Seth was sitting on my brother’s expensive-looking couch when I came back down.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
Everything was not okay, but I sucked up my anger and shrugged. “I don’t know. I can’t get ahold of my brother. Do you mind … can we wait here for a little while?”
“Sure.”
“You don’t have to wait with me. You can leave. My brother will give me a ride home when he gets here. I just—”
“Maddie, it’s fine. I’ll wait with you.”
“Okay. Thank you.” I sat down on the couch next to him. “Where did Quinn go?”
He pointed to the corner of the room where the dog had found one of my brother’s tennis shoes and was sleeping on it. I smiled. “I want a dog.”
“You don’t have one? I thought you, the animal lover, would have five dogs.”
“They’re an added expense and my parents couldn’t afford one. And my dad’s allergic to cats. So yes, we are an animal-free house. Another reason why I love working at the zoo.”
“Another reason? Aren’t the animals your only reason?” His dark eyes challenged me.
“Well, there’s the train ride and carousel, too. We can’t forget those.”
He smiled and I bit my bottom lip, containing my own smile.
A metal nut was on the floor by my foot and I picked it up, then looked around the room.
“Are you trying to figure out where it came from?” Seth asked.
“Yes. It’s so random. Is there a bolt around here missing a nut or does Mr. Paul Where Is My Money Wendell just walk around with spares in his pockets?”
Seth held out his hand and I placed the nut there. He studied it. “A game?” he asked, meeting my eyes again.
“Find the bolt it belongs to?” I asked.
“Yep. First one to find it wins.”
“Wins what?”
“To be determined.”
“Deal.” I snatched the nut from his hand and jumped up before he did. I went straight for the metal handrailing on the stairs and examined each and every rail. Seth went for the kitchen and was pulling open drawers and looking at the back side of all the handles.
Quinn, who must’ve sensed the increased energy in the room, was now up and running circles around the couch. Seth hopped up on the counter and turned the large, cage-like chandelier in a circle as he searched all sides of it. I joined him back downstairs and checked the underside of the coffee table. There was a bolt there, but it already had a nut attached.
I glanced at Seth, then moved to my back and slid under the table. I started slowly unscrewing it.
“What are you doing?” His feet were to my left.
I untied his shoe and went back to unscrewing the nut. “Nothing.”
“Are you cheating?”
I laughed. “I just want to see if it fits.”
“You are totally cheating.” He took me by my feet and pulled me out from under the table. Quinn liked this game and jumped on my hair and started licking my face. Seth dropped to his knees and tickled my sides. “I didn’t know I was playing with a cheater.”
I laughed and grabbed hold of his wrists, pulling them away from me.
He sat back, breaking the contact, and draped his arms over his knees. We both were breathing heavy and had lingering smiles on our faces.
“What did I win?” I asked.
“I won by default.”
I sat up. “Okay, what do you win then?”
The smile slid off his face and he took a deep breath, his shoulders rising and falling with it.
“Seth,” I said, petting the dog, who’d flopped on the floor in front of me.
“Yes?”
I was braver when I wasn’t staring into his eyes. “You were the first person I called tonight.”
“Maddie,” he said, just as quiet.
“Yes?”
“It wasn’t just a story I told to make you laugh.”
I looked at him and that’s when I heard keys at the front door turning in the lock. I jumped up. “I’ll be right back.”
Before my brother could let himself in, I opened the door and pushed him out, joining him on the porch and shutting the door behind us.
“Maddie?” Beau asked, complete confusion on his face.
“I tried to call you.”
“I noticed.”
“And yet you didn’t call me back? Beau, that’s not cool.”
He sighed. “I didn’t need a lecture.”
“You just needed someone to pay your bills?”
“I didn’t ask you to pay my bills. I would’ve paid Paul.”
“Really? Because you were avoiding his calls as well. Tell me you still have money. That you haven’t sunk it all into this condo and gambling.”
Beau frowned. “I didn’t realize when I accepted a gift from you that it meant you got to control my life.”
“It didn’t.”
“Well, then stop acting like you are now the queen of the family. Like money made you all-powerful. Why did you let this turn you so self-righteous?”
I swallowed hard, tears immediately stinging my eyes. I held them back. “I didn’t. It’s just when you write my name on contracts with lenders, then I get to have an opinion. You dragged me into this, Beau, not the other way around.”
For the first time since he’d arrived, he looked ashamed. “Yeah. They needed a second name. I didn’t think they’d use it.”
“I don’t know that I believe that.”
“Believe what you want.”
“Are you in debt, Beau?” I demanded.
“I own this condo, debt-free. If I need money I’ll sell it.”
“You’ll sell it … ” I said, something coming to me.
“That’s what I said.”
“What else would you sell for money?”
His face scrunched up in confusion. “What? I don’t know. I could sell anything I own really.”
