He Belongs With Me (21 page)

“Hey,” he said, hovering close to the edge of my bed.

“Hey,” I replied, confused but happy that he’d followed me.

“Your dad wants you back downstairs. He has something he needs to tell us all.”

I frowned. I’d thought for a moment he’d chased after me because he was concerned for me—I guess I thought wrong. Or not, because the next words out of his mouth sounded very concerned.

“Are you okay, Maggie?” Leo asked. “You’ve been a little off all day. Are you sure you’re okay with Clara and I being together? I know it’s happening fast, but it’s going to be permanent…so I need you to be okay with this.”

Permanent?
I decided I should just be honest with him. “I just need time, Leo. I’ve always had you all to myself and now suddenly…I don’t.”

The muscles in his jaw tightened and he slowly nodded. “Just so you know, no matter what, nothing could ever change our friendship. You’re the only thing in my jacked-up life that has ever been a fucking constant. Nothing will ever change that.” He rubbed his hands through his hair. “So would you please come back downstairs? You and Clara have your issues—I get that—but I’d really like you to come finish dinner with us.”

I gulped. “I thought Dad needed me downstairs.”

“He does. But I’d like you down there too.”

What other choice did I have?
If Leo needed me downstairs, then that’s exactly where I needed to be.

CHAPTER 18

CLARA

Dinner with Dad was going well. Pretty damn well, actually.
And Leo sitting beside me...
He might as well have used a giant megaphone to announce that we were together—
together
together—and I was loving every minute of it. He’d also had his hand resting on my thigh under the table, rubbing back and forth, sending little shivers all over my body. I had been loving that too.

And then the look on Maggie's face when Dad basically told her to shut up—priceless. I didn't feel bad that Maggie had to work for me on Saturday because there were other servers Anita could have called instead. Anita liked Maggie and probably called her first because she wanted the company. I did, however, feel bad about the landscaping staff having more work to do because of me. I must have left tire tracks out on the golf course when I went joyriding. Maybe I could make them some muffins or bring them lunch one day this week—something to make up for it.

That left Leo and his bruised ass. Maybe I could make it up to him somehow too, and I didn't mean with muffins. The thought of Leo's glorious naked butt popped into my head, causing a scalding flash of heat to spread across my skin. Reaching for the water bottle beside my plate, I took a giant gulp. The naughty thoughts would have to be saved for later...when Dad wasn't present.

If only he’d gotten up instead of sending Leo to go get Maggie. I had no idea what he wanted us all to hear—and neither did Leo, based on the curious look on his face—but something was definitely off with my Dad and we were about to find out what it was.

Now my stomach was home to a giant school of flesh-hungry piranhas, eating me from the inside out. Whatever Dad had to say was obviously important, and I nervously fidgeted in my seat as I waited for Leo and Maggie to return to the table.

“Before Maggie and Leo come back, I want to talk about what happened this weekend,” he said, letting out a giant huff. I waited for him to start yelling, but his voice remained surprisingly even. “Everything Maggie said was right. But the reality is that I have bigger things to worry about than hounding you and expecting changes I won't see. Not only that, you're twenty-one and this is likely your last summer at home. The last thing I want is to spend it fighting. So I'm willing to forgive and forget if you do two things for me in return. One...the lessons. Mary Ann called earlier and said that overall, things went great for you today. Do you think you can keep it up for the next two weeks?”

I nodded, shocked at how easy I was getting off the hook and surprised that Mary Ann had anything nice to say about me.

“Okay, good. Two…the hair. It has to go. You can dye it red, brown, or back to blonde—any normal color. But the purple can't stay.”

I couldn’t stop the frown on my face or the feeling of disappointment in my heart. I loved my purple hair. Of everything I did wrong this past weekend, the hair was the one thing he focused on?
Ugh! Really?

“I don't hate it,” Dad continued. “It actually kind of suits you, but...it has to go. We have an image to uphold at the country club, and you're just as much a part of that image as I am. I need you to change it—immediately. I mean it, Clara.”

This was why I wanted to move to Arizona. I didn't want to be part of any image that needed upholding, but I didn't have the energy to argue with him either. Not when there was some news that he needed everyone here for still hanging over my head.

