CHAPTER ELEVEN

 

My sister flung open the front door to her apartment before I even got a chance to knock. 

“How’d you do that?” I asked.  “I’m fifteen minutes early.” 

Cami tapped the side of her head.  “Twinsense.” 

“Bullshit.” 

She grinned and held up her phone.  “And I was tracking you, courtesy of the Finders app.” 

“I feel stalked.”

“You should. Because I was stalking you.”  She stepped back from the threshold so I could enter.  “I’m not ready yet.  Hang out in here for a minute.” 

“Hey there, Cassie,” Dalton said from the kitchen table where he was playing a game of chess with his brother, Hale. 

“Hi, guys,” I said, watching as Cami gave her boyfriend a quick kiss before running off to the bathroom. 

Then I noticed Hale was looking at me.  He winked. I laughed. 

Dalton’s older brother was definitely a head turner.  He had the confident presence of a man in his early thirties while managing to stick to a rather rough and tough persona.  He appeared to be freshly shaven today, which was rare because usually when I saw him he favored a shaggier look.  Cami only had nice things to say about him, although she admitted she wasn’t positive how he earned his way in the world.  Supposedly he owned a handful of bars but the details were vague.  For a little while Cami was on a mission to toss me and Hale together, always making plans for the four of us whenever he was around.  But in spite of Hale’s good looks and charm there was no spark between us.  He and I had a good laugh over the failed cupid quest one night and he joked, “Frankly, Cassie, I like you far too much to consider dating you.”  I didn’t know what that said about the women Hale chose to spend his time with but it was none of my business.  He treated my sister with a brotherly level of respect and that was all I cared about. 

“Where are you ladies off to tonight?” Hale asked in his deep baritone. 

“Oh it’ll be a wild night,” I said, running my hand along the back of the sofa.  “First we have big plans to pig out at Pancake Buffet.  Then it’s off to the big bookstore café at the mall because they have the butterscotch sodas Cami’s obsessed with.” 

Hale shook his head.  “You animals.” 

Cami bounded back into the room.  She looked excellent in a black maxi dress and big turquoise earrings.  I saw Dalton’s gaze roll over her appreciatively before she swept in for one more kiss. 

“I’ll be home by ten,” she told him. 

Dalton nuzzled her neck.  “No hurry,” he said, “but I’ll be waiting.” 

Cami giggled and kissed him one more time. 

“Love you,” she said. 

“Love you too,” he said in return. 

I waited until we were outside to say, “The two of you are so cute I have to fight my gag reflex.” 

“I know,” she said, opening up the passenger door of my car.  “I never thought I’d end up as part of one of those goofy couples who torments onlookers with obnoxious public displays of affection but I’m not apologizing.” 

“Nor should you,” I said.  “I’m glad you found your lobster.” 

I wasn’t joking when I described our plans to the guys.  Pancake Buffet was crowded and noisy, but then again it was Saturday night.  I was happy to be out, especially with Cami.  This place had always been a favorite of ours.  Tonight Cami piled her plate high with a mix of blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes while I stacked up peach and old fashioned buttermilk. 

We lucked into finding a table in the corner where it was possible to talk without shouting. Cami was full of exciting news about her new job.

“And the editor swears that I’ll be getting bylines all to myself in a few months.  I’m in the local news department for now but I’ll put in my time and work my way up to national news where I want to be.” 

“That’s great, Cams,” I said before I forked another sinful mouthful of pancakes.  Cami had always been ambitious and she’d had her heart set on becoming a reporter since the days when we still played with dolls and obsessed over boy bands.  

“So what’s it like working for Dad?” Cami asked. 

I shrugged.  “No complaints.” 

“Anything exciting going on at Scratch?  I still can’t believe Aspen isn’t there anymore.”   

I swirled a piece of peach pancake in a gob of maple syrup. “Business seems like it’s going well.  Dad and Uncle Deck are talking about expanding yet again.  They’re finally going to start that merchandise line they’ve been talking about forever.  For now they’re converting an old storage closet into a workspace but that’s only temporary.  The idea is to get more square footage by knocking down a wall if they can secure a lease on the music store next door that just closed.”  I paused and set the fork down.  “Oh, there’s a new guy.  He started right before I did.” 

“New guy?  Is he the one from Emblem?” 

I was surprised.  “You heard about Curtis?” 

“Is that his name? Mom just mentioned that there was a new guy from the old hometown. I think Uncle Deck knows the family.” 

“I think so too,” I said. 

I considered telling Cami about Curtis’s criminal history but I didn’t know the details and so it felt like gossip.  Of course if you couldn’t gossip with your twin sister, who could you gossip with?  Yet I still hesitated to talk about Curtis anymore.  Cami knew me better than anyone and I didn’t want her to catch on that I had some confusing feelings about Curtis Mulligan.  It was ridiculous.  I hardly knew him.  He was a possibly dangerous ex gang member who seemed to enjoy making me uncomfortable.  I’d avoided him the last few days, ever since I saw him watching me through the glass doors of Coffee Hole as I laughed with Parker Neely. 

