After I Fall (16 page)

“I’m glad you ended up here,” I said.

“Me too,” he agreed.

“So tell me what your life was like before?”

He hesitated when I made my request.

“There is a huge chunk of my life that I don’t like to talk about. I mean, that I
don’t
talk about,” he said. “The car accident…I know I need to tell you about it. But I just…I can’t.”

I nodded because I’d always felt like he was keeping things from me. But in a way, I understood. Some things were just really hard to share. Sure, I’d told him about my dad passing away. I’d told him how difficult it had been to move in with my mom. But I hadn’t told him, or anyone, how horrible it had been to watch my dad die. To face him at the breakfast table week after week after he’d been given just a few months to live. I’d never told anyone how I’d not left his side at the end. Or how I’d forced myself to be strong when all I wanted to do was crumble. I had never breathed a word to anyone about the way that—after being strong for so long—I had completely shattered only moments after his last breath was drawn.

Yes, I knew a little bit about not wanting to share certain aspects of your life.

“Do you think you’ll tell me about your parents someday? I mean what happened to them?”

The pause that settled between us this time lasted so long that I didn’t think he was going to answer. When he did, it wasn’t what I hoped he would say.

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

I sighed realizing that he wasn’t willing to make any promises.

“What’s going on?” I asked as I walked into the kitchen.

Phillip was at the table with his cell phone to his ear. That was a rarity. He was usually pretty insistent that any meal time translated to family time.

Mom was watching him as she sipped on a mug of tea. She raised a finger at me, the universal sign for
just a second
. Even the girls were quiet as they ogled their dad’s serious expression.

“Well, thank you for letting us know,” Phillip said. “Keep me updated. I’d like to know when they catch the guy.” He ended his call and placed his phone on the table.

“What did you find out?” Mom asked.

I turned to Phillip, more curious now than I had been when I walked into the room.

“The Devereux’s house was broken into last night,” Phillip explained.

“I received a call from a mutual friend this morning. Janette’s jewelry was stolen,” Mom explained to me. “It seems the thief stuck to small but extremely valuable items. I asked Phillip to check in with Jim to see if he had any more information.”

“That’s not the worst of it though,” Phillip continued. “Whoever did this destroyed the place. There’s thousands of dollars worth of damage. Broken televisions, smashed computer screens, anything of glass within the vicinity. Their son was out with friends but his car was in the driveway. His windshield was smashed in.”

My eyes widened in surprise. Jace must be apoplectic. He seemed nearly as attached to his sports car as I was to my Chevelle.

Mom let out a little sound of disgust.

“That wasn’t very nice, was it?” Madison asked.

“I don’t want anyone to steal
my
jewelry,” Natalie whimpered.

I smiled because her jewelry was all of the cheap, costume variety.

“No, it wasn’t nice,” Mom agreed. “If you two are finished, you can go wash your hands and go play.”

Mom rarely let them go before the rest of the family was done eating. She thought it was bad manners. They both took advantage of her offer and darted from the room.

“Why would someone do that?” I asked.

“Good question,” Phillip said as he buttered his waffles. “Stealing is one thing. Trashing the place almost makes it seem as if it’s personal. At least that’s what Jim thought.”

“What else did Jim say?” Mom asked.

Jim was head of security at Calhoun Enterprises.

“He didn’t think we have anything to worry about. He did suggest we start closing the gates at night.” There were gates at the end of our long driveway. I had assumed they were mostly for show. Obviously, they were for security purposes as well. “He was insistent that the security we have in place here is much better than what the Deverouxs have,” Phillip continued. “They have an alarm system but they don’t have security cameras. He figured there was probably a fifteen minute lapse between the time the alarm was sounded and the time the police arrived.”

“That doesn’t sound like much time,” Mom said. “I mean, for this person to not only rob the place but to cause so much damage.”

I stabbed at one of the remaining waffles on the platter. I was learning more by listening in than I was by interjecting questions of my own.

“Do they have any idea who did it?” I asked, finally speaking up.

“No. Not yet,” Phillip answered. “Carl was asked to make a list of people who might have it out for him.”

“I hope he has plenty of ink,” Mom muttered.

