Small Town Gossip

Chapter 21

         Skylar pasted on a look of boredom and thinly-veiled politeness. A few of his relatives came by to pose for a grainy phone picture. His aunt, Tilda, kept covering the lens with her finger. “Oh wait,” she said, “let me get another picture of you, Sky.”

    Sky looked at the camera with his cousins holding onto his arms. They thanked him afterwards and someone put a drink in his hand. Tilda frowned as she thumbed through her photos.

    “What’s wrong, Tilda?” he asked.

    “You look different,” she said.

    “I’m wearing a suit meant for someone else.” He straightened his tie and lifted his chin. Tilda continued to frown and stare at the dozen or so pictures she had taken.

    “No. It’s something else.”

    Curiosity piqued, Skylar looked over her shoulder. He saw his cousin, Toby, smiling so hard that it might cause his face to crack. Jenna and Louise tried their best I’m-too-pretty-to-smile model poses. And in the middle, Sky just stared out into space. He thought Tilda might be referring to the lack of emotion on his face or the way he looked tired.

    Tilda reached up and brushed Sky’s hair. “You poor thing,” she murmured.

    Sky raised his eyebrows. She shook her head and put her phone back into her comically large purse. “You’ve always been full of goodness and that’s why I think you’re my favorite nephew.”

    Sky smiled. Tilda constantly told Daniel and him that they were her favorite and to never tell the other. Skylar liked his aunt. She married into the Clarke family and despite going through a rather nasty divorce, she still attended the major family functions. Tilda was scatterbrained but she was also the most grounded out of the family and had done a respectable job with raising her children.

    “I’m glad you’re here, Tilda.”

    Tilda looked up at him. “I don’t know what’s happened, but I hate the idea that you look like your father.”

    Sky ran the tip of his tongue against the edge of his teeth. “What do you mean?”

    “Like your heart’s hurting but you’re too damn full of pride to do anything about it.”

    “I don’t believe that he ever had a heart.”

    Tilda dipped her head. “Maybe not now. But he did.” She glanced over at her Jenna trying to sneak a sip of someone’s champagne. “Just be careful of whatever you decide. Try not to end up like him. He was never happy with how it all turned out.”

    Tilda ran off to scold her underage daughter for drinking. Sky watched them together as mother and daughter. He laughed at the way Jenna folded her arms in agitation and the way her mother mimicked her with disapproval.

    Danny sidled up next to Sky. He leaned into his brother’s neck and sang over the band’s rendition of Brown-Eyed Girl. A girl in a red dress and purple heels stood nearby. She pushed her hair back off from her face and glared at Danny. She was obviously upset about something. Sky thought about asking Danny, but decided against it.  Instead he told Danny about their aunt. “Tilda says I’m her favorite.”

    Danny threw his body back and faked a laugh. “She told me that yesterday at the reception. So obviously she feels bad for you and has decided to throw you a bone.” Danny took a deep breath. “You see Addy anywhere?”

    Skylar’s heart began to beat faster. Addy. It wasn’t fair how just her name made him feel lightheaded. He wanted to see her and run his hands through her soft hair. He kept thinking about the noise she made when he held onto her at the ceremony site. It made his body tight.

    Danny coughed into his fist. Skylar felt himself get irritated. “What?” he asked. Danny grabbed his brother’s chin and pulled it to the left. He pointed with his other arm towards Addy.

    She walked into the tent with hesitant steps as if she were waiting for someone to ask her for her invitation. She bent down low to avoid the hanging garland and paper lanterns. Sky read her lips as she cursed out loud when the paper lantern knocked against her head. A shocked guest turned around quick and Addy shot them a dirty look. Someone pointed out the main entrance to her and she quickly looked that way. A small flush crept up her cheeks. She had been too impatient to walk the entire way around and made her own way into the reception. She looked up and saw Sky.

    He smiled. She offered a small wave. And the next thing he knew, he was next to Addy. He leaned down to smell the top of her head. It was a soapy smell mixed with green apples.

    “Are you smelling my head?” she asked. Then she laughed.

    Sky shrugged. “You smell good,” he said.

    The music slowed down. Guests surged forward with their phones and cameras. Amber and Abe glided out onto the dance floor. The lights flashing in the background turned them into shadowy silhouettes moving against each other. Sky pulled back from the crowd with Addy. He pulled her close to him, using his arm to hold onto her waist, and then lightly drummed his fingers on her stomach.

    She made a small moan. He leaned down and pressed his lips lightly against the back of her neck. She moved in front of him and let him hold her.

