Aaron widened his eyes. “Oliver, I don’t think that’s what we meant…”
But Oliver was already out of the car.
Thorn released an audible gasp. “Come on. He’s doing this thing. We need to be fast.”
All of us tumbled out of the car, but the guys walked ahead of me.
“Hold on,” I practically shouted. “What if we worked on getting them out of the house instead? What if we, say, made them think they had a rodent problem? Or a gas leak?”
Oliver shook his head. “Do you have a gas company uniform, because I don’t have a gas company uniform.”
“Wait up,” Colton rocked back on his feet. “I know them. I’ll ring the doorbell. Keep them busy. You guys search. I’ll get them outside. I golf with Ken, and I’ve met Betsy at least three times. Don’t worry. I got this. Go find the gross looking stone or whatever. Cool your jets, Oliver. We don’t need any B&E tonight. No kidnapping. Or federal offenses.”
Oh, thank god. Even if this entire reality disappeared after I left, I couldn’t live with myself having sent Oliver to prison. Again. I loved him here, and I loved him in my life, and I loved him in all lives.
Colton rang the doorbell and waited. I turned at the last minute. I’d freaked out this couple. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea if they came face-to-face with me. I trusted Colton to use his powers of persuasion, but I wasn’t sure how far they would work.
The guys were still handsome. If I opened the door and saw this foursome, my brain might click off for a bit.
Oliver studied me, confused, and I gave a little shake of my head, walking toward him when I heard the door open.
“Betsy!” Colton greeted.
“Colton?” I could hear the confusion in her voice. I was sure it was weird. Five people show up on your doorstep? I waited for her to cry out, “Call the police,” but instead, she went on, “This is such a nice surprise! Did you finally decide to take me up on that offer and check out my grandfather’s clubs?”
“I know I’ve been turning you down for years, Betsy, but I was hanging out with my friends from high school—you know, Thorn—”
“Oh yes, of course. Great game last Friday, Coach. Though we were disappointed by the defense. Were they asleep?”
Internally, I snored. Football talk. Spare me.
Thorn chuckled. “If they’re asleep this Friday, it’s because they did so many drills this week. I never saw such a bunch of lazy-ass babies as I did last game. In fact, I have a buddy of mine, you know Oliver Chee? We went to high school together; he’s doing a scared-straight talk with the team. He’s a motivational speaker now.”
Say what? In front of me, Oliver’s face reddened, and he opened and shut his mouth. His wide-eyed gaze caught mine. Help.
I covered my face with my hand, and leaned forward. “I don’t know what you expect me to do. My reputation was bad before yours.”
“Really?” Betsy’s voice sounded strangled, and I could only imagine what she was thinking now. Good on Thorn for bringing it right out into the open, but dear god.
“Oliver had an idea for a charity golf tournament,” Colton picked up Thorn’s thread. “So what better time to check them out? I don’t suppose Ken has any old clubs he’d like to donate lying around?”
“I don’t know…” Her voice trailed off.
“Is he here?” Colton asked.
“Oh yes. I’m so sorry. Where are my manners? Come in!” We moved together. I turned and found Aaron standing close to me. He was directly in front of me, half-shielding me from Betsy. “Ken! Ken! Colton is here!”
“That son of a bi…” He trailed off, probably because he saw the mob in his foyer. “Good to see you, man. Who are all of these people?”
Colton smiled. “They’re working on the auction with me. We took one car. So you get everyone. Can I see those clubs now?”
I kept my head down, looking at the floor. Don’t recognize me. Don’t recognize me.
“Where’s the bathroom?” Aaron asked with a smile. “If you don’t mind, I’ll catch up. Too much coffee.”
Coffee? At this hour? I glanced up to see Betsy smile. “It’s right down the hall.”
“Thanks,” Aaron nodded. “Be right back.”
I pointed at him. “I’m going to follow him so I can go next.”
Thorn said something loudly and Oliver laughed. Good, let them make a scene. If it bought us more time. I pointed toward the bedroom. “That’s where I showed up.”
