by Rachel Kane
“Tell you what, add one thing, and I’ll shake on it.”
“Name your price.”
“I never want to hear about your damn heart or your damn feelings, ever again. Please, god, Dalton, spare me all the mushy crap. I can’t handle it.”
“Come here and hug me, you big idiot.”
“I am not going to hug you. The pilot might see.”
But Dalton wasn’t going to take no for an answer. He reached over and grabbed his brother, who struggled for a minute, but finally conceded the fight, letting himself be hugged, even patting Dalton on the back.
When Dalton let go, Colby said, “Ugh, god. I’m starting to wonder whether the deal is worth it. Never do that again.”
“You know you love it. We’re going to work on you next, Colbs. We’re going to find you a guy.”
“As long as he isn’t a big slobbery mess like some people.”
Dalton laughed…but he felt nervous.
Because now that that was settled, there was one more thing he had to do.
And it was dangerous.
And everything might fall apart.
One more gamble.
One more chance at everything.
28
Noah
“This is your house?” Bonnie said with a loud, piercing cry. “My god, baby, no wonder you didn’t want me interfering!”
“Well, it’s not mine for long,” said Noah. “Just how long, I don’t know.”
They walked up the steps to Superbia Springs, and the door opened. There was Judah, looking like his heart had broken.
“Bonnie…I haven’t seen you in forever,” he said, even though Noah could tell something else was on his mind.
“Little Judah Cooper! You’re twice as tall as last time I saw you! Where’s your Mama, boy? Is she here to say hey to?”
Last time I saw you.
Last time Bonnie had met the Coopers, Noah had been holding back tears of humiliation and rage. You can’t keep my boy, what do you think, you’ve adopted him? He’s mine, he can’t stay here…
God, that fight.
He’d hated her then.
And now?
Now he could see it from her point of view. What must it have been like, to work your fingers to the bone for your child, only to see him pick a new family the way someone else might pick out a pair of shoes? As though you could try a new family on, and make a choice.
His mom and Mrs. C, talking in hushed whispers in the kitchen, while Noah had paced furiously in Liam and Judah’s room, so angry he couldn’t speak, tears of rage jetting down his cheeks, hands in white fists.
All that anger was gone.
You’re alone now. You need all the family you can get.
“Is everything…” Judah paused mid-question, and watched his mom and Bonnie hug.
He had explained it all on the way down, speaking loudly in the phone to be heard over the noise of Bonnie’s car, the rattling, trumpeting engine that seemed constantly on the verge of overheating. Judah, he’s gone, I walked out, it wasn’t even a fight… I wish it were a fight. I wish it had been anything but this. I was so embarrassed…
“Nothing’s okay,” he whispered back to his friend. “Nothing’s ever going to be okay again.”
When Judah’s arms went around him, he stiffened at first, then put his head against his friend’s shoulder. He couldn’t help it, all the hope was gone out of him.
“There is worse news to come,” said Judah.
Noah blinked. “Oh god. The house?”
“It’s the bank. All the debt Liam took on… He has to sell. There’s no more credit. He fought it, he was on the phone all day, but when he heard you’d broken up with Dalton, he finally had to admit the dream was over.”
“No, come on, where is he, surely we can—”
“We can’t,” said Liam, emerging from his study. He opened his arms, and Noah went over to him to accept a hug too. “I’m sorry, I really am. But that grant was our last hope. I can’t ask everyone to bankrupt themselves for this place. Trust me, everyone has offered. Mason’s talking about selling his dad’s house, the shop, everything, but come on.”
“I really fucked up, didn’t I?” asked Noah. “I fucked up everything.”
“Not everything,” Liam said, gesturing toward Bonnie. “I can’t believe you brought your mom. Are you two…?”
“Funny, isn’t it? Lose a boyfriend, gain a mom. I’ve been so miserable to everyone.”
Judah joined them. “Did you tell him the worst part, Liam? No, I guess not. He’s not in rage yet.”
