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When It’s Least Expected Copyright © 2013 Heather Van Fleet
First Edition
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Chapter One
“Come on, David. You know you want to at least try to go! Pretty please, with a big,
delicious cherry on top … for me?” Harley Anderson seriously thought she’d never live to see this day. This one, single day when she’d be down on her knees, arms outstretched in mock
prayer, begging and pleading with her twin David to go with her to their high school’s first football game of the season.
“It’s not going to happen, Har, so just lay the hell off for once, would you?” David
barked, pushing past her. His jaw clenched in what was probably irritation, but Harley knew what was best for him. He had to go to that game. It was life or death in the sports world for her brother, and Harley knew, without a doubt, that he’d regret this day if he stayed at home to mope like the skilled loner he’d become.
Harley crossed her arms over her chest, heaving herself onto the floor, legs crossed. Her
eyes narrowed, her lips pursed in frustration, and she groaned. This was so not happening! She turned her head, watching as he wheeled away, his anger evident as he whipped his shoes off against the closet door. Harley snorted and shook her head. It was painfully obvious that he was in that kind of mood today. Lucky for him, she knew just exactly what to do.
Now … if only he’d listen to her…
She picked at a lone hangnail, gathering the right words to say in her head. How did she
convince him to go when she hated the sport herself? Seriously, if she wanted to watch a bunch of barbaric animals running up and down a field of grass, then she’d go to the prairie park two counties over! She never understood the appeal of throwing balls and jumping on top of each other anyways. Oh, and the sweat … just … ick! You didn’t even want to get her started on the sweat or the smells that accompanied said sweat. She shivered at the thought, staring over at David’s pale profile.
“It’s the first game of the year, and you’ve gone since we were four, David!” Harley
whined, pounding her fist into her lap; her bright, brown eyes begged and pleaded with the boy who was both her best friend and her brother. His answering scowl said it all. Um, yeah,
apparently he wasn’t falling for her puppy eyes anymore.
She heaved a heavy sigh, rising off the hard wooden floor of his room, resolved that she
would never get him out of his funk. Pigs could fly, and cows could jump over the moon, but David would still be there … moping his life away.
Luckily she loved a challenge.
“Would you just give me a break, Har? I’m tired, like I just ran a marathon legless kind
of tired.” Her shoulders slouched, her heart followed suit as she moved across the room. God, she was failing with her sisterly duties once again. But David was one tough nut to crack, so she had to give herself some credit for at least trying.
She stretched her arms out in front of her and interlocked her fingers, regretting her five minutes of floor begging. She made her way towards the floor to ceiling mirror that hung on his wall next to his door. She twirled as she approached her reflection, eyes wide as she studied the white, mid-length skirt that she’d picked to wear. She cocked her head to the side practically staring holes through the material, grinning inside as she did. It was feminine, floating around her bony knee like a butterfly’s wings. For once, she almost looked and felt like a girl.
“Besides,” David continued behind her, his voice low and hinting of sadness. She
blinked, staring back at his reflection in the mirror behind her, noting his matching brown eyes looking equally as sad as his voice. Her chest tightened, her heart burned, but she refused to give up on him. He reached for the break release on his chair, and scooted closer to her. “I’m not in the mood to have pity eyes on me all night because of this damn chair.”
He stared down at his one, under muscled leg, releasing that world famous, half-hearted
David shrug that he almost always saved for when he was lying. Harley knew that move all too well. She had one similar herself. In that one single moment, Harley had finally come to the conclusion that her brother had to be either severely depressed or truly insane. Either way she was done with his feeling sorry for himself attitude.
It was time to pull out the big guns.
“Sure, big brother,” she bit her lip, praying he’d fall for it. It was all she had left, “I’ll just go with Abigail then.” She sighed, letting her eyelashes bat heavily against her cheek as she stared down at her intertwining fingers.
She moved unhurriedly towards the bed, sitting on the edge with an extra bounce when
she reached it. She slapped her hands against her lap, heaving out yet another sigh. “I mean, we were going to meet her there anyways, so I guess it’s not a big deal if she picks me up…”
She chanced another look at David, noting how his wide eyes had popped with the
mention of her best friend. His lips twitched, his jaw clenched, and he all but rewarded her with his famous middle finger wave. Harley grinned menacingly in response. She was getting to him.
But oh no, she wasn’t done, not by a long shot.
