.” Molly turned and patted her lap, inviting Scott to lie down. He rolled his eyes but did it anyway, then closed his eyes as she ran her fingers through his hair. It was soothing, and just what he needed.
But he felt guilty. Chris was obviously suffering, yet here he was, lying on a couch, getting his hair stroked. “You haven’t heard from him?”
“For the tenth time, I would have told you if I had.” Molly gave his hair a tug, and he swatted at her. “You’re obsessing.”
“I’m not!” Scott turned so that he could look at her. “You weren’t there. You didn’t see his face.” He started to sit up, and Molly stopped him with her grip on his hair.
“Listen, Scott,” she said firmly. “You have to stay in your own lane. Chris would completely shut you out if you went to your dad. He’d never trust you again. Let him work out his own problems and just be there for him, if he wants. Otherwise, stay out of it. Do you understand me?” Molly gave his hair a tug when he didn’t answer. “Answer me.”
Scott sighed. “I won’t go to Dad with this.”
“Because it’s a breach of trust.” She tugged again.
“Because it’s a breach of trust. God.” Scott buried his face against her knee. “I just want to help.”
“I know you do.” Molly’s phone beeped, and she picked it up without taking her other hand off Scott’s head. Then she sat forward so quickly that he almost slid off into the floor. “It’s him.” She shoved Scott off her lap and stood, waving her phone in his face. “Scott, it’s him.”
Scott sat up and grabbed for the phone so that he could look, but she held it out of reach. “Let me see!”
“Wait, let me make sure that it’s okay if I tell you.”
He clenched his hands together as he waited for her to tap out a reply.
Her phone beeped and she nodded. “Okay. He wants to meet us.”
“When? Where?” Scott flushed when she smirked at him. “Shut up. What did he say?”
Molly looked at the screen as it beeped again. “I c
an’t shut up if I’m telling you what he said.”
Scott growled in frustration.
“Calm down. I’m getting a time.” She went back and forth for a minute before grinning at him. “He gets off in an hour and wants to meet us at your Starbucks.”
“What else did he say?”
She scrolled through the messages again. “He’s being kind of cryptic, but it sounds like he found something. And before you get a complex, I’m pretty sure he texted me so that there wasn’t a trail to you.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything.” Scott knew he sounded petulant but didn’t care. They were going to go to meet Chris, and hopefully, he was going to let them help.
SCOTT AND MOLLY arrived first. The place was busier than usual, so Molly grabbed a table. He must have spaced out while waiting on his order because when he turned around, he was surprised to find Chris already at the table. Scott blinked, forgetting the cups in his hands. He wanted to walk over, take Chris in his arms, and tell him that everything was going to be all right, and he actually took a step forward before he caught himself. Molly saw him—she always saw everything—and gave him a searching look.
Chris turned at the same time and smiled. It didn’t reach his eyes. In fact, it looked like the smile of someone desperately trying to hold it together. Screw it. He walked over, put the cups down on the table, and threw an arm around Chris in an awkward half hug. Chris didn’t hesitate. He turned in his seat and wrapped his arms around Scott’s waist, his forehead pushing into his chest.
Scott stood there for a few moments before Chris sat back and pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes. “Sorry. I just—” He took his hands away from his face, and Scott could see how tired he was. “I needed that.”
“Anytime.” Scott squeezed his shoulder and sat down, not wanting to make Chris feel self-conscious. He slid Molly’s drink over to her before he realized that Chris didn’t have anything. “You want a coffee or something?”
Chris shook his head as he pulled a thin file out of his backpack. “Maybe after. I just want to get this over with.” He put the closed file on the table and ran his finger along the edge of it before lacing his hands on top of it. It made him look much older than he was. “I might as well start from the beginning.” He took a deep breath.
“My stepmother is a miserable excuse for a human being, and my stepsisters are selfish spoiled brats.” He let out a shaky laugh. “You don’t know how good it feels to say that out loud.” Molly reached for him and wrapped her hand around his wrist. He untangled his fingers and covered her hand with his own. “They weren’t as bad when my dad was still alive, or I didn’t notice it or whatever.” Chris cleared his throat. “Anyway. Nadine took over the finances as my guardian, which she said was what the will called for.” He looked down at the table. “I wasn’t allowed to go to the reading, and she kept all the copies locked up, so I had no idea what it said.”
Chris opened the folder. “Turns out she’s been lying to me the whole time.” He flipped through the neatly stapled stack of paper and stopped on a page that had a blue tab on the side, tapping it with his forefinger. “It’s all right here. At least now I know why she hid it from me.”
Molly didn’t take the papers but craned her neck to try to read them. “What does it say?”
Scott wanted to know, but at the same time, he didn’t. He didn’t want to hear how badly that woman had twisted a father’s last words for her own gain.
“I’m not a lawyer, but the gist of it is that I was supposed to be allowed to pursue whatever education I wanted, to be paid for out of his estate until I was twenty-one when I was to get control of the trust that he had set aside for me.” His fingers splayed out on the page as if to confirm the information it held. When he spoke again, his voice was flat. “She pulled me out of private school a few months after he died and sent me to a public school so that she wouldn’t have to spend the money. It was a good school, but by then, people had seen the article and—”
“It made you a target.” Scott could relate to that feeling.