Noah was troubled by the expression Liam suddenly got, the way he swallowed like there was a lump in his throat. “Well…”
“Oh god, what?”
But the way Liam was looking to Judah and back to Noah, too ashamed to say, Noah felt like he knew at once what was going on. "Oh, Liam, no. Tell me the Mulgrews aren’t involved.”
Liam shrugged, abashed. "Violet pounced. I guess that’s what happens when she owns the bank, right? When she found out Dalton no longer wanted to buy the place, we thought it was good news…and she did too. I don’t understand the financial details, but she holds the mortgage. What can I say, Noah, she outmaneuvered us. I wanted this place so much...but I never realized how expensive it would be."
It made Noah slump, made the entire day feel like the last day on earth. He thought for a second of fainting, just falling to the floor like some character in an old novel, letting someone drag him to the couch and administer smelling salts to bring him back.
"Violet Mulgrew."
"She has been waiting for this opportunity since the minute we got to town."
"You didn't have to accept her offer."
"It wasn’t an offer,” said Liam. “She said she didn’t have to offer us anything. Could just kick us out, the minute we can’t make the payments. Or, we could sell to her now. Tonight. She promises to keep the house intact. She promises not to give it over to some developer who will knock it down to make a dollar store."
"You believed her? Come on..." Turning to his other friend: "Judah, you know better, don't you?"
"It's over," said Judah sadly. "You think I won't miss it too? I've been planning where to put all my miniatures, all my books, all my games. I've been working on the damn website for this place night and day. I hate it. But we knew it was risky, gambling everything on getting this grant."
"We wouldn't have to open it as a resort," said Noah, feeling himself slip almost automatically into the bargaining stage of grief. "We could keep it ourselves. Just live here. Just...live."
It was too much loss for one day.
Losing Dalton had blown a hole in him that might never be filled back in. Talking to his mom had ripped another layer right off, even though it was the right thing to do, and he was glad he'd done it. Now the house, too? What else? What could he lose today?
"She's on her way here now, with Mr. Edwards from the law office. They’re bringing the papers to sign," said Liam. "Now, Noah, I need you to behave once she's here. No...no—"
"No accusing her of homophobia? No accusing her of running gay businesses out of town? No making her confront how spiteful and evil she is?"
Liam couldn't meet his eyes. "That's right," he said. "None of that. Not that it matters anymore, I guess…"
How had everything gone so wrong?
In the beginning, he'd thought he had a handle on it all. Seduce a billionaire? It seemed like the simplest job in the world. Not seduce-seduce, of course, not like that. But get him on Noah's side? Sure. He could do that. He could wrap the man around his little finger.
There was no humor in the dry chuckle he uttered. Just a recognition that he had always been wrong about everything. Three guesses? More like three mistakes. He'd tried to enter a world he simply wasn't ready for, would never be ready for, an alien world of wealth and fame that would forever be apart from his world, here with his friends.
Worse, he'd broken his own heart in the proce
ss. He hadn't even given Dalton the chance to do it himself. He'd been, what was the business term: Proactive. He had proactively broken up, because he'd known it was coming, when he saw how viciously Colby was willing to attack Dalton for being with him.
You did the right thing, he thought.
Then why did it all feel so bad?
When they heard the crunching of the gravel outside, a faint hope sparked in Noah. Oh my god, is it him? Did he come to rescue me? He rushed to the tall windows next to the door...and felt his heart sink in disappointment. No, he recognized the shining white Mercedes; he saw it around town often enough. It was the Mulgrew car. It pulled slowly around the circle.
First Justin emerged from the driver's side. Mr. Edwards, the attorney, got out of the passenger side, then Justin opened the back door for his mother. Violet stepped out, and looked up at the house with a triumphant smile on her face.