Aaron nodded once. “This is lunacy. I don’t break into people’s homes.”
“We didn’t break in. We’re just stealing once we’re here.”
That didn’t make it better, but that was the best I was going to get here. It was technically my stuff, not theirs. But I couldn’t very well say that I wanted it back.
I opened the bedroom door and went inside. Aaron closed it quietly behind us. Immediately, I dropped to the floor to explore the place where all lost things went—under the bed. There were hat boxes and old laptop boxes. I pulled out the ones I could reach and slid under. My nose immediately began to twitch from the dust. What a fucking pathetic comedy this was. I could just picture it. The door would open, Aaron would make a comment about thinking the bathroom was in here, and I’d try to stay quiet, only to be given away by a sneeze.
Then we went to jail.
I didn’t want to go out that way. Digging around, I pushed past boxes and explored every nook and cranny. I could see Aaron’s feet from where I was, lifting the boxes I pushed out to check beneath them. Finally, I had to admit to myself that they weren’t here.
I crawled out, pushed the boxes back, and went to work in the rest of the room.
Aaron and I were a good team. We moved fast but efficiently. Together we moved chairs and checked beneath cushions.
I had a horrifying thought. “Aaron, what if it’s stuck in the walls or something?”
He shrugged as he pulled the comforter back from the bed. “Then we buy different ones and hope that it’s the type of stone that works, and not those stones specifically. We’ll figure it out. Holy shit. I found them.”
The relief was so great my knees wobbled. “You’re kidding me.”
He held out his hand to reveal a stone of soft blue and another that looked like—well—fungus. “This them?”
“Yep.” I put the pillows back and smoothed the blankets. We crept to the door and hurried out. In the hall, we stared at each other, eyes wide and shoulders heaving with breath. “Holy shit, we did it.”
He shoved the stones in my pocket and took my shoulders, giving me a little shake. “We did it. Now, let’s go.” He grabbed my hand like it was nothing, dragging me behind him through the house. “Colt?” he called out.
“Yeah?” His voice was far away. Aaron winked at me.
We found the guys outside with Betsy and Ken. “Sorry,” Aaron said. “We were looking for you. Beautiful home, but big.”
Betsy, who had seemed a little put off by our arrival, smiled at Aaron’s words. “Thank you so much. We know it’s a lot for just the two of us, but when we saw it, we had to have it. Ken and I are like that.”
“There’s no saying no to Betsy.” Ken swung a club, staring out at the spacious backyard. From the corner of my eye, I saw the hot tub. So strange to think that only hours earlier I’d been in there, relaxing.
It struck me that Ken and Betsy probably owned this house in my reality. I wondered if I’d find them to act and speak the same there as they did here.
With the guys being so different, I had to imagine they would be, too.
“I didn’t get your name.” Betsy pinned me with a stare.
“Lacey,” Colton said. He was studying the clubs, pulling them out one by one. “Ken, I have to tell you. I feel like I’m stealing from you here. These are gorgeous. You’re sure you don’t want to keep them?”
That got Betsy’s attention off me quick. “No. He doesn’t. He has enough golf sets. Did he show you Jack Kennedy�
��s?”
Colton slid the club back into the bag, standing slowly. “JFK?”
“Spent a mint on them from some guy who bought them at auction back in the nineties. Worth every penny. And no, I’m not selling them.”
Colton held up his hands. “I’d never try to take them from you. But these that you’re giving to me will go a long way for the auction. Thanks.”
Oliver rolled his eyes, and I shot him a look. The last thing that we needed was for them to notice.
“I’m going to the car, Oliver, with me, please.” I hurried away, still avoiding eye contact. I hadn’t tried this hard to not look anyone in the eye since high school. Don’t notice me could be my nickname right now. I climbed in the car and Oliver was a second behind me.
“Tell me in the other world I don’t deal with people like that.”
I snorted. “You take care of their animals. Probably charge them too much. I don’t see you hanging out.”
He smiled, and it lit up the car. “I like that. I like that… dream. It reminds me of who I used to be.”