“Okay,” I said, admitting defeat, “I'll dye it back.”

“Thank you.” Dad stood up, rearranging some of the dishes on the table. I noticed now that he hadn't even touched his food.

Leo and Maggie came back outside and Dad immediately stopped what he was doing to sit back down. “Have a seat,” he said to them, “We have something to discuss.”

Maggie sat down at once, saying nothing. It took Leo a few seconds longer to sit down, but then he did—again by me. Adrenaline started rushing through my veins, making me feel shaky. Was this conversation going to be about Leo and me? Maybe I'd let the hair thing go without a fight, but if he told me I couldn't date Leo, then the gloves were about to go on…or was it off? Whichever.

“It's about Dean,” Dad stated.

Dean? Never heard of him.
I might have been relieved that Dad's big declaration was directed toward this Dean person and not my love life, but the noticeable tension on Leo's face wouldn’t allow me to relax. He swore a string of curse words hardly appropriate for the dinner table before saying, “His lurking ass is really starting to piss me off. Did Maggie tell you how he showed up on my doorstep this morning like a complete stalker? Reed, you need to tell him to get out of our lives. He's starting to screw with Maggie's head. Hell, he's starting to screw with my head.”

“He's not screwing with my head,” Maggie defended. “I'm just fine.”

Leo let out a huff. “By fine, you mean he's wormed his way back into your life without explanation of where he's been for the last six years? Maybe you've forgotten the way things went down, Mags, but I haven't. That bastard made you promises on top of promises and he never kept one of them. Now he's suddenly back and you're
fine
. Well, I'm not fucking fine.”

Holy mother of all things holy.
Leo was seriously pissed and I was seriously confused.

“This is my life and you need to let me handle it, Leo,” Maggie said. “I get that you're trying to protect me, but I really can handle this. I'm fine with him coming back to Blue Creek. He's been nice to me.”

Dad nodded in agreement. “She's right. Dean's a good man. He hasn't had an easy life, but I trust that he's just trying to do right by what he knows. Anyway, it's not Dean I wanted to discuss. This is about his daughter, Valerie.”

“Who the hell is Dean?” I snapped.

“Robby,” they all answered in unison.

Leo leaned back in his seat and tilted closer to me. “Dean is Robby. He changed his name, tricked Maggie into bringing him as her date to the gala the other night when she didn't recognize him, and now he's being secretive as hell.”

Maggie again jumped to Dean's defense. “He didn't trick me!”

“Robby has a daughter?” I asked, not really caring about the rest of the drama. “How old?”

“Five,” Dad answered.

“Oh.” My breath left my lungs as the dots connected.
Now
I understood what the big deal was. My body started to tremble in excitement. “This is incredible. Crazy—but incredible.”

A hint of a smile appeared on Dad's face. “I think so too.”

“What's incredible?” Maggie asked, confused. My twin was never any good at connecting dots. “Daddy?”

“Oh, that’s just great,” Leo said, stiffening beside me. “Reed thinks Robby's
daughter
might be his.”

A SISTER. HOLY GUACAMOLE. This was un-freaking-believable and I could barely contain my excitement. I’d always wished I could have more siblings—one that I actually got along with would be nice—and now that wish was coming true.

Maybe.

“It's mere speculation,” Dad said. “The only thing I am basing this on is the girl's age.”

Maggie's face held little emotion as she spoke. “She looks so much like Robby. She has his dark hair and his eyes. Even his height. But I guess it could be possible...it would mean...” She swallowed hard. “It might mean that Robby never broke any of his promises to me. And having her as a sister would be kind of wonderful. She's really sweet. What are you going to do about it, Dad?”

“Nothing.” Dad shrugged. “There’s nothing I can do right now.”

Leo choked on a big gulp of air. “The hell you can’t! You can call your lawyer. You can demand a paternity test. If it turns out she is your kid, Reed, then you can fight for custody. Nothing, my ass.”