    “You’re shivering,” he said. She pushed into him, like she was trying to melt into his body, and then pulled away. She stood next to him instead. “This is dangerous.”

    “I forgot. Because of Danny,” he said.

    “No, not Danny. Because if you keep touching me, I won’t be able to wait until this weekend is over. And that would be very bad for your family.”

    Couples joined Amber and Abe on the dance floor. The crowd around them grew thinner but every now and then someone’s light from their phone flashed nearby. Addy and Skylar grew silent, uneasy now that they didn’t have the crowd to hide them.

    “I hate this,” he said. “I hate that I dragged you into this. I wish I could do it over and brought you in here as my girlfriend who I could appropriately maul in dark corners.”

    Addy arched her eyebrows. “Appropriately maul?”

    “Well, it is much more appropriate when it’s not your brother’s hired girlfriend. I don’t mind being inappropriate but it’s easier to wait just one more day.”

    “Sky.”

    He watched her lips says his name. He noticed she stopped calling him Skylar Clarke and that when she did say his name, her lips didn’t screw up together like she had just tasted something sour.

    “Dance with me.” She pulled on his hands. He looked guiltily around but most people weren’t paying attention to them. There were enough couples on the floor that they wouldn’t stand out. No one would
yell out that Sky was breaking any brotherly bonds by dancing with his girl. It was innocent. It was fine.

    Except it wasn’t. Sky couldn’t stop the fantasies inside of his head. She was underneath him with her perfect pink mouth pressed against him. He thought about her moving against him, pushing those hips up and forward, and how he’d run his hands all over her. He wanted to make her his and keep her in bed for days.

    “Sky?” she asked.

    He cleared his head. “Yeah?” His voice sounded hoarse.

    “You gotta move with me.”

    Sky let out a little laugh. “Yeah, I plan on that.” He placed his hands tighter on her hips and led her around the dance floor. It was easy to think that they were alone. He looked into her eyes. Her eyelashes fluttered against her cheek.

    “Don’t stare at me like that.”

    “I’m staring?” he asked.

    “Like I’m the last woman on Earth.” She pulled her hands away from his shoulders. “There are still other people around us, and you’re making me blush.”   

    “Then don’t stare at me.”

    She laughed and leaned her head against his shoulder. “I can’t help it. Your eyes are so blue.”

    The music ended and they reluctantly pulled apart. Sky cleared his throat and Addy fussed with the hem of her dress. Everyone fell back into their seats. Waiters flowed around them picking up trash and dirty plates.

    “Where’s Danny” she asked. She pressed a hand against her chest. “I haven’t seen him in a while.”

    Sky scanned the area but couldn’t find his brother. Usually it was easy to see his towering dark head of hair, but maybe he was sitting down somewhere.

    Addy pointed to the head table. Danny was sitting between Georgina and Ethan. All three of them looked as if they were arguing. Their faces were stiff with rage and hardly anyone was moving their lips. In the Clarke family, fighting in public was unforgivable, so this was a desperate situation.

    “Shit,” Sky cursed. He weaved in between the tables and kept his eyes on his parents. Georgina was leaning away from Ethan with her crossed leg bobbing impatiently. Her hands played with the fork on the table. His father slouched in his chair, facing forward, but Sky knew he was talking to his mother. He saw Ethan slam back a glass of amber liquid. He stopped in his tracks and Addy bumped right into him.

    “What is it?” she asked.

    Sky shook his head. He grabbed a waiter by the elbow. “Excuse me, I wanted to get my father a drink. What’s he been drinking so far?”

    The waiter looked at Ethan and then back at Sky. “Whiskey. He’s been asking for whiskey since the reception began. Would you like me to bring out the bottle, sir?”

    Sky felt his mouth go dry. He was twenty-five years old, but he suddenly felt as if he were ten and his father was coming home. He absentmindedly rubbed the side of his face. The waiter paused, unsure of whether to ask Sky about the whiskey again, when Addy stepped in.

    “Can we close the bar for special drinks and just stick to champagne? I don’t believe the Congressman should be hitting anything harder tonight.” Addy slipped the waiter a fifty dollar bill. The waiter nodded and went off to warn the bartenders.

    “What is it, Sky?” she asked. “What’s with the whiskey?”

    Sky swallowed. “My dad. You can tell what kind of asshole he’ll be by what he drinks. Whiskey is a bad sign.”

    “Don’t go over there,” she said.

    “Danny,” he choked. “I can’t leave Danny over there.”

    “This is what you do, right? You distract them for Danny?”

    Skylar turned to Addy but he kept his eyes closed. “It’s complicated.”