I took his hand. “Thanks for taking care of my cousin like that. It never occurred to me that you’d do that.”
Oliver sighed. “I know. That’s why I did. Smug bastard. But in retrospect, maybe I could have honored you better by living the kind of life where I’d be worthy of a girl like you. A woman. Sorry. Shit. Anyway, the kind of guy who would stand a chance with a person like you. That’s how I could have made things better. Not beating on a guy who wasn’t worth the effort.”
His hands shook, and as I held one of them in mine, I couldn’t help but notice. “How much are you jonesing right now?”
His laugh surprised me. “Jonesing?”
“Wrong word?”
I never got the answer to that because Aaron jumped in the car. “They’re wrapping it up. I hate this side of town. I feel like I lose my integrity every time I set foot in it.”
Oliver groaned, and I shook my head. “Rich doesn’t have to mean corrupt. Don’t be that person. It’s not cool to generalize. You wouldn’t like it if they did that to you.”
Aaron nodded. “Except that those two totally do. I have JFK’s clubs. Congratu-fucking-lations.”
Oliver sat back. “You two and your phrases tonight. The 1990s want their lingo back.”
Aaron elbowed him, and I laughed. Just in time for Thorn and Colton to get in the car. Colton looked back at us. “How much would you give me if I broke their windows right now with his stupid fucking club?”
“Aren’t you going to give it to some charity?”
Colton pulled down the driveway. “What charity? They’re so ridiculous, they wouldn’t even remark that they can’t remember that they know nothing about what I was talking about. No, this club is going in the dumpster outside of my office. Did you get the stones?”
I had. I reached into my pocket and pulled them out.
“Huh.” Thorn stared at them. “A little underwhelming. Do you feel anything?” He held his hand over them the same way you’d check to see if a burner on the stove was hot.
“No,” I answered. “But then again, I never did. The stones were the Chees area of expertise. They don’t really do anything for me.”
“Except suck you through time and space,” Colton said, speeding up.
Next to me, Oliver shut his eyes and sucked in a deep breath through his nose. “Are you going to be okay?” I asked quietly.
He nodded once. “The sooner you’re gone, the sooner I’ll be who I’m supposed to be. This version of me won’t exist. I won’t hurt. I won’t have some shitty past. Everything will be perfect.”
“Hey.” I touched his hand, threading my fingers with his. “Nothing is perfect. No matter where you go. My reality is settled, but who you are at your core doesn’t change.”
He opened his eyes. His pupils were pinpricks despite the waning light. “I can’t believe that.”
“So where to?” Thorn asked from the front seat. “What’s the next step?”
I stared at Oliver for a moment before answering. “How about a family reunion?”
Chapter 11
We pulled in the driveway of the very same house the Chees had lived in when I was a teenager. Across the street from them, someone had built on the lot where Gran’s house had stood. The street had definitely changed, and not for the better.
Even the Chee’s house, which as I remembered it had been well kept, looked run down with peeling shutters and stucco.
“They’re still living here?” I asked.
“Yeah.” Aaron’s answer was short. Concise.
Colton pulled behind an older model Toyota with a “baby on board” sign stuck to the bumper.
“Who had a baby?”
“Kelly.” Oliver pushed open the door, but rather than head toward the house, he bolted for some bushes and puked. “Fuck,” I heard him say.
“He’s pretty messed up,” Thorn said quietly. “He needs to get a fix, or he can really get hurt. Is he on anything, Aaron? Suboxone? One of those replacement drugs?”
“He’s not supposed to be on anything.” After answering, Aaron strode away from us to his brother. He placed his hand on Oliver’s back, but his brother swiped his arm back, knocking him away.
“He’s really hurting.” Thorn took a step toward the brothers and then shook his head. “We should get him to a hospital.”
“No.” Oliver straightened and wiped his mouth with the back of his arm. “I have a plan.
“You do?” Colton crossed his arms over his chest. “What’s that?”
“I’m going to, as Thorn said, get a fix. A small amount. And then we’re going to get on with this.”