“You know, she’s been asking about you ...” The statement hung in the air between them,
and Harley held her breath. A button had finally been hit when she noticed his normally dull eyes brighten. He was intrigued … finally! She straightened her spine as she waited for a response.
She was officially one step away from an “I did it” fist pump. Now all she had to do was wait for his yes…
Abigail, her best friend in the world, was always the key when it came to David and his emotions. The two of them were desperately in love with each another, and had been since the age of six when David secretly stuck little balls of red play dough into Abigail’s ears. Abigail rewarded him back by dumping an
entire container of grape Kool-Aid on his head.
Young love had never been so sweet…
Now, if only life was still that simple. “Crap, Harley,” he groaned.
Harley blinked, instantly knocked out of her daydream. She stared back at David, noting
all traces of happiness had been wiped from her brother’s lips. In its place was a frown that never seemed to cease.
Crap, he wasn’t going to comply.
“I just…” He paused, running a hand threw his long shaggy brown hair, “…can’t tonight.
Tell her I’m sorry and that I said hey though, okay?”
And boom, he was back to square one, sounding even more defeated than before.
With her shoulders slouched for real this time, and doubt weighing heavily on her heart,
Harley was officially ready to give up, but in order to keep her role as the family’s most
argumentative member of the group, she had to try, at least once more.
David had to get out of that house! And Harley had to be the one to make him.
“Daaaaviiiiiid…” she droned, stomping her bare feet as she began to chase his retreating
body out the door.
Damn he was fast in that chair.
“Come with me, God damn it, and start freaking living again!”
She cringed, slapping a hand over her mouth, instantly regretting the ridiculously mild
swear word she’d just spouted off. She paused, letting her ears open wide as she waited for the inevitable.
“Watch your language, Harley Ann!” Right on cue … her mother had some seriously
inhuman ears.
Harley shrugged, staring over at their mother’s office door. The verbal warning was far
better than the alternative of course. Money in the swear jar sucked, especially when she was on a limited budget.
“Sorry, Mom! Won’t happen again!” Harley rolled her eyes as her voice dripped with
sappy satire. David chuckled a few feet ahead of her as he turned towards the kitchen, and
Harley snarled at his backside, almost forgetting her original intentions.
She’d reached the door frame of the kitchen seconds later, gnawing on her lip as she
watched him struggle to stand on one leg. He stumbled, grabbing the countertop as he simply tried to reach for a cup alongside the sink. She gripped the side of her shirt, so she wouldn’t automatically reach out for him. He didn’t want help, a fact made known a while ago, but it was still hard to fight her heroine instincts.
He moved back to his chair to wheel towards the fridge and successfully poured himself a
glass of milk. He downed it in one, slow gulp. Harley exhaled a slow, quiet breath. Yeah, her brother was one legged, but he wasn’t an invalid; she had to remember that.
She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was a quarter after six. Dammit, she’d run out of
time. Guess she’d forego her annoying begging after all. It apparently wasn’t going to work anyways.
“Fine, whatever … don’t go, but please, David, next time…?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll go next time.” He shrugged. She grinned. Hey, it was a start at least…
“Next time though, watch out because I am totally dragging your butt out of that wheel
chair, and making you go!” She crossed her arms, and tapped her toe. She was the epitome of stubborn, and no snarky, big attitude jerk like her brother would stop her from getting her way.
“You know I love you, Har, and I promise you I’ll get out of this funk soon.” He so
obviously lied as he leaned back on his wheels. His arms bulged around his t-shirt. The boy would lay anyone flat with muscles that huge. She didn’t call him on his lie in the end. Like she said, she’d done all she could, so what was the point of adding more drama to the mix?
An uncomfortable silence passed between them as Harley stared blankly over his
shoulder out the kitchen window. She blinked a few times as the guilt of his accident ate away at her once again. She swallowed a lump in her throat, to keep her emotions in check, as she
refocused on his face staring up at her.
Dammit … wasn’t this supposed to get easier? Wasn’t the guilt supposed to go away?
Wasn’t the ache in her heart supposed to heal itself? No matter what the therapist, her parents, or friends tried to convince her of, her brother was in that stupid wheel chair because of her.
A change seemed to crawl over David’s face the longer she stared down at him.
Despondency appeared in his dulled eyes. A sense of sorrow seemed to be pulling down the
edges of his lips. He looked so defeated that Harley had to stifle the sob building deep in her throat.