He had never seen such a malignant, terrifying smile. She was taking such simple joy in crushing them. He sensed she would've smiled like this if Superbia Springs had been nothing but a tarpaper shack...as long as she'd gotten to destroy him and the Coopers in order to get it. She strode up the steps like she owned the place...which, of course, she nearly did now. But she did not knock. No, she left that for Justin, as though the presence of Noah inside still made the house too infected for her to touch.
She'll probably call in priests to cleanse the house, once we're gone.
"Nobody's gonna get the door?" asked Bonnie, turning from Mrs. Cooper and looking at them.
Liam sighed and hesitated. Judah shook his head sadly.
"All right, fine, I'll do it," said Noah.
"Be nice," said Liam.
"I'm nice, I'm nice. Thank you for wrecking our lives, Violet. I'll tell her that, okay?" He opened the door.
"Justin," he said, in a flat greeting.
"Boys," said Justin, sweeping into the room and looking up at the ceiling, over at all the walls. "Love what you've done with the old place. Mother?"
"My, my," she said, pausing at the lintel and then stepping inside. "I have not been in Superbia Springs in decades. What about you, Edwards?”
The lawyer frowned at Noah and the Coopers, but it was a sympathetic frown, the grimace given to fellow prisoners. "Let's find a place to sign these papers," he said. "Then I'm going to wash my hands of it."
"Oh, don't be dramatic," said Violet. "I think it's lovely that these boys know when they're beat. And to think, I didn't have to do anything at all. How is Mr. Raines, Noah? I hope he's well."
His mouth was tight and his teeth were clenched. "I'm sure he's fine."
"You know, dear, it's really for the best. I know your kind. You're much too flighty for an operation of this size. I don't blame you. Perhaps it's part of your upbringing. Lord knows who your parents were—"
"Excuse me?" said Bonnie. "Did you just say something to my son?"
"Mama...it's okay," he said, restraining himself hard, trying to keep his tone absolutely even. It was too much. Too, too much to bear. Losing Dalton, losing the house. It all mixed together in his heart, and he thought again about collapsing. Yeah, wouldn't that be great? It'd prove to Violet just how weak and helpless he was. She'd stand there staring down at him, congratulating herself on being a keen judge of character.
"It didn't sound okay to me," said Bonnie.
"Are you the mother? Oh, my. Well. That explains everything. You must—"
"Mother," said Justin with an affected drawl, carrying the word out for a few extra syllables, "must you have a scene? I don't like this bunch any more than you do, and I'd rather not be here all day."
Violet glared at her son for a moment, as though considering whether to give him a waspish sting of her tongue, but then she stiffened, settling into her sense of superiority. "If you'll excuse me, ma'am," she said to Bonnie, "my lawyer and I have some business with your son, and then you won't see me again."
As much as Noah was trying not to say a word, he had to admire the way Bonnie looked like she was ready to deck Violet. Those arms were strong from carrying cauldrons of soup back and forth between the kitchen and the serving table, strong from carrying crates of donations from vans to people. Bonnie could take Violet, no problem.
He couldn't believe how much of his life he'd turned his back on Bonnie, in order to try to embrace people with money, people with so-called class, people who wouldn't give him the time of day. She might not have been glamorous—definitely not that—but she'd always had an open heart, and the minute he'd walked into that church basement, she'd immediately welcomed him back, no questions asked.
Maybe I could stay with her and Tina when we move back to Atlanta, he thought, his heart breaking just a little more at the thought of leaving Superbia behind. No more lunch at the Red Cat, joking with Renee. No more perusing the shelves at the Unfinished Chapter, chatting with Alex. No more drinks at Toady's. "Can we just get this over with?" he said, hating the plaintive note in his voice.
There were so many papers, and Mr. Edwards explained each one. "Now, while the bank—of which you are a trustee—would love to simply give you all the money you need to take over the house," he told Violet, "in this business-minded world of ours, they do expect it back, and so this is the mortgage form they'll ask you to sign—"
"I know what a mortgage is, thank you," she said, pulling the paper over to herself and giving it a quick, stabbing signature, the V of her name like the point of a dagger.