Phillip was barely able to suppress his smile. “The police are on it. But if I know Carl Devereux he’ll hire someone of his own choosing. He’s not going to let this go.”

I drizzled syrup over my waffle as I thought that over. “What do you mean? You think it’s going to be a long list?”

“If you ask me,” Mom sniffed, “it couldn’t have happened to more deserving people.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Oh, that Carl.” She waved her hand at me and treated me to a rare eye-roll. “I think it’s safe to say that every crooked business deal that has gone down in Roseville the last few years has Carl Devereux’s name written all over it. I can only imagine that the list of people who would like a bit of vengeance would be quite long.”

“He’s been trying to push his way into Calhoun Enterprises for years,” Phillip said with a scowl. “That’s the last man I’d let worm his way into my company.”

“So he’s not very well liked,” I surmised.

“That depends on who you are,” Mom said. “If you don’t know him well, he comes across as very charming. But for those of us who know what he’s truly like, we realize it’s best to avoid him.”

Like father, like son
, I thought.

“That said,” Phillip added, “he has definitely racked up his fair share of enemies. This robbery could’ve been carried out by any number of people. Nothing similar to it has happened recently. Jim is going to stay on top of it. He’ll let me know if they catch the guy or if there’s another break in.”

“Enough on that unpleasant topic,” Mom said. “How are you this morning, EmLynn?”

“I’m fine, thank you.” I speared another bite of waffle and stuffed it into my mouth. Without meeting Mom’s eyes I poured myself a glass of milk.

“Still upset with me, I see.”

I raised my eyes to her and chewed.

“What would you like me to say? That I’m happy you’re dating someone like Eric?”

“Someone like Eric? What does that mean, exactly?” I pressed. “Because I’m pretty sure you don’t even know him. And since you don’t know him, you sure don’t have the right to judge him.”

“What I know,” Mom hotly began, “is that you don’t know a thing about where he came from. Who his parents are. What they did. Are you even sure that’s the real reason he’s in foster care? Maybe his parents couldn’t handle him and had to turn him over to Social Services.”

“I can’t believe you just said that,” I grated out.

“Honestly, I can’t either,” Phillip said. “Tori, I think you should cut this kid some slack. From what little we know, it sounds like he’s had a rough life. Give him a break. From what I’ve seen from him so far he treats EmLynn well. He certainly seems to be making her happy. Isn’t that what’s really important here?”

“Thank you, Phillip,” I said.

“You’re welcome,” he said after a moment’s silence.

“He could be some kind of hoodlum for all we know,” Mom muttered.

“Tori.” Phillip’s tone was a sharp warning.

“This is my daughter we’re talking about. I have a right to be concerned. Don’t you see? Yes, he’s had a rough life. I’m sorry for that. All I’m saying is that he comes from a completely different background than you. How can the two of you possibly have anything in common?” she demanded.

“I can tell you one thing, he and I may have different backgrounds…but I have way more in common with him than I’ll ever have with you.” I pushed my chair back, the last few bites of my breakfast forgotten.

I took my time reaching the front door as I left Mom and Phillip arguing in the kitchen.

*   *   *

“Did you hear about the Deverouxs?” Mason asked. He dropped a bag of chips onto the wrought iron table at the edge of our pool area.

“Just that they got robbed,” Eric said. “I only know what Em told me.”

“The place was trashed,” Mason said. “I ran into Jace while I was buying the chips. He couldn’t stop ranting about his car. Said he’s going to annihilate the person who did this. His parents are livid. There’s like thousands of dollars worth of damage. They’re staying at a hotel until a cleaning service can get in and take care of it. There are shards of glass everywhere. They might have to replace the carpets because they might not be able to get all of it out.”

“Huh,” Eric said. “Didn’t know it was that bad.”

He sounded pretty uninterested in the conversation. Probably because he didn’t care too much about Jace, his family, or what happened to them.

“That’s terrible,” Clara said. “I can understand the theft, on some level. I obviously don’t agree with it. But being destructive and damaging to property is so pointless.”

“My dad plays golf with his so he gave him a call this morning. He said he hired someone to find the guy. He plans on prosecuting to the fullest extent of the law,” Mason explained. “I can’t exactly feel bad for whoever did this. I’d hate to be on Mr. Deverouxs bad side but they kind of dug their own grave. Someone must’ve really had it out for Carl. I can’t imagine what the hell that person was thinking.”