With one hand gripping her neck and the other one covering her mouth, Harley watched
as her usually untouched by sorrow, twin brother, rubbed the palms of his hands, silently across his upper thighs. His eyes were dry, but lifeless, and no words, other than lost and longing, could describe how he appeared as he stared down at the empty spot where his left leg once was.
Harley held her breath, tiptoeing towards his chair, leery of what he’d say when she
offered up the comfort she was dying to show him. She crouched low on the white tile, as she settled one of her trembling hands on top of his fingers. She gripped his knuckles, pouring her love through him with that one simple gesture. She’d never physically apologized for what she’d done to him, never apologized for ruining his life either. But she could apologize for not being there for him the way she should have been.
Luckily, no words were needed as her brother peered down at her. A sad, knowing smile
passed over his mouth, while his way-too-feminine-to-be-male eye lashes blinked once … twice
… three times in what she hoped was acceptance of her non-verbal version of an apology.
As twins, they shared a weird ability to silently communicate with one another without
words, and in that moment, Harley had never been more thankful for it.
It was about time it came in handy.
Harley needed him to know that she should have been the one in that chair instead him.
Not the star athlete. Not the boy who everyone adored. Not the boy whose smile infected
everyone around him with a plague of happiness. It was Harley’s selfishness that created this mess, and no matter what, she’d be the one that would fix it.
Chapter Two
“This … is a football stadium?” Mason Daniel squinted, glaring over at the lighted field
to his right. Maisy, his little sister, huffed in the passenger seat as they pulled into one of the remaining parking spots in the gravel lot. He grimaced, glancing between the girl he’d do
anything for, and the place he’d rather avoid altogether.
She was lucky he was in a good mood.
It was like another universe there in Hillsdale, Nebraska, and Mason could already tell
the town was not for him. Any town that sold eggs on the side of the road was bound to be shitty.
“It’s not so bad, Mason. The field is huge,” she gestured with an infectious giddiness in
her voice. All Mason did was frown harder at her. “I think it might be even better than the one at home in Santa Cruz!” Maisy held her hands to her chest as she excitedly popped from the car. He shook his head, watching her bounce outside the door, struggling to hold back his smart ass comment about what he actually thought of that field.
Cows and manure … yup, that’s all it needed.
“Alright, mouse, let’s get this over with.” He stepped out of his black baby, locking the
doors behind them. He rubbed the top of the sleek hood, pride radiating through him. He loved his car. He loved the back seat even more.
He lifted his head, frowning once again as he stared at the ticket booth. Hell awaited him
behind those gates, and he wasn’t looking forwa
rd to visiting.
“Please don’t call me ‘mouse’. I’m not ten anymore, Mase. I’m fifteen. And look,” she
gasped, holding her hands under her chest, “I’ve even got these fabulous boobs to prove it!”
Mason slapped his hands over his eyes and groaned. Damn her … she was too much.
Yeah, he knew she was growing like a weed, but the constant reminders definitely didn’t need to be reiterated like that. Christ!
“Besides, you know that this new school is exactly what we need to start over again.” She
continued on her with little tangent, throwing her hands around in obvious effect. Mason shook his head and laughed. She was the spastic queen, and he was sure there was an Oscar out there with her name on it.
“Are you listening to anything I’m saying here, Mase? Because you’re kinda spacing out
on me…” Mason shrugged, wrapping a loose arm around her shoulders. He didn’t want to be
there, that was obvious, but his dramatic as all hell little sister had begged him for a ride. He could never say no to the girl.
Mason grabbed their game tickets a few minutes later, shaking his head as the ink glared
back at him. Hillsdale vs. Ridgville … nice. He tucked them into his pocket and shook his head.
Who in the hell handed out tickets to a high school football game anyways?
Maisy skipped away, squealing like a banshee when she came upon her new little group
of friends. He scratched his chin, watching them all hug and squeak. Girls were sexy creatures …
as long as they didn’t act like that.
Really though, leave it to his sister to make friends in this town within the first week of living there. She was a damn social butterfly. Social butterflies drove him nuts.
But Mason making friends? Hah! That wasn’t going to happen. Staying scarce was the
only thing on his agenda while living in Hillsdale, Nebraska for the next four months because the moment he turned eighteen he was out of there. Not a damn thing was going to hold him back.
Santa Cruz was his home. And there was no way in hell that he’d finish up his senior year in corn town, USA. The only reason he came at all was so Maisy could start over and leave the bad
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