"And you three, I'll need each of you to sign these other forms," said Mr. Edwards, "and you'll find there is a lot of initialing to do as well." But before he slid the papers in front of the three men he paused. "Now...you're sure about this? I just want to make sure each one of you is fully aware of all the ramifications—"
"Good god, Edwards," said Violet, "they're not children, they can sign their names."
"Nice to see she's like this with everybody, not just our boys," said Bonnie to Mrs. C.
"Now Mrs. Mulgrew," said the lawyer, "while I understand your sense of urgency, it took me years to track down the family and get this house into their hands, and they have been through a great deal of turmoil in the possessing of it—turmoil caused by you, I might mention—"
"Ooh, he's not afraid of her at all!" whispered Bonnie. "I like him. What's his name again? Do you know whether he likes peach pie? I still make a mean one, if I say so myself."
Noah nearly burst out laughing at the inappropriateness of the remark, and gave her a playful shhh. It was the only lightness in the world right now, in this dark, dark time, and he found himself clinging to even this thin sliver of humor. Anything but the sense of hopelessness and loss which these papers caused.
"There's so much fine print," he said. "Do we read all this?"
"As a lawyer, I certainly advise you to read it all," said the lawyer. "Take your time. Violet may be in a rush, but there's no legal reason you need to be."
"I'm remembering this," Violet said. "It will be the last time I call on your services."
But, for the moment, there was no Violet, no Justin, no Mr. Edwards. Not even a Bonnie or Mrs. C left in the room.
Just Noah, Liam and Judah. He looked over at the Cooper brothers. "You're sure about this? I mean, really, really sure? There's no going back."
Liam's eyes were wet, but he was keeping his jaw stiff and expression blank. "I think we have to," he said.
"I don't see any other way," said Judah, who was worse at keeping his emotions at bay, and looked ready to put his head down on the table.
If only I could think of something, Noah thought. Everyone deserves better than this. Even if I don't, personally. Even if I've kind of ruined everything. Surely there is some way. Please don't make Liam and Judah pay for my mistakes, please don't—
The sound of an engine racing up roared and vibrated the walls. It was so sudden and sharp that Noah dropped the pen he was holding. The window of the study overlooked the drive, and he rose from the table to see what was
going on. It sounded like teen boys doing donuts in their cars.
What he saw shocked him so much he could not breathe.
"What is it?" asked Judah, rising to join him.
"Who is it?" asked Liam.
"Oh my god, no," Noah said.
29
Dalton
"This was such a mistake, letting you behind the wheel," said Colby. "Oh my god, are you getting dings from the gravel—do you even understand what you're doing—Dalton!"
But Dalton had stopped listening miles ago. Colby had been a constant presence in his ear. They'd made their deal, but Colby still thought this part was a bad idea. An awful one. Nothing has changed, Colby'd said. This is still a money pit, and you'll just be wasting—
Eventually he'd stopped talking and started holding on tight, because Dalton was using every ounce of concentration to get them there safely...but quickly. If they'd taken the helicopter it would have been faster, and Dalton had thought hard about that, finally deciding that the only proper way to do this was the same way he'd gotten here in the first place, in Colby's Aston-Martin.
With him doing the driving, this time. Which had caused some arguing.
—You're not taking my car all by yourself.
—Then come with me.
—Damn it, I told you I have a meeting.
—Then give me the car, I'll go by myself.
Colby must have seen something in Dalton's eyes, because he'd handed his brother the keys. I'm going. Somebody's got to be the voice of reason, he'd told Dalton.
He was nervous. So nervous he could feel his heart in his throat. Maybe I should have called first. At least texted. Noah would be well within his rights to tell him to go to hell, to leave, go home, never see him ever again. He could imagine a hundred different ways Noah could send him on his way, and each of them would have been absolutely correct.
But he needed another chance, and the element of surprise seemed like the best way of getting that.
You're crazy, Colby had said earlier in the drive...and Dalton had had to agree.