Which reminded me of another topic of conversation, one I’d been avoiding. 

“So guess who I ran into in statistics class?” 

“Who?”

I paused for effect.  “Parker Neely.” 

Cami slammed her palm down on the table.  “Shut up!”  She made so much noise a few other patrons stopped eating and stared at our table.  Cami didn’t care.  “Parker Freaking Neely? I don’t believe it.  I’ll kill him.  Where is he?” 

“Shh,” I laughed.  “Calm down.  He’s not standing behind you or anything.” 

“What did you do?  Did you throw a scalding hot drink in his face?  Did you kick him in the balls?” 

“Neither. I ignored him.” 

“Oh.”  Cami frowned.  “I give you credit for being more mature than I am.”   

“It didn’t exactly end there.  After class was over he chased me outside and I ran into a bike rack.” 

“Oh my god.  And then did you kick him in the balls?” 

“No.”

“So what the hell did Parker Neely want?” 

“He wanted to apologize.  He’s apparently grown a conscience.” 

“Bullshit.” 

I shrugged.  “That’s his story. But I wasn’t in the mood to listen to him at the time so he showed up at Scratch to try and finish his apology.” 

Cami’s mouth fell open.  “Parker Neely had the gall to show his face at Scratch?  Is he still alive or did Dad kill him?”

“Dad didn’t see.  Parker didn’t hang around there for long.  Curtis scared him off.”

“Curtis the new guy?”

“Yep.” 

“Please tell me Curtis at least kicked him in the balls.” 

I was exasperated.  “Camille, nobody kicked anyone in the balls.  Can I finish the story?”

“Sure.” 

I took a sip of water before continuing.  “Before he left, Parker begged me to give him five minutes of my time.  He said he’d be waiting down the street at Coffee Hole.  As far as I was concerned he could sit there and wait until kingdom come.  But then I got to thinking.  I hate how all that nasty history has had such a hold over my life. I thought maybe this was a chance to get some closure. So I went.  Parker apologized profusely.  He offered to drop the statistics class so I wouldn’t have to see him anymore.  And you know what?  His life hasn’t been all sunshine and roses. I thought that would make me happy to hear but it didn’t.”

Cami digested this information.  Her shrewd reporter’s mind wanted to hear more though.  “How did you leave things with him?” 

  “I told him I don’t forgive him but I also told him he doesn’t have to drop the class.  I don’t care if he’s there or not.  It won’t bother me to see him again, not now.” 

 Cami tugged at her lower lip, meaning she was troubled.  “Cass?  You’re not thinking of letting Parker Neely back into your life, are you? 

“No.”  I shook my head.  “Definitely not.  But one thing I’ve learned is that people aren’t simple.  Sometimes they even change.  Think of Dad.  Think of what an unimaginable asshole he was to Mom when they were kids. And years later she saw that he wasn’t that guy anymore. That’s why she was able to forgive him.”

Cami sighed.  “Parker Neely isn’t Cord Gentry.” 

“Of course not.  But maybe he isn’t pure evil either.” 

Cami stopped tugging on her lower lip but she looked unconvinced.  I didn’t have her gift with words and I didn’t know how to express what was going through my head.  I had no intention of inviting Parker home for dinner.  Yet I didn’t see the benefit in holding on to bitterness.  Before I had time to sort out my thoughts and communicate them to my sister my phone rang.

“It’s Kellan,” I said, staring at the number on the screen.  Cami raised an eyebrow. 

“Hey, Kel,” I said into the phone.  “Did you butt dial me or do you need something?” 

“Cassidy!  How’s my favorite cousin tonight?” 

“Ah, so you need something.” 

I could almost hear him squirming on the other end. 

“Just a ride. I mean, if you’re not doing anything.  I’m stuck out here by the university without enough cash to call a car.  And I can’t call Derek because the idiot dropped his phone in a pool this afternoon and it hasn’t been replaced yet.  If I call the house my folks will figure out that something is up.”

“And where do Uncle Chase and Aunt Stephanie believe you are right now?”

“At my buddy Ford’s house two blocks away.”

“I see.” 

“They’d kill me.”

“They wouldn’t high five you that’s for sure.” 

“Cass, I’m sorry to bug you but none of my friends have cars and I would have called Cadence but she’s gone for the summer.” 

In spite of my effort to play it stern I smiled.  “So I’m your rescuer of last resort?”

“No.  I was going to call Cami if you didn’t answer.” 

After I got the details of where he was I said, “You owe me, kiddo,” and turned to my sister.  “We’d better ask for a takeout box.” 

Kellan was waiting exactly where he said he’d be, mere blocks from the sprawling behemoth known as Arizona State University. 

“You guys, thanks so freaking much,” he gushed, diving into the backseat of the car as I was still rolling to a stop. “I don’t even want to think about what my parents would say if they knew I was out here.”  

