Chapter Eleven
Ashland
“She’ll never take it, you know,” Hollie declared.
“Take what?” I turned to look at her. Her strawberry blonde hair was freshly washed and loose around her tiny shoulders. Like her sister, she wore new clothing from Karen’s shop, for her a loose fitting blue Roxy tank and grey beach pants that she had rolled up at the ankles. So she was a little smaller than I had guessed.
“That leap of faith you’re asking from her. If it was just her involved? Maybe. But with me in the picture? Never.”
“Why’s that darlin’?”
“Lots of reasons. Guilt. Responsibility. Love. I’m sure you understand.”
“What makes you say that?”
“You and Linc grew up together, right?
“Yeah.”
“From what I’ve read about you two and heard in interviews, he seems more like a brother to you than a cousin.”
“You seem to know a lot about it.” I nodded. “Aren’t you a little young to be a Dirt Dogs’ fan?”
“Not me so much. No offense. But my sister is.”
“Frances?” I raised a brow, looking back toward where she had gone before I returned my attention to Hollie. “She doesn’t seem like much of a fan.”
“Well, she was.” She shrugged one shoulder. Was it a bullshit move denying the significance of what accompanied it when girls did it? “Anyway, I bet you took care of him. Linc. Looked out for him the way my sister does me.”
I lifted my chin to acknowledge that I had, and still did. That I always would. I studied her anew. She seemed vaguely familiar to me on some level.
“On account of the abuse?” she asked, eyes similar to Frances’ insightfully trained on mine.
“Partly,” I revealed. True I had wanted to protect Linc from any more physical harm. Mostly it had been simply because I loved him.
“I’m guessing you knew what was going on and you couldn’t stop it.”
“We were kids, but yeah.”
“It’s like that with us a lot. We each had our suspicions…well, now we both know.”
“I can understand that.”
“Yeah, I think you do. I’ve only just met you, and I can tell why she was so…” She shifted her slight frame and pursed her full lips. “I’ve said enough.” She put down the dish towel. “I better get to bed, too. She’ll fret about what I’ve already told you. Seventeen years old but she still treats me like I’m ten.”
“She’s not much older than you are.”
“She’ll be twenty-three a month after I turn eighteen.”
“When’s your birthday?”
“Two weeks from now. Not soon enough.”
“Anxious to vote, huh?”
“Anxious about a lot of things. Goodnight, Ash.”
“Night. Hollie.” It didn’t escape my notice that she had taken to calling me the shortened friend version of my name where her sibling wouldn’t.
“One more thing.” She stopped and turned to look at me biting her lip and twisting her hands. She was nervous. Where Frances’ hands fluttered Hollie’s twisted. “For what its worth if it were up to me, I’d tell you everything.”
“I wouldn’t want you to do that. I wouldn’t want you to betray her trust.”
“Yeah, I thought that’s what you might say.”
“So you don’t think she’s ever gonna come around with me and level with me?”
“Maybe before.” She shook her head sadly. “But not now.”
What happened before, I wondered. Was she referring to the time prior to the abuse? That would make sense. But why not just say that? Each conversation with one of these women left me with more questions.
I moved to the windows Frances had been staring out so intensely. The waves were calmer tonight. Almost as if they could settle now that she was in a safe place. She being Frances. The obsession continued. Nothing she or Hollie had said changed anything. Warnings to back off and cryptic conversations only made me more resolved to figure out what their real story was.
What her story was.
I pondered the mystery as I went to the entryway closet and retrieved the pillow and linens for the couch. I would sleep on it again tonight so I could keep an eye on them and guard the front door. As I tucked in the bottom sheet and snapped out the top, I acknowledged that I was committed to this course. No going backward. I wanted to do all I could to give them a shot at a better life free of whatever abuse they had endured. I knew from experience that freedom often came with a price. They would have to face their demons to overcome them.
I stretched out on the sofa my feet pointed toward the master bedroom, my eyes trained on the darkened hallway that led there. I thought about how difficult it had been for Linc to open up to me, his own cousin. It wasn’t going to be easy, but getting Frances to confide in me wasn’t optional.
~ ~ ~
Fanny
“What did you tell him?”
“Nothing.”
“You were talking for a while, Hols.”
“You’re too paranoid.” She rolled her eyes.
“You’re far too trusting,” I chastised. “And besides that, I have a reason to be.”
“Not with him.”
“Never mind that he’s a member of a notorious rock band.”
“He’s retired.”
“Retired from the day to day partying and constant stream of groupies.” I’d seen enough from the sidelines these past weeks to vouch for that. Work. Friends. Hanging out at the Deck Bar, his life had changed a lot since I had met him. “Maybe not retired from breaking girls’ hearts.”
“He’s a nice guy, and you just don’t want to admit it.”
“Maybe.”
“Nice guys stand people up.”
“Maybe Samuel did get to him.” My hands fluttered in front of me.
“C’mon, Fanny. That’s hard to believe, don’t you think?” She captured my hands, stilling them, though not my tumbling thoughts where the handsome drummer was concerned. “Considering the way he reacted to Samuel at the Oscars? And now knowing his background with Linc, I don’t even think he’d take a call from our stepfather much less a payout or bow to a threat from him. Then or now,” she pointed out gently her gaze searching. “You never pressed him for an explanation.”
“I sent all those texts,” I reminded her. “He never answered them.”
“Yeah,” she allowed.
“But the past and my hurt feelings aside, this is about you and me and our safety right now. I don’t see why we have to go over this again. It’s better if he doesn’t figure out who we are until we’re long gone.”
“I guess.”
“You didn’t even tell Ernie where you went. I didn’t tell Tristan. Until Samuel’s guardianship expires, it has to be this way.”
“I wish Mom had never married him.”
“I wish a lot of things were different, too.” But the past couldn’t be undone. “What is past is prologue.”
“I know.” Her eyes teared up. “That was one of her favorite Shakespeare quotes.”
“Yeah.” Nowadays I wondered if the reasons my mother had given me were the whole truth.” Why she had left the man who I now suspected was Hollie’s biological father, as well as my own, behind and married Samuel we would probably never know.
“I miss Mom.” She sniffed.
“Me, too.” I withdrew my hands from hers and pointed at the bed. “Let’s get some rest.” While we can, I thought. “We’re both worn out.”
She nodded, and we dug into the sack that contained the toiletries and pajamas. We hadn’t unpacked any of the stuff Karen had brought over. For all Hollie’s talk I think she knew in her heart we weren’t staying long. Sure, I think she hoped for me to have some kind of resolution with Ashland. But maybe hope couldn’t transform reality the way we thought it could.
She climbed into the bed after donning a cute yellow PJ set stamped with daisies. I quickly grabbed another pair and put them on, too. Well, not so quickly. I moved like I was an eighty-year-old with arthritis. Still sore. Still recuperating. Still stuck here until I was stronger. But at least I managed to get the clothes on by myself. I smiled softly when I turned back to the bed. Hollie had the covers turned down next to her.
“Thanks.” I settled in, and she scooted closer laying her head on the arm I stretched out to her. I kissed the top of it tensing as I inhaled a familiar fragrance. “Where did you get that shampoo?” I whispered.
“It was in the bag with all the bathroom stuff.”
“Oh.” I had just begun to market the SoCal themed shampoo, bath gel and lotions that went with my fragrances. I guess Offshore had been one of the few specialty shops who had picked them up.
“It smells great in your hair,” I commented absently, glad I had refused to put my picture on the labeling. However, the company website was predominately displayed on all my products. I doubted Ashland had noticed, but just in case he did put two and two together, I made a note to myself to remove those bottles from the shower first thing in the morning.