“Like my story?”
“Your story?”
“How much did that journalist pay you?”
“This again? I didn’t talk to a journalist, Maddie. You’ve gotten paranoid.” He pushed by me and through the front door.
I followed after him, not sure if I believed him. But what else did I have at that point but his word?
Seth stood by the island in the kitchen, holding Quinn.
“Who are you?” Beau asked.
“This is my friend Seth.”
“Seth. Oh, from the phone. Are you here to boss me around, too?”
“Not if I don’t need to,” Seth said.
“Beau, don’t be a jerk,” I said. “Let’s go, Seth.”
“Let me tell you something about my sister, Seth From The Phone,” Beau said, before we could leave. “She likes to be in perfect control. She has a plan that everyone needs to follow.”
“You’re lucky to have her,” Seth said.
“She’s the lucky one,” Beau said. “So very lucky.”
I snatched the receipt from Paul Wendell off the counter, pushed it against Beau’s chest, and said as quietly as possible, “You owe me thirty thousand dollars.”
Beau gave an exaggerated bow. “Yes, Queen Maddie.”
I marched out the door. It was dark out and the temperature had lowered. I lifted my face and let the breeze cool down my hot cheeks. Seth followed and when he shut the door behind us, I said, “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Seth asked.
“For him.” I collected Quinn in my arms and my tension melted a bit. I climbed into his car before he could say anything else. He started the car without a word and then began to drive.
“I’m sorry that was your first impression of my brother. He’s normally not such a … well, actually, lately he has been. I’m sorry.”
Seth reached over and squeezed my hand. “Stop apologizing, Maddie. He isn’t you.”
“I know, but I feel responsible for him.”
“You really can’t control other people.”
“But I want to. Really bad.”
Seth laughed. “It would be so much easier if you did control the world, Maddie. I think it would be a better place.”
“You have a lot of confidence in me.”
“I have all the confidence in you.”
My heart skipped a beat. I wished I had a bit of that confidence in myself.
When we arrived at my house, I kissed Quinn one last time and handed her to Seth. I stepped out of the car. He rolled down the windows a crack, left Quinn on the seat, and walked me to my porch. I hugged him. “Thank you for being here.” I shouldn’t have hugged him. He was warm and I fit perfectly against him, like he was made to hug just me forever.
“I’m glad you called me first,” he said by my ear. Then he was walking away, back to his car.
My chest ached. I didn’t want him to leave. But he needed to. And I had a plan and future to think about. He looked back at me over his shoulder with a smile. Sometimes life had a way of changing perfect plans. Of presenting new plans. And if I couldn’t change or adapt, how was I ever going to survive?
“Seth!”
He had just reached his car and he spun around.
I ran down the walkway until I stopped in front of him, breathless.
“Did you need something else?” he asked.
Maybe I was emotional or grateful or too tired to suppress feelings that I’d been smashing down for weeks, but all I could think was: you. I need you.
“What happened next in the story?” I asked.
“The story?”
“The one about Maddy and Leth?”
His eyes had a teasing glint. “Well, in the story, Leth asks Maddy out.”
“And she says yes,” I said.
“Of course, it wouldn’t be much of a story if she didn’t.”
“Yes,” I said.
“I’m glad you agree.”
“No, I mean, yes, I want to go out. I want you to make up for my birthday.” If that’s the excuse we were going with, I was happy to play along.
I took a small step forward and then another, waiting for him to back up or stop me. But he didn’t. He did the opposite. He took a step forward as well. We were chest to chest and then forehead to forehead. I grabbed hold of the sides of his T-shirt. His hands went to my upper arms.
There was so much he needed to know about me. How could I let it get this far without telling him? He hated fakers. He was going to hate me. “Friday?” I asked. “Can we go out on Friday?”
“Yes,” he said, his eyes still dancing. “I have something planned.”
“You do?”
“I’ve been planning it for a while.”
My heart raced. “Thank you.”
“You haven’t even seen it yet.”
“I don’t need to.”
He smiled. “Yes, actually you do. Friday. I’ll see you then.”
“Okay.”
We said these things like we were leaving, but neither of us did. We stayed in our hug, me soaking in his comfort, wondering if it was the last hug we’d share once he found out the truth I’d been keeping from him.
He leaned against his car, pulling me with him.
I met his eyes. It felt so good to be in his arms. His face, his beautiful face, was moving toward me, and my breath caught.
The front door opened and my dad’s voice asked, “Maddie, is that you?”
I could feel my face fall. I stepped back from Seth. “I better go. Thanks for everything.”
Seth brushed a hand along my cheek. “I’ll see you Friday.”
Butterflies tumbled through my stomach. Before I could analyze it too much, I kissed his cheek, then ran inside, past my dad, and into my room, where I collapsed on my bed with the happiest sigh in the world.