    Addy grabbed his hands and squeezed. “Don’t worry, I’ll go get him. We’ll leave together. And then after this weekend...we tell the rest of them to go to hell.”

    Skylar didn’t bother fighting with her. She had no idea how difficult it would be to disentangle from his family. They owned everything Skylar had and every single one of his assets was legally tied up with the family name. It would be like walking away from his entire life. But he didn’t want Addy going down in what he considered to be his fight. “No, don’t. You don’t have to do this,” he said. He grabbed a hold of her elbow.

    Addy opened her mouth in surprise. She hadn’t expected him to fight her on this. “I know what it’s like to deal with them. The mean drunks. But it’ll be worse if you’re the one to go over there. They know their victims. They know when we get scared. It’ll just be worse.”

    “My parents. My problem.” Sky reset his expression back to a detached blankness. He reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a key card. “This is all done. Your job is done. Take this and I’ll meet you back in my room. You’re not his girlfriend anymore.”

    She opened her mouth to protest but Sky cut her off. “My problem,” he repeated.   

    She frowned at him but eventually she closed her hands over the card key. She let her fingers stay on top of his. “Don’t be the hero,” she said.

    “Wasn’t planning on it.” He leaned down and kissed her on the mouth. It was a gentle opening of the lips and his right palm cradled the back of her neck while his left hand rested on the small of her back. He stopped caring about whether or not they were being watched. To the rest of his family and friends, it looked like he kissed Danny’s girlfriend. But to Sky, the kiss wasn’t betrayal. It was a promise that he’d be back for more.
   
    He tried to calm his shaking hands by shoving them into his pockets but the ridiculous suit didn’t have any. As he walked closer to the table, he could make out what his parents were saying.

    “You’re being ridiculous, Georgina.” His father spat out his mother’s name with venom. Sky tried not to flinch when he heard the tone. “If you even think about ruining this family with your selfish, shallow needs, I will make sure that you have nothing and you will be nothing.”

    His mother continued to look away. But she spoke with the same ferocity and anger. “You have no idea what I can do.”

    “Oh, I’m well aware of what kind of traitorous bitch you can be. I have the fucking proof sitting right here.”

    This time Danny flinched. He seemed unable to get up from the table. His eyes glazed over and his head bobbed, but he still absorbed each of their words.

    Georgina’s neck veins stood out in agitation. “And did you want me to share the bed with your boy toys? I always knew you were sick, but I’d think you would want to spare me the embarrassment.”

    “Embarrassment? I think you did fine on your own. And I lived up to the bargain. I gave you Sky and Amber. Even after you were caught blowing my old man.”

    “Is that what you think? That they’re really yours?” she retorted. Skylar’s neck hairs rose. Was it even possible?

    Ethan laughed without any humor. “Don’t even start your nonsense. I had their DNA tested to make sure. Like I’d ever trust you.”

    Georgina gripped the silverware in her hand even harder. Skylar imagined her stabbing Ethan in the face. He stopped his staring and walked over there. He stooped down between Danny and his mother. He lightly touched his mother’s hand and then removed the silver fork from her. “People are starting to notice,” he said.

    Georgina turned to him. She smoothed her hair. “I no longer care.”

    “I know you don’t. I saw you with that photographer,” he said. Skylar barely raised his voice above a whisper. He could feel Danny struggling to breathe. He wanted to check on him, but he was afraid that his parents would get in the way and make it worse.

    Ethan snorted. “Your mother is a real piece of work. Just be glad that you figured out Hilary was a whore before you lost most of your life to her.”

    Skylar winced. He had long lost any feeling- good or bad- about Hilary. But he hated how his parents loved to use the situation as ammunition in their family fights. His failed marriage had nothing to do with them.

    A chorus of admiration rose up from the crowd. He saw Amber and Abe hold each other out on the dance floor. It was a fast song, but Abe held onto her like she was made of fragile glass. Somehow Sky sensed that Abe was keeping her away from Georgina and Ethan. It made Sky’s heart lighten at the idea that at least Amber would be safe. She’d grow to be a better person with Abe. She had a chance.

    “It doesn’t matter.” Ethan snapped his fingers at a waiter and pointed at his empty glass. “Your mother seems to think that an article in Modern Perspective is her exit into the great life. She doesn’t seem to understand that if I go down, she goes to hell. She loses the houses, the cars, the goddamn lifestyle. She won’t get a cent and she’ll be worse off than me. She’ll be the used-up whore who everyone will kick on her way down.”

    Georgina placed her palms against the table. “I will not have you talk to me this way at my daughter’s wedding.”

