“Okay, so we aren’t close. You’re still my fucking brother. You’re still Sandy’s brother. We thought you were gone forever.”
“I kind of thought I was too.”
“What the fuck, man? Where have you been?”
“It’s a long, boring story.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s long. But boring? Sell it to the Air Force. I’m not buying.”
“Look,” I say. “The less you know, the safer you are.”
“The old man helped you, didn’t he?”
I stay silent. I’ve no lost love for my father, but there’s no reason to finger him to his other son. At least not yet.
“I came in here to get a tattoo,” I say.
“You planning on paying me?”
“I’ll pay you whatever you want, Bas. It’s a simple woman’s name. That’s all.”
“A woman’s name on your skin, Trey?” He scoffs. “I don’t fucking believe it.”
“Yeah, well, things change.”
“Tell you what. I’ll tattoo a woman’s name all over the cheeks of your ass if you want. I won’t charge you a damned penny. Except…you need to level with me.”
“First, you’re not going anywhere near my ass. And second, I’ve got nothing to say.”
“That’s bullshit and we both know it.”
“You’re better off not knowing. You know that.”
He doesn’t reply for a minute.
Yeah, he’s thinking. He’s thinking I’m right, which I am.
“What are you doing back here?” he finally asks. “You’ve got to have a target bigger than the Titanic on your back.”
“You’re not wrong. But I’ve got some things to take care of. I’ve change, Bas.”
Another scoff from my brother.
That’s okay. I don’t expect him to believe me. Hell, I wouldn’t believe me if I were him.
“Don’t make me tell you,” I say. “I don’t want you in danger. You or Sandy or Mom.”
“What about Dad?”
Tough call. What can I say? Having learned from Pollack that our father frequented Derek Wolfe’s Island, I’m not sure I care what happens to him.
Pollack could be lying, of course, but why would he?
“Our father’s not the man you think he is,” I say.
“I never thought he was some hero, Trey. You know that.”
“Yeah? Well, suffice it to say he may be worse than any of us ever thought.”
“I know who the bastard is,” Sebastian says. “I was the one left, remember? After you died—er, disappeared—he turned on me. I had to protect Sandy.”
Our sister, Alexandra—nicknamed Sandy—is five years younger than I am, and a year older than Sebastian. Even though she’s older, Sebastian felt responsible, protective. Kind of the way I always felt about our mother.
“Do you want an apology?” I ask. “I can apologize to the moon and back, but it won’t change what I did. Those years I was gone, leaving you and Sandy to fend for yourself.”
“I don’t need an apology from you, Trey. I got over that a long time ago. I just want to know where the fuck you’ve been.”
There is no easy answer to the question.
And even if there were, I can’t burden my brother with it.
“Just ink me, man.” I say. “Please.”
28
KATELYN
“You brought home a dog?” My mother shakes her head.
I let Jed out of his kennel, and he runs through the house, nearly knocking over one of my mother’s prized vases. I secretly wish the ugly thing were in pieces on the floor, but Jed misses it by a couple inches.
“You wanted me home,” I say. “I come with a dog now.”
My father ended up coming out of the coma while I was in flight, and now we’re waiting for the liver biopsy results. My father is good, but we won’t know whether he has cancer for another twenty-four hours yet.
“He can’t stay here,” Mom says.
“Then I won’t stay here,” I say. “Good enough.”
My mother purses her lips. A classic Farrah Lowenstein Brooks facial expression.
I simply lift my eyebrows. I don’t have a problem leaving. I don’t have a ton of money, but the Wolfes give me several months of living expenses. I can afford a cheap hotel.
“He’ll have to stay outside,” my mother says.
“You don’t have to worry about him at all. I plan to stay in the guesthouse.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible. It hasn’t been cleaned in ages.”
“Then I’ll clean it. Jed and I will stay in the guesthouse, and you won’t have to be bothered with him or his shedding hair or him knocking over your imitation Ming Dynasty vases.”
My mother drops her jaw.
She’s not used to me talking to her like this.
“Katelyn,” she says, “I’m so sorry about everything you’ve been through.”
“You’ve said that to me already, Mom. I don’t need to hear it anymore. What happened to me was not your fault.”
“I never thought it was.”
Again, classic Farrah.
“Very well, then,” she says. “I’ll have Casey take your bag and that…kennel…to the guesthouse.”
“Thank you.” I kneel to pet Jed. “You hear that, baby? We’re going to have our own house out back. The guesthouse. Where you can run around all you want.”
“He can’t just have his run of the property,” Mom says.
“I know that, Mother. But the yard is fenced, isn’t it?”
“Of course.”
“Then he’ll be absolutely fine. And don’t worry. I will scoop up all his poop, and you will never even know he’s there.”
“Good.” She wrinkles her nose.
“Well, your grandma is just not being nice to you, is she?” I say to my puppy. “She will learn to love you just as I do.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” Mom murmurs.
“Yes, she doesn’t think we heard that, but we did, didn’t we?”
“For God’s sake, Katelyn, you’re making me sick talking baby talk to that animal.”
“Well then, Grandma will be sick for a while, because I don’t plan to stop.” I give Jed a kiss on his forehead.
Casey, my parents’ butler, enters and clears his throat. “Hello, Miss Katelyn.”
My mother and father don’t have a lot of help. A butler and housekeeper. Casey does the cooking. Then of course the pool guy, but he’s not full time. And the gardener.
“Hello, Casey. I’ll be staying in the guesthouse.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He picks up my suitcase and the dog’s kennel. “I’ll just take these things out for you.”
An hour later, Jed and I are settled in the guesthouse. It’s a lovely little bungalow, two bedrooms, two baths, and a two-car garage. I don’t have a car, of course, but Mom left one for my use. The big yard is perfect for Jed.