CHAPTER 25
“Great job! You killed it!” Axel gave Ricky a one-arm hug as he waited backstage for Izzy.
He wasn’t blowing smoke or trying to be nice. Ricky had some serious acting chops. It was opening night and most of the kids’ jitters were painfully obvious, but not Ricky’s. That kid seemed like he was born for the stage.
“Thanks.” Ricky smiled but looked past Axel at the parents and classmates that had gathered backstage. “Do you know where Izzy is?”
“She said she’d be right back. Fiona asked her to go somewhere.”
She’d asked her to go to the restroom with her, but Axel didn’t feel comfortable announcing that.
Ricky stood up a little taller and all the nerves that he hadn’t had on stage seemed to be coming out now. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think that the kid was about to ask his sister to marry him. He cleared his throat before saying, “Izzy told me that you guys are staying.”
“We are.”
Ricky took a deep breath and Axel could see that he was starting to get a little choked up. “I just wanted to say, thank you. Since my dad…since I lost my dad, it’s been hard. And Izzy is just, she’s the best thing in the world. And I’m just really glad that I’m not losing her, too.”
“So am I.” Axel said sincerely.
He’d never thought that he’d think anyone was good enough for his sister, but he’d been wrong. He couldn’t be happier that Izzy was dating Ricky. Granted, they were young and Axel didn’t think it would last, but Ricky was setting the bar pretty damn high for any guys that came after him. And for that Axel would be forever grateful.
It wasn’t the reason he’d made the decision to stay in Whisper Lake, but it had been one in the pro column. He’d been thinking about it for a while but had waited to tell his sister because he wanted to work out all the details before he got her hopes up. He’d finalized things today and he’d told her when she got out of school. She’d hugged him so tight that he almost passed out. Seriously, she had a mean sleeper hold.
Earlier that day, he’d let Seth know that his leave of absence was a permanent one. Then he’d looked at a few houses that he was thinking he could renovate and flip. And he’d rented a space that he planned on using for building, restoring, and refurbishing furniture. The work at the theater might’ve been a cover, but it turned out that he’d forgotten how much he enjoyed working with his hands. It was therapeutic.
Therapeutic.
The last conversation he’d had with Brynn, before the shit hit the fan, played back in his mind. When he’d told her that he knew a better therapy than crying. It was the last time that she’d looked at him with complete trust.
And he only had himself to blame for it.
The way she found out was probably one of the worst ways she could’ve found out. But again, he only had himself to blame for it.
Over the past month, he’d played and replayed all of the times he could’ve told her what was going on. He’d lost sleep, even considered not staying in town, just because it was so painful to see her and be reminded of what could’ve been, and just how badly he’d fucked up.
But then he decided that he needed to do what was best for Izzy. He was her guardian now, after all. This town and the people here were special, and she deserved as much special in her life as he could possibly give her.
“Iz, are you okay? What’s wrong?”
Axel heard Ricky ask and he turned to see his sister walking toward them, her bottom eyelids filled with moisture.
He was about to ask the same question when it was answered for him.
“Hi, honey!” His mother waved wildly at him from behind his sister.
“Mom. You’re back.” He said as she pulled him into a hug.
“That’s right. I’m back. And I was just telling Izzy that I already found a great place for us back in California.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Izzy start to break down. Ricky put his arm around her and she crumbled into him.
“Mom, let me talk to you outside.” He started to guide his mom out the back of the theater and looked over his shoulder to see if he could get his sister’s attention, but Ricky was already leading her away. He wanted to tell her not to worry but he didn’t want to cause a scene.
He’d deal with his mom first and then find Izzy. He knew that Ricky would make sure she was okay until then. And if Ricky was called away for some reason, he’d make sure that Brynn or Ali, Fiona or Presley, or Ryder or KJ were with her. And if for some reason they were all busy, then there was Karen Carpenter (not the singer) who ran the B&B, or Kade, or Ethan, or Ethan’s grandmother Daisy, or Jess’s parents John and Bonnie…the list went on and on. There were so many people, layers of people, that truly cared about his sister in Whisper Lake. Which was exactly why she wasn’t going anywhere.
* * *
Brynn hugged Ali when her friend finally made her way through the backstage crowd to the alcove that Brynn was taking a breather in. She’d been going nonstop for the past week and it had all been worth it. Tonight had been a huge success, but there was definitely a standout. “Ricky did such an amazing job!”