“It’s hard to say why some people do what they do,” Eric said. “Hey,” he turned to Mason and pointed at the chips, “can I open these? Lisa bakes all the time but she never buys stuff like this. There are s'mores bars on the table.”

“Yeah,” Mason said “go ahead. Where are the bars? Those sound good.”

“Over there,” Eric pointed to the kitchenette at the end of the pool area. It was built into a covered alcove. There was a grill, small fridge, and sink behind a bar area. The metal pan of bars was resting on the countertop. “Right next to the celery and carrot sticks she sent,” Eric tacked on.

Mason set off in search of food.

Clara and I shared a smile, amused at how quickly boys could be distracted by their stomachs.

“Maggie made up some sub sandwiches,” I called after him. “They’re in the fridge with some pasta salad and I don’t even know what else.”

We had originally thought we’d grill. But none of us really wanted to take the time to do that. Instead Maggie had offered to make some food and put it in the kitchenette so it would be ready when we were.

Apparently we were ready. I’d thought we’d swim before we would eat but the moment Eric heard me mention the sandwiches, he was trotting after Mason.

Clara reached into the bag and pulled out a handful of sour cream flavored chips. She leaned back in her chair, her eyes on Mason. “Maybe I should help him make a plate for himself.”

I laughed as the two guys fumbled around, looking for plates and whatever else.

“They’ll figure it out,” I said.

“I’m glad we decided to do this,” Clara proclaimed. “It was fun going out but now we don’t have to worry about running into anyone. It’s nice to have this whole place to ourselves.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, “it is.”

The pool was my favorite thing about Phillip’s house. I loved the privacy here.

“You were right. It looks like they figured it out. They must be hungry boys,” Clara said with a very un-Clara like giggle.

They each had a plate in each hand. Each plate was loaded with food; sandwiches, pasta salad, potato salad, fruit, and the bars Lisa had sent.

“Hungry?” I asked Eric with raised eyebrows.

“Starving,” he answered. “But this one is for you.”

“Thanks.”

“Awww, that’s so sweet,” Clara cooed.

“Really?” Mason asked. “Because this one is for you.”

The boys set our plates down in front of us. Neither Clara nor I wanted to hurt their feelings by pointing out that this was more food than either of us could eat in an entire day. It all went back to one thing. It’s the thought that counts.

“Thank you Mason,” Clara said with a huge smile and a blush on her cheeks. “That was really sweet of you too.”

“It was no big deal,” he said with a shrug and the hint of a smile.

He dropped down in the chair next to Clara. “So Eric, you should try out for football.”

Eric shook his head. “Nah. I don’t really play.”

“Do you play any sports?”

“I used to play baseball. But I took last year off,” Eric said.

“You should try out. Our team sucks,” Mason informed him.

Eric laughed. “Yeah, that’s tempting.”

“I just mean it would be good if we got some new talent. You any good?”

“I’m alright,” he said with a shrug.

“How good is alright?” I asked.

“The summer league I was on, we went to state three years in a row.”

“Perfect,” Mason said. “You’re trying out in the spring.”

“Sure,” Eric said. “Why not?”

After our meal was finished we sat around and talked for a while. I was finally ready to go in the pool. Eric followed but Clara and Mason said they still wanted to let their food settle a little longer.

I performed an ungraceful dive into the deep end. Eric cannon balled in next to me. We swam to the shallow end, where we could talk without having to tread water. I grinned when I caught sight of Mason and Clara. Mason was running his finger along her knee. I could tell my best friend was trying to pretend she didn’t notice. She wasn’t doing a very good job. She was smiling and looked like she was about to bounce right out of her skin.

“You little matchmaker, you,” Eric said from behind me.

His arms slid around my waist. He pulled me into a backwards hug and I melted in to him.

“I told you he would like her. He just needed to spend some time with her.”

I twisted around in Eric’s arms, my wet skin easily sliding against his. I surreptitiously kept an eye on my friend. Mason had finally worked his way up to her hand. He was holding it, toying with her fingers.