“Exactly. I was the rich kid.” Chris made finger quotes. “Before I was old enough to work, I used to have to beg her to buy even basic things for me.” He glanced at Scott and then away. “I’ve never even dated. I couldn’t afford to let myself get attached to anyone beyond random hookups.” He met Scott’s eyes. “I had other things to worry about. It was never a priority.”
“You did what you could to survive.” Molly looked between the two of them. “So what can we do? What do you want to do?”
Scott was glad she asked the question, because he was speechless. It still sounded like something from a fairy tale. A well-intentioned father dying suddenly, leaving his son in the hands of his conniving stepmother and her greedy daughters. It was a classic story, except this was real and had actually happened to the man right in front of him. It all came together. The worn sneakers and the frayed hems of Chris’s jeans. The dark circles under his eyes. It just screamed tired.
But he looked at Scott right then with the barest hint of hope in his eyes. “I have some money saved. I know it’s not enough, but I swear I will pay back every penny, and—” He ran his fingers over the papers again. “Do you think your dad would talk to me about this?”
Scott was already fumbling his phone out of his pocket. “Yes. Of course. I’ll send him a text right now.” He stopped and looked at Chris. “If that’s okay.”
“Yeah. I think— Please.” Chris closed the folder. “Just let me know the time and place.” Chris’s phone dinged. He pulled it out and looked at the screen, face crumpling in on itself. “But if it could be soon, that would be great.” His voice broke on the last word. “You know why my phone looks like this?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Lindsey, the younger one, did it. I left my door unlocked, and she went in there and threw it across the room. Just because she said I was ignoring her texts.” He gave a bitter laugh. “Which I was.”
Scott wanted to take Chris back into his arms and promise that he’d never have to deal with anything like that ever again. “I’m going to make sure that you get in to see him as soon as possible, okay?”
Chris nodded. “I just need to get out of there.”
Scott agreed and vowed to himself that he would go and plant himself in his father’s office until he agreed to meet with Chris, if that’s what it took.
They all decided to meet again the next day in the hope that Scott would have good news. Chris didn’t want to run the risk of Nadine finding out what he was up to, so Molly took possession of the file. Scott protested, but she argued that they shouldn’t do anything that could be seen as conflict of interest, just in case.
Scott felt giddy with the prospect of helping Chris. He carried the memory of the parting hug that Chris had given him home with him, feeling lighter and full of hope.
THE NEXT DAY, Scott and Molly didn’t even go inside the Starbucks but, instead, waited outside for Chris to show up. Molly had the file folder clutched to her chest. Scott had news.
“Well?” Chris looked hopeful, and Scott couldn’t help the wide grin on his face.
“He wants to see you. Right now.”
“Really?” Chris looked delighted, and Scott couldn’t help but put his arm around him. He remembered how Chris had reacted the previous night and wondered when the last time someone had really hugged him.
Chris leaned into him like he had before and wrapped his arms around Scott’s waist. He was warm and solid. They broke apart, but before they stepped away from each other, their eyes met. Scott’s breath caught in his throat. He glanced at Chris’s lips and then back up to his wide, pale eyes.
Scott stepped back quickly, afraid that he was making Chris uncomfortable. It simply wasn’t the right time or place.
Chris snagged his hand before he could get out of reach. “We’ll talk after.” Chris gave him a gentle smile. “Okay?”
Scott swallowed and nodded, squeezing his hand.
Mol
ly glanced between them and rolled her eyes, but fondness was unmistakable in her expression. “Are you guys ready?”
Chris let Scott’s hand go but kept his eyes on him. “Let’s go.”
“WILL YOU SIT down? You’re making me nervous,” Molly said.
Scott paced up and down the hallway, his footsteps muffled by the plush rug just outside his dad’s office. He stopped and laced his hands behind his neck. “I can’t.” Contrary to what he’d just said, he flopped down into the chair next to her. “Fine.”
“Thank you.” Molly was scrolling through her phone, attention glued to the screen. When Scott’s knee started to bounce up and down from nerves, she reached out without taking her gaze from the phone and clamped a hand on it. “Stop it.”
“Molly, I—” Scott broke off as the door opened. “Oh.”
Mr. Prince walked Chris out of his office, speaking softly before holding out his hand for him to shake. Chris shook it and said something back, turning to where Scott and Molly were waiting. Scott searched his face and was thrilled when Chris smiled the sunny smile he remembered from when they first met.
“Yeah?”
Chris nodded. “Yeah.” He ran his hand through his hair and laughed. “He said I have a case.”
“You have a case.” Scott looked over Chris’s shoulder and met his dad’s eyes. His dad was standing at the door to his office, watching them with a small smile on his face. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.” Mr. Prince clapped a hand on Chris’s shoulder. “It’s a pleasure. And I don’t get to say that very often in my business.” Scott knew what he meant. His dad’s usual clientele were people filing for divorce and arguing over a vacation home or fourth car. It was a rarity that he was able to help someone who really, really needed it.
“So what happens next?” Scott started a little when Chris stood close enough to press their shoulders together. He tentatively brushed the back of Chris’s hand with his fingertips, and while Chris didn’t take his hand, he didn’t pull away.
Once Upon the Rainbow, Volume Two Page 4