    “Then don’t try to blackmail me at our daughter’s wedding. You may have seduced that idiot photographer with promises, but Ashley Stewart’s been to the political rodeo quite a few times. She’s one of ours, now. She wants my contacts more than she wants your money. And that photographer kid won’t be able to use anything you gave him. Not if he wants to work again. You got outplayed. Again.”

    Georgina stood up and walked out of the tent. Ethan muttered a few more curse words and then stalked over to the bar. Skylar took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He was trying to get it together before asking Danny what had happened, but before he could do anything, the girl in the red dress showed up. She sat down next to Danny. Sky leaned back in surprise. She smiled at him and held out a hand, “Kasey. I’m here to take care of your brother.”

    “Oh.”

    Danny started to giggle. “She works over on Carter street. She’s a bartender, Sky.”

    “Has he been drinking?”

    Kasey flipped her dark hair. “Not yet.”

    Sky frowned at her. “It’s okay. I’m his brother. I’ll be taking care of him now.”

    Something flashed across her face, anger or irritation, but Sky couldn’t figure out what was going on with this girl. She finally offered up a shrug and left the table. Danny leaned his head down on the table. Sky slouched in his seat working up the emotional energy to drag his brother out of the reception. The wedding was over. Amber would get to escape and the brothers had lived up to their end of the deal. Ethan may have been an abusive bastard, but unlike most politicians, he believed in keeping his word. It was why he offered very few promises to his sons.

    A waiter brought out a bottle of whiskey. He locked eyes with Sky and motioned for him to take his glass. “You got one hell of a father. Just paid everyone a hundred dollars to make sure he’s always got a full glass.”

    “Yeah. He’s great.” Sky let the waiter fill up his glass to the rim. It was too much for any other night, but it was the perfect amount for this moment.

    Ethan came back to the table. The broken blood vessels streaked across his nose and the volume of his voice wobbled. This would be no good. Sky should really get his brother out of here. But Danny looked way too far gone.

    “Skylar, my son,” his dad began, “I don’t know why your cunt of a mother continues to pull this shit. If it was easy, I’d have left her by now.”

    “Why haven’t you?” he asked.

    “Contracts. Your old man got sucked into a shitty bargain. Your grandpa wanted to make sure I married the right girl. Didn’t know that meant a blood-sucking vampire who would eat her own young to ensure her survival.”

    “You knew what she was up to.” Skylar didn’t bother asking. He should have known. His father could always sense an escape plan. He supposed that Amber was lucky that she could only attain failed pageant queen status. At least, she got their father’s permission to leave the family.

    “Of course I did. I was suspicious the moment she agreed to bring on the girl.”

    “Addy?”

    “Your mother is a control-freak. She’d never trust another woman to take care of her precious boys. She probably meant to get the girl involved in some scandal to make the situation worse for my campaign. Probably thought the girl was into drugs or prostitution. Wouldn’t that have made a great headline?” He snorted and took another drink.

    Skylar felt his stomach curl up in disgust. “What about the deal, Dad?”

    Ethan held up a meaty hand. “Yeah, yeah. I know what it is that you want. You want to go live your life, kiddo. Fine. Take off to go invest in those boutiques. You earned it dealing with all this crazy shit.”

    “Really?” Skylar checked his father’s glass. Whiskey never brought out the good in his father. Maybe it was something different.

    “You’re my son. I would do anything for you.” He clapped his son on his back. Skylar should have been smiling but he couldn’t help but glance over at his brother. Ethan followed Skylar’s eyes and shook his head. “I can’t help anymore with that. I’ve housed Danny and I made sure he had a good start on his life. But now that you know the truth, you have to know that he’s a fucking liability. He’s not worth much besides keeping your mother in check.”

    Skylar hunched forward as if someone had punched him in the stomach. He tried swallowing the bile that threatened to come up with his words. Finally, he said, “He’s still my brother.”

    “He means that much to you?” his father asked.

    Sky turned to his father in outrage. How could anyone ask that of him? Then he realized the look on his father’s face. It was one he worse when he finally showed his cards and could enjoy his opponent losing. He knew what was coming.

    “If you really want your brother to get help, then I want you to join me on the campaign. It would do wonders for your career.”

    “I don’t do politics, Dad. I wanted to use my marketing degree.”

    “Politics is marketing! How many times have I told you that? Listen, it’s just a year or two. Your brother gets help, I get the best damn kid on my campaign, we both get a break from your crazy mother, and everyone ends up happy.”

    Danny started to groan. Sky looked around the wedding reception. The party was starting to thin out and soon the party would be moved outside to see off the happy couple. The wedding weekend was coming to an end.

    Everyone ends up happy. Almost everyone.