Forces of Nature

Teaser Chapter 31

Riley didn't come home.

He did call at least a dozen times a day, and left so many voicemails my phone sent me an alert saying I was running out of storage space.  I didn't listen to a single message, too hurt and ashamed to hear my brother begging me to understand his decision to yet again put the company first.

I didn't want justification.  I didn't need to be told he was doing the right thing, or that our parents would have been proud of all he'd accomplished on their behalf.  More than that, I knew if I spoke to him, I wouldn't be able to tell Riley I was sorry for lashing out.  All I'd accomplish was widening the fracture in our relationship, so I held my silence and switched my phone off, eventually losing it somewhere in the chaos of my room.

Before I knew it, I'd gone two weeks without speaking to him, something of a record for us.  Even with his trips overseas, he still contacted me several times a week to check in.  A hollow ache took up residence in my chest and made me irritable.  My new attitude attempted to take Mel as its first victim, a battle I knew I'd lose before it even began.

"Sit your ass down," she barked at me now, her expression one I imagined she used with employees who weren't pulling their weight and needed a firm reminder of their job descriptions.  She was leaning against the sink in her usual impeccable business suit, this one a bold black with sharp white piping, hair pulled back into a neat chignon at the base of her neck.

With a slice of leftover pizza hanging from my mouth and my schoolbag clenched firmly in one hand in preparation of leaving I obeyed, perching on a stool at the kitchen counter.  I dumped the bag at my feet and slapped the leftover slice onto the sparkling clean counter in front of me.  With Mel spending most of her time here, I was beginning to think we didn't need a cleaning lady. 

Mel was a fiend when it came to the upkeep of the house - just last week she'd taken all the curtains down on her day off to wash them.  I'd had no idea curtains were even washable.  Riley and I usually just replaced them whenever they started to wilt or collect enough dust to dull the colours.

"Mel," I said a touch impatiently, glancing at the wall clock to my left, "If I don't leave now, I'm going to be la -"

"I'll write you a note."  Slender arms crossed over her chest as she eyed me critically.  "We need to have a chat."

Anger that had become a permanent weight in my chest bubbled to the surface.  "If this chat has anything to do with Riley, then I have nothing to say."  I was already climbing to my feet when she stopped me with a bellowed order.

"Noah Bernadette Duke, sit down!  And do not try to sass me because you won't like what I respond with."  She gave me a moment to gape at her in stunned silence before she continued.  "If you don't want to talk, that's fine, but you will listen when I speak to you."

Unable to do anything else in the wake of her projected authority, I simply nodded.

A beaming smile broke her stern glower.  "Excellent.  Now, since you've made it clear you have no thoughts on the subject, I guess I'll just go ahead and let you know mine."

Her heels clacked on the tiled floor as she approached the counter and leaned her elbows on it, bringing us eye level with each other.  "You're upset.  Riley said some stupid things on the phone, things I know he deeply regrets.  Things that hurt you.  It's understandable, and I know how hard things have been lately with him gone all of the time and you here alone."

I gritted my teeth and averted my gaze, refusing to focus on the fact Riley was probably just as upset as I was over our rift.  Because at the end of the day, it wasn't enough to make him come home.