“No,” Dad urged, “I can't do any of that. If Monica had custody of the girl, then I would do everything in my power to fight for her. But—and this is what I was trying to say before—Dean is a good man. His name change was about his father, nothing else. Now it's his story to tell so I won't go into the details, but it’s clear he's had a lot on his plate over the last six years and good reasons for not getting here sooner. Now he's back in Blue Creek and I get the impression that he's back because he wants to make things right. We have to have faith in him and wait this out.”

Dad wanted to let Robby reveal everything in his own time, but for once, I agreed with Leo. It was because of Dad’s
good
faith
that Robby’s scheming con-artist of a mother contaminated our lives in the first place. It made me wonder how far the apple had fallen from the tree. Was Robby—or should I say Dean—just as conniving as his mother? At seventeen, he'd been pretty damn charming...
and that was when he was ugly!
Now that he'd turned all Greek god on us, what if he wanted to use his good looks and this little girl to swindle money out of us?

Dad and Leo continued to argue. Leo wasn't the sit-on-his-ass type, and I guess I wasn’t either. If I knew where Robby lived, I'd march over to his place right this minute to demand answers, but I didn't have the first clue where to find him. After a few more minutes of listening to them go back and forth, I had to weigh in.

“Look, I'm overjoyed at the possibility of having another sister,” I told everyone. “Really, I am. Best news ever. But I have to agree with Leo on this one. We have to do
something
.”

Leo shot me look like I'd just shocked the shit out him. Actually, I think I shocked myself more. Who knew I would ever openly agree with him about anything? I noticed Leo visibly relax because of it, and his hand immediately caught mine under the table, squeezing gently.
Damn.
Despite everything going on, my heart fluttered at the contact.

“If you didn't want to take any action,” Leo started, his voice ten times calmer now, “then you shouldn't have included me in this conversation. I'm pissed and you're indifferent and there's nothing I can do about it.”

Dad, who hadn't raised his voice once or faltered from his calm demeanor, looked hurt by Leo's words. “I included
all of you
in this conversation because
all of you
are my family. You too, Leo. And when the shit hits the fan, if you can't turn to your family, then who can you turn to? Finding out I might have another child is not an easy pill to swallow. I'm not indifferent—I’m pissed too. I'm angry and sad that I missed the first five years of this girl's life, but I'm trying my best to stay calm. I'm trying to decide what the best thing is for us and for Valerie.”

“Okay then,” Leo said, sounding as if he was finally admitting defeat. “Can I at least call my private detective and see if he can't dig up anything on Monica or Robby?”

“Sure. That's a good idea.”

“I need to catch my breath,” Maggie announced as she stood to her feet. “I'm going to go for a drive. I might stay the night in Blacksburg if I make it all the way up there. All this...it's just a lot to take in—”

Ding dong.
The front door bell was barely audible on the back deck, but Maggie stopped speaking instantly and her face paled at the sound.

Dad stood too. “All three of you, I want you to promise me right now—not a word of this. I mean it. If that's Dean at the door, then not a word. I need time to figure out exactly what I want to do and he can't know that we know.”

Ding dong. Ding dong. Ding dong.

“Man, someone is sure persistent. I'll go get it,” I offered, jumping up from my seat. Maggie wasn’t the only one who needed some time alone to process all of this. Closing the sliding glass door behind me, I hurried through the house, fully prepared to give Robby the third degree—despite what Dad just said. But when I flung the front door open, it wasn’t Robby who was standing there.

Andrew Wellington.

Damn my luck.
I’d forgotten to dump him...like days ago. Now on top of everything else, I had Andrew to deal with. This wasn't going to be fun.

“Clara? Yikes, what happened to your hair?” he asked as I stepped outside, joining him on the porch.

“Jesus. Thanks for the compliment.”

“Sorry, I didn't mean to insult you. It's just shocking, that's all. Actually, I kind of like it.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“No, I do.”

“Are you here for a reason?” I asked impatiently. “My family is kind of in the middle of something and—”

He grabbed me. The dickwad reached out, pulled me from where I stood, and in an instant, his lips were on my lips. He pressed his body flush with mine like I'd been gone for weeks and he couldn't wait a second longer to get his slimy tongue in my mouth. I nudged at his chest, pushing him away from me. “Sorry, Andrew. You can't kiss me. I fucked Leo.”