I hated the thought of him using, but maybe that made sense. How did I know? I wasn’t a doctor and I had no experience with this whatsoever. The opioid crisis was alive and well right in front of my eyes, and I could honestly say I’d never seen it before. Wow. It wasn’t pretty.
My thoughts were clearly an understatement.
Aaron suddenly looked even more exhausted than he already was. “Okay. Well, let’s the rest of us go inside and, Oliver, when you’re up for it, come on in, too. See the baby. Try not to piss off our parents.”
He nodded once, and for a brief second, there was such an apology in his eyes as he gazed at his brother that it broke my heart in two. Oliver was so much more than the sum of his mistakes.
I watched him run away, or walk and sort of run. My heart pressed in my chest. Was I really going to leave him here like that? What if he didn’t just become my Oliver? What if they continued like this? What did I know about time and reality? Nothing. I was a PI from Alaska, not some kind of astrophysics expert. But the guy who did know, because in another reality he’d done this to us, was in that house. It was time for me to go in.
Stepping up the house was like going into a memory. The first time I’d come over was when Aaron invited me for dinner. That should be the same in every reality. Nothing had varied until after that.
I elbowed him. “I used to watch you on this porch staring at me.”
He smiled fast. “Can you blame me? Pretty girl we had come to help. I wanted your attention.”
I really wished he didn’t smell like cigarettes. It just wasn’t Aaron’s scent to me. It was wrong somehow. “Well, you got that.”
The door flung open. Kelly stood there, a cigarette in her hand and the baby on her hip. I gulped. I hadn’t seen Kelly in the other world. She’d wanted privacy to live her life separate from her family.
She stared at me. “Aren’t you dead?”
I swallowed. “Yep.”
Kelly threw her head back and laughed. “Well then, come in here and explain things. Only in my family is this not the weirdest thing that ever happened. Remember the vampire, Aaron?”
He made a sound in the back of his throat and took the baby from her. “How drunk are you right now?”
“Moderately. I could be a lot drunker. Where’s Oliver? He’s
so much more fun than you.”
I stared at her baby. He looked an awful lot like Aaron, even more so than Kelly did. The same black hair, the same high cheekbones.
I found my voice, staring at the baby. “What’s your name?”
“He’s five months old. They don’t talk yet.” Kelly walked inside, grabbed a beer from the table, and took a long swig. “And his name is Robert. After his father. That asshole. I shouldn’t have named him after him. Took off while I was still in the hospital.”
“Ouch. What a dirtbag.” The words slipped from my lips before I could stop them.
“Yeah, well. It’s my own fault. Never fuck a man who lies.”
I nodded my head. Good advice actually. The baby was staring at me, his dark eyes way too serious for a baby his age.
“Can I hold him?” I asked, surprising the shit out of myself.
Kelly handed him right off, and I was left staring down at the baby who regarded me with Yoda-like wiseness. Never in my whole life had I come across a baby more world-weary than this one.
“Hi… you,” I said and cleared my throat. For some reason, I just couldn’t call this baby ‘Robert.’ Robert was a grown man, and a liar, apparently. It didn’t seem fair that this poor guy had to carry around the weight of that name. “Hi, Robby.”
At that, he opened his mouth in a big gummy smile. It lit up his whole face, and I couldn’t help smiling back. “Robby. Robby. Robby.” I bounced him each time I said his name, and he laughed, the sound so happy I laughed, too.
“He never laughs,” Kelly called out. “Great. The dead chick is a better mother than me. Big fucking surprise.”
Her brother ignored her. “Dad?” Aaron called. “You here?”
“Just a minute!” Mr. Chee sounded the same as the last time I heard him, and when he came down the hall into the kitchen, he looked the same, too. Well, the time I had seen him before I’d seen him in the time shift. His hair was still thick and glossy, and he had a tall, proud bearing. When he saw Kelly holding a cigarette, he wrinkled his nose. “Outside if you’re going to smoke.”
Gaze on his, Kelly stamped the cigarette out on a dirty plate. “I’m going out for a while.” She stomped out the door, seemingly uncaring that a virtual stranger held her baby.
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