“You killed him.”
“No. Believe it or not, I had nothing to do with it. Elizabeth will try to pin this on me during the next tomb meeting, but it won’t stick. I did not plan the building dedication ceremony that took place this afternoon. Cadee’s mother did.”
“What?”
He smiles at me. “She knew about the building. And she knew I was going to offer Cadee a scholarship after the Prep kids graduated. It’s just… things got complicated and I had to… improvise. But every bit of this was planned, Cooper. And Mrs. Hunter was in charge of the food and drink for that ceremony.”
“How did she die? Did you do it?”
He shoots me a disgusted look. “Of course not. She was my friend. I was at her wedding, Cooper. The best man, in fact. It was a hit-and-run.” He lowers his voice. “But she knew what happened between Dane and Cadee. So I suspect Dane had something to do with her death. I was as surprised as anyone about the strawberry champagne. It’s… tasty. Very sweet and bubbly.” He bobs his head a little. “Just not very… classy, is it? But Cadee loves strawberries, doesn’t she?”
Does she? “How do you know that?”
“Strawberry shortcake is her favorite dessert. She told me herself. At any rate, Elizabeth will try to blame me, but I’ve already looked into it and the champagne was ordered last May, just before Mrs. Hunter died. It was not me, Cooper. It was her, and it was revenge. And Dane”—his blue-gray eyes stare into mine—“Dane got what he deserved.”
I just look at him for a moment. Study his perfectly composed face. And marvel just how much he looks like my brother, Jack. Or, I guess, Jack looks like him. “Why are you telling me all this?”
“Why?” He smiles at me. “So you can stop Lars from taking your place. So you and Cadee can have time together. One nice year.” He points to her bookstore bag. “She’s excited about this, Cooper. Don’t take it away from her. And don’t let Lars steal her from you, either. He’s… got plans. He’s not like Ax. Ax has your back. Keep Ax close, but keep Lars closer.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m telling you to pack up your shit and move in to the Hunter Building and take your place as King. You can’t do anything from out here, Cooper. You have to be on the inside to get things done.” He sighs. Then stands up, buttons his suit coat, and slides his sunglasses back on his face. “Think about it. But either way, please don’t make it difficult for Cadee. Let her enjoy her year.”
He walks back over to his Maserati, gets in, backs it up, and leaves the way he came.
Ax steps out from the side of the house.
“Did you hear all that?” I ask.
He nods and then settles down on the steps where my father was just sitting.
“What do you think? Should we go back? Move into that building?”
Ax picks a weed from a nearby overgrown planter and twirls it between his fingertips. “I’m pretty fucking sure I don’t have a room with my name on it in that building.”
“You could stay with me. Hell, you can have the whole place. I’ll stay with Cadee.”
He winces a little, then looks up at me with squinty eyes. “Nah. I think I’m gonna stay here, Coop. I like this place. I’ll fix it up and then Cadee can sell it for a profit after she graduates.”
“Graduates.” I sigh. “Four years from now. Where do you think we’ll be next year this time?”
“No clue. But…” He looks up at the tulip trees. “Probably not here.”
I lean my head into my hands, so frustrated. “I don’t know what to think about any of this. It all feels like a trap.”
Ax laughs. “Oh, it’s a fucking trap all right. If I were you, I’d forget that whole conversation you just had with your father. Because I’m not convinced any of it’s true. Take his shit, of course. His money, that cool new dorm. Take all of it. But to me, Cooper? That sounded a lot like the set-up to a very long con.”
I want to object. I want to believe my father. And trust him. It would be so nice to believe and trust in him. I’ve been the disappointing one my whole life. I’ve always felt like an outsider. Like I don’t belong here. It’s very confusing when everything about my life screams, You belong.
But I know him way too well to start falling for some sob story that paints him as a hero now.
He’s no hero.
“And if I were you, Coop, I’d definitely take that position as King.”
“You would?”
“Fuck, yeah. You’re not gonna hand that shit to Lars. You’re gonna pack up your room, and then tomorrow I’m gonna drive you and Cadee over to High Court, and you’re gonna kick Lars’s ass out of his little castle, take his borrowed crown, and put it right the fuck atop your head where it belongs.”
I smile, picturing it. Not wanting to picture it. I don’t want to fight with Lars. I really don’t. We had a plan. All three of us. I love him like a brother. It wasn’t supposed to end this way. “Is Cadee sleeping?”
Ax gets up off the porch and extends his hand. I grab Cadee’s bookstore bag, accept Ax’s hand, and let him pull me to my feet. “Go find out.” He pushes me towards the door.
I go inside, but Ax doesn’t follow. And when I turn back, I catch a glimpse of his back as he hops down the steps and heads around the side of the inn.
Upstairs in our room I find Cadee lying face down on the bed. But she’s not sleeping. Her eyes are open and she’s staring off at nothing when I enter. “What are you doing?” I ask.
Her eyes focus on me, then drift down to the bag in my hand.
“Oh, you forgot this at the Chairman’s dining room. He brought it by.”
Cadee just stares at it. And her eyes track it as I put it on the bed next to her. “He was here?”
“Yup. Came to tell me…” I pause. Because she looks wrung out. Tired. Maybe even miserable. And the last thing she needs is me burdening her with my father issues.
“Came to tell you what?” she asks, pulling herself up into a sitting position. She leans her back against the headboard and reaches for the bag. She pulls out the socks and smiles. But it falls almost immediately.
“What’s wrong?”
“These stupid socks.” She stuffs them back in the bag and tosses it on the ground. “God.” She looks up at me with those light brown eyes of hers and pouts. “What was I thinking this morning? I mean, did I really just think I would… what? Walk onto campus, buy a few school spirit items from the bookstore, and all these crazy problems would just disappear?”
“Well.” I sigh and sit down on the bed next to her. “I mean… the Dane problem is… well, it’s not over until you get your justice. But he’s not a threat anymore.”
“Did your father kill him?” she asks.
“No,” I say. And then I pause to have an internal debate about whether or not I should tell her the same story my father told me. Is it true? Did Cadee’s mother find out about the rape and this was her final act of revenge from beyond the grave?
“How do you know that, Cooper? I mean, nothing about this place is what it seems. And you’re not particularly trusting when it comes to your father. You’re the one who told me he didn’t have my best interest at heart when he made me all these offers, remember?”