“So did Ryder!” Ali enthused.
“I love my son,” Brynn smiled. “But the only reason he was on that stage was because of Fiona and it showed. Ricky owned it.”
Ali’s grin reached from ear to ear. “He is really good, huh?”
“Are we talking about Ricky? Because that boy was on fire tonight,” Jess said, as she joined Brynn and Ali.
“Yes!” Brynn exclaimed. “We are. I just can’t get over it!”
“I know! He had me crying and it’s not like I didn’t already know the ending.”
They were all laughing when Ricky and Izzy turned the corner to the small area they were hiding in.
“There’s the man of the hour!” Jess yelled when both teens looked up.
“What’s wrong?” Brynn, Ali, and Jess all asked in unison when they saw tears pouring down Izzy’s face.
“My…mom…” She was gasping for air between sobs “…is…here…and…” Her sobs grew more violent.
“It’s okay,” Ali assured her. “It’s okay.”
“Breathe.” Brynn instructed, scared she was going to hyperventilate. She stepped in front of her and demonstrated breathing slowly in through her nose and out through her mouth. “Good. In and out.”
“I’ll get some water.” Ali offered.
When she started to calm down, she looked at Ricky and the tears started again. She tilted her head. “You tell them.”
“Axel told her today that they could stay here. For good.”
Brynn’s heart slammed into her chest. She hadn’t yet talked to him, and she realized then that a big part of the reason for that was because she thought he was leaving.
“And then tonight,” Ryder continued, “their mom showed up and said that she’s taking Izzy back to California.”
Izzy cried harder at this as Ali showed up with the water. “Here you go, sweetie, drink this.”
After a few sips, Izzy took a deep breath and looked at everyone and apologized. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” the women chorused.
She looked at Ricky. “I didn’t mean to ruin your night. You were so good.”
He pulled her into a hug and kissed her on the top of her head. “You could never ruin any night that we’re together.”
His sentiment was so sweet that Izzy started crying again.
Thankfully, the four of them were able to calm her down fairly quickly. When she was able to talk again, she looked at Brynn. “He went to talk to her out back. Will you go find out what he’s saying?”
“Oh, sweetie,” Brynn shook her head no. “I don’t think that’s a good—”
“Of course we will!” Jess volunteered. “We’ll be right back.”
She then pulled both Brynn and Ali out of there so fast that Brynn tripped over her own feet.
“What are you doing?” She tried to tug her arm away, but Jess had a death grip on it.
“Axel and Izzy are staying.” Jess said definitively, speaking loudly so her friends could hear her over the rumble of the crowd. “Did you see how upset that girl was? Her mother is not going to take her anywhere.”
Brynn wasn’t exactly sure what Jess thought they could do about it, but before she could offer an objection to barging in on Axel and his mom, Jess had the backstage door open and had pushed her and Ali out. As soon as the door shut behind them they heard a woman yelling from around the corner in the senior quad area directly behind the theater. All three ladies froze.
“You’re not her father! You can’t just keep her!”
“I know I’m not her father. I’m her brother. And I have legal custody of her.”
“Temporary! You have temporary custody of her. And I’m her mother!”
“You left her.”
“I asked if she wanted to go! She didn’t! She wanted to stay with you!”
“Right. And she still does.”
“You don’t give teenagers everything they want. You would know that if you hadn’t messed things up with Sabrina and had kids of your own.”
Brynn turned to the girls and mouthed, We should leave.
This was a private, family conversation.
Jess put her hand on the knob and turned it but it didn’t budge. She shrugged and mouthed, it’s locked.
Brynn looked around to see if there was any way they could leave the area without alerting Axel and his mom to their presence. Other than the back door, the only exit was through the quad.
“I messed things up with Sabrina?” Axel let out a forced laugh. “Okay, first of all, I don’t think you should be commenting on anyone’s failed relationships. And second, do you want to know why I married Sabrina? Did you, my mother, ever ask me why at eighteen I’d want to get married?!”
“I thought she was pregnant.”
“No, mom. She wasn’t. But I did marry her because of a baby, so you’re half right. I married her because I was scared to be overseas and leave Izzy. I married Sabrina so that at least someone responsible would be around if, no not if, when you flaked.”
Brynn, Jess, and Ali’s eyes all widened in shock. She’d never been so thankful for her own mother in her life. The conversation she’d had with Ryder came back to her, and Brynn decided that tomorrow morning, first thing, she was going to call her mom and tell her how much she loved her and how lucky she was to have her.