“Not so fast,” Cami told him, swiveling around.  “We want the whole truth, nothing but the truth, and then we’ll decide whether your folks need to hear about it.”

I smothered a laugh when I looked back at my young cousin’s obstinate face.  He had the same expression he’d worn at the age of seven when I broke the bad news that he couldn’t have cheesecake for dinner on any night that I was babysitting. 

“Spill it,” I warned.   

Kellan slumped back with a pout when he realized he was going to have to come clean.  Then he started talking. 

He’d met a girl online in some gaming forum. She was a junior at ASU and was under the impression she was speaking to a twenty three year old man instead of a sixteen year old kid.  Since Kellan’s parents didn’t allow him to use their cars after dark he got a ride to come out this way and meet her. Kellan did look older than his age so it was no shock that the girl chose to believe that he was in his twenties.  At first.  Then after a few drinks some of the things he said didn’t add up.  She grabbed his wallet, saw his high school ID, freaked, and ran out of there. 

“I didn’t have the cash to call another ride because I blew all my money settling the drink tab,” he explained. 

“Wait a minute.”  Cami held up a hand.  “What kind of place were you in that resulted in a drink tab?” 

I stopped at a red light and heard Kellan mumble something. 

“What?” I prodded. 

“I was at a bar,” he said.  “Okay?  Happy?  Now you know everything.” 

“Not quite,” said Cami. “How did you get into the bar?”

“Through the door, Camille.” 

“I’m kind of feeling like having a nice chat with our aunt and uncle tonight,” I said.  “What do you think Cami?”

“Funny, I was just thinking the same thing.” 

“Okay, okay.”  Kellan heaved an angst-filled teenage sigh and crossed his arms.  “So I have a fake ID. So what?”

“A fake ID?” Cami said.

“Yeah.” 

“Where’d you get it from?”

“I ordered it online from Wyoming.” 

“Hurray for modern technology.  And where is it now?” 

“My pocket.” 

Cami extended her hand to the backseat.  “Give it to me.” 

“No!  It cost four hundred bucks.  I used all my birthday money plus the money I had saved from last Christmas.” 

“Like I care.” 

“Aw, come on, Cami.” 

“Hand it over, Kel, or else it’s going to be quite the late night for you explaining to your loving parents why you were catfishing some unsuspecting college girl while drinking in a bar with your fake Wyoming ID.” 

He was silent.  The tension of his inner struggle was palpable.  He didn’t want to turn over his magic ticket to the adult world.  But we had him over a barrel.   

“If you hand over the ID,” I told him, “we won’t say anything. At least not this time.” 

“You won’t?”

“I promise.” 

Kellan sighed, reached into his pocket and gave the fake identification to Cami.  She turned on the overhead light and squinted at it. 

“My god, I can’t believe they let you in with this,” she exclaimed.  “This guy doesn’t look anything like you and he’s thirty two.” 

“I don’t think the dude working the door looked at it too carefully.  He seemed kind of stoned.   

“That explains it.”

When we pulled onto Kellan’s street I stopped the car three houses down and cut the engine. 

“So this is the last time you’re going to pull this crap, right?” I said in my best wannabe parent voice. 

“It’s the last time.  I swear.  Won’t become a habit.”  

“All right.  We won’t tell your folks.  But this offer only happens once, you got it?”

“I get it.”   

“And we’d better not hear about you stepping one toe out of line,” Cami added.  “We’ll be watching.” 

“That was creepy,” Kellan mumbled.  He opened the car door and climbed out while keeping an eye on the house where his parents awaited.  He poked his head back into the car.  “Thanks. I mean it.”   

“Just behave yourself,” I said and my cousin gave us a smile before shutting the door and walking to his house. 

Cami and I watched until we saw the front door of the house open and shut. 

She sighed.  “Did we just do the right thing?”

“I hope so.  Kellan’s a good kid.  And Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Chase are pretty strict so usually it’s tough for him to get away with much.  Plus I want him to feel like he can come to us if he needs to.  I know that if anything else happens we’ll have to tell on him for his own good.  But I’m hoping with the whole family practically looking over his shoulder he’ll decide to stay on the right path.”   

Cami chuckled.  “Those kids sure are a handful.  Can you imagine what it must take to keep up with a pack of rowdy teenage boys?”

“I guess parenting is not for the faint of heart,” I said.

“Turn around here,” Cami suggested.  “Just in case someone’s looking out the window.  Wouldn’t want them to see our car after we promised Kellan we wouldn’t rat him out tonight.” 

I turned around on the residential street and drove back the way I came.

Before I rounded the corner I glanced once more at Kellan’s house in the rearview mirror. I was really glad he’d called me tonight instead of wandering around in the dark.  He might have run into much worse trouble.  I could now appreciate something that I hadn’t thought about much when I was younger.  I’d hit the jackpot being born into my family.  Navigating the world alone without a tribe to look out for you must feel awful lonely.