“You might technically be Izzy’s mom, but you’ve never put her first. I have, Mom. I always have. From marrying Sabrina, to moving halfway across the country, to moving to a town where a woman that I am madly in love with, but can’t be with, lives. I can’t breathe just knowing that at any moment I might see this woman and I won’t be able to touch her or kiss her or tell her I love her. And I’m doing it because it’s what’s best for Izzy, because that’s what being a parent is. A real parent. It’s not about anything else, it’s about putting their needs before yours, and you’ve never done that a day in your life.”
If Brynn, Jess, and Ali’s eyes were wide before, they were practically saucers now. And all of their jaws were hanging open like bass fish.
The air was heavy with silence, the only sound was the crickets. Brynn and her friends were all holding their breath.
Finally, Axel spoke again. “Look, if this is about her child support. I’ll send you the money that Peter sends me every month. Just let her stay with me.”
“It’s not about the money,” his mom snapped. “But, it would help…just so I can get on my feet again.”
“Fine.” Brynn could hear the heartbreak in Axel’s voice and she wanted nothing more than to round the corner, tell his mother to go take a long walk off a short pier, and pull him into her arms.
“Here, this should tide you over. I’ll deposit the rest in your account by Monday.”
“Okay, well. If you think this is best. Give Izzy a kiss goodbye for me.”
“Wait? You’re not going to tell her goodbye?”
“Oh, well, um, Rocco is waiting for me in the car, so I’m just going to scoot out. Love you!”
Her declaration of love was followed by the click, click, click of high heels heading toward the parking lot. Brynn started to panic, knowing that any second Axel would round the corner and catch them. Suddenly, Jess turned the knob and opened the back door.
Brynn’s face was one of shocked horror. Jess just smiled and rushed inside with Ali right behind her but when Brynn tried to follow, the door closed in her face. She grabbed the knob and this time, it really was locked.
She was going to kill Jess.
Her head dropped against the solid oak door and she heard a deep, gravelly voice that her body instantly responded to.
“Brynn?”
Trying to seem as nonchalant as possible, she turned. “Oh, hi Axel. I was just, I came outside to, um, get some air and the door locked behind me.” She wiggled the knob.
His intense stare pinned her in place as he asked, “Did you hear all that?”
She thought about lying, but knew that if the roles were reversed she’d want Axel to be honest with her. Her shoulders slumped. “Yes, I did. And so did Jess and Ali.”
Axel looked around.
“They went inside after your mom left. They locked me out.”
His brow creased and she figured she should start from the beginning.
“Izzy told us about your mom. She was really upset so once we calmed her down, she asked me to find you to see what was going on. I didn’t want to intrude, but Jess dragged me, literally, out here. I tried to go back inside but she pretended that the door was locked. Which, obviously, it wasn’t. So, yes, to answer your question, I heard all that. Or, I don’t know about all but I heard a lot.”
He took a step toward her. “You heard how I feel about you?”
Brynn had to tip her head up to maintain eye contact with him. And she was suddenly finding it very difficult to breathe. “Yes.”
He looked like he was going to say more, but didn’t. He took a step back instead and looked down at the ground between them. “You don’t have to worry about me being around. I know that you don’t feel the same but—”
“No,” she cut him off. “I do.”
He lifted his head. “You do have to worry about me being around?”
“No. I don’t,” She shook her head. This was coming out all wrong. “I want you to stay. You and Izzy both. I realized that part of the reason I haven’t come to talk to you was because I was scared to lose you all over again when you left. I do feel the same way as you. I love you, Axel. You are everything I’ve ever wanted and more. I’ve missed you so much and I’ve been miserable without—”
He interrupted her with a soul-claiming kiss and she melted into his arms as he hugged her tightly. In the short time they’d been apart, she’d forgotten just how good he hugged and kissed.
“I love you. I love you. I love you.” Axel rasped over and over again between kisses.
He backed her up against the door, and pinned her there until the door flew open, causing them to break apart.
“I get to stay?” Izzy cried out.
“Yes.” Axel nodded.
The teen jumped up and down and Brynn saw that Jess was behind her. She mouthed, I’m sorry.
I’m not, Brynn mouthed back.
She wasn’t sorry for any of it, because it all led her here. To the man she loved and who loved her back in a way that she didn’t even think existed in the real world.
But it did. And she had it. And if it were up to her, she was never going to let it go.