WHEN I SLIPPED inside the house, I wasn't expecting to be cornered by my mother. She had a glass of wine in her hand, still dressed in yesterday's clothes. When she saw me walk in, she set her glass down and came charging at me. I was expecting her to yell, but I was pleasantly and disturbingly surprised when she hugged me. I was frozen in place, unsure of what to do, before I slowly hugged her back.
"I shouldn't have reacted the way I did," she said after we broke the hug.
I shook my head, guilt rushing through me. "I've been lying to you all summer. I'm the one at fault."
Her painted red lips curved downwards. "I know you were only withholding the truth because you feared my punishment." When I didn't deny it, she continued speaking. "It's my fault for creating an environment where my own children are too scared to be honest."
"I'm sorry," I told her truthfully.
She brushed my hair out of my face and behind my ear. "He's your father, and it isn't fair of me to push my agenda on you four."
"What does that mean?"
She retracted her hand and took in a deep breath. "If you want him in your life then I won't stand in the way."
"About that..." I offered her a sheepish look. "Alex may have already met him."
"Daniella!"
"Remember, honesty?" I tried with a nervous smile.
Mom sighed. "If Alexander wishes to see him I won't stand in the way." She paused. "Although there is someone else you need to talk to."
"Oh, boy," I murmured.
She offered a tight-lipped smile. "He's only mean because he loves you."
"That's the worst part, Mom."
She gave me my cell phone back and let me go so I could speak to Brenton. He wasn't in his bedroom so I went down to the basement. There was a handwritten sign on the door that read, NO DANIS WELCOMED.
Real mature.
I ripped off the sign before walking downstairs to find him lounging on a recliner, watching a movie on his laptop. I sat beside him but he paid no attention as he continued watching his movie. I tried nudging him, but it didn't work. I reached over to pause his movie, and he still didn't react and instead quietly stared at the frozen screen. Hoping to stir a reaction from him, I opened his mini-fridge and grabbed the last bottle of his favourite pre-made cookies and cream protein shake. I unscrewed the cap and took a sip, trying to hide my disgusted reaction. What the hell was in this? Still, he chose not to react.
Out of ideas, I turned on my cell phone and pretended to dial a number. "Hey, Amber," I spoke into the phone, watching out of the corner of my eye as he turned his head to me. "Yeah, you can definitely come over. See you in ten!"
"Screw off," Brenton grumbled.
"So it speaks," I half-joked.
Brenton went back to ignoring me.
"Brent, come on. You can't ignore me forever." He clearly had no issue with it because he focused on his laptop screen, not budging in the slightest. "You know what?" I continued. "I don't have to apologize for seeing my father, and you can't keep guilting me."
I jumped when he slammed his laptop shut. "You think that's why I'm mad? Like I'm some monster who doesn't want you to have a father figure in your life?"
"Isn't it?" I retorted.
He looked at me like I had three heads. "How does anyone think you're the smarter twin?"
"If it's not that, then what is it?" I pressed.
He turned to face me. "I'm pissed that you kept this from me."
"What?" I said in an incredulous tone.
He gave me a solemn look. "We fight and we don't always get along, but you're my best friend, you stupid bitch. I tell you everything and I thought it was reciprocated." He shook his head. "After everything we've been through, I thought I'd be the first person you'd tell things to but lately it feels like I'm always the last to know."
"Brent..."
"Don't," he spat. "Our whole lives you've been going behind my back and I always find out from anyone except you. I'm done, Dani."
"What are you trying to say?"
"You're dead to me."
I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes. Why was he being so dramatic? "Don't say that."
"Don't talk to me." He stood up and walked away.
"Wait, stop it," I called after him as I followed him up the stairs. Brenton was headed for the door and I ran after him but he showed no signs of stopping. He swung the front door open, and of all people, Holden was standing on our porch.
"Why are you here?" Brenton asked in a dry voice.
"Love you too, man," his best friend joked.
"Seriously, why are you here?" he repeated.
"I wanted to see if you two made up so the three of us could do something," he answered. "My mom's parents are driving me crazy. You know, my gramps thinks I'm homogenized for you, dude?"
"I... huh?" I had to stifle a laugh while Brenton looked confused out of his mind.
"Whatever," Holden dismissed. "What I want to know is who decided to be petty and slash the jeep's tires?"
"What are you on?" Brenton pushed past Holden and walked outside.
Holden looked at me with wide eyes. "Wait, it was you?"
I had no idea what he was talking about, so I also went outside to inspect my jeep. Sure enough, all four tires had been slashed. While I might have dismissed this as a very odd accident, even the spare tire on the back of my jeep was slashed with a knife, proving whoever did this had a motive. I staggered back, nearly losing my balance.
Holden grabbed onto me and steadied me in place. He looked at my expression and returned it with one of his own. "You don't think..."
"What are you whispering about?" Brenton said. "It's probably another one of your secrets, isn't it? Screw this shit."
Holden stepped forward and clamped his hand on my brother's shoulders. "Someone's stalking your sister."
Brenton's head snapped to me. "Is this true?"
I placed my hands on my hips. "I thought you weren't talking to me anymore."
He shot me a miffed look. "Suppose hypothetically we were back on speaking terms. Is this true?"
I sighed in defeat and came clean. I told Brenton about the whole thing, how it started off with a car following me multiple times, the situation in the parking lot with James, and now this.
"We have to tell Adam," Brenton said when I finished.
"Of course you'd want to." The words flew out of my mouth before I could stop them. These days it felt like Adam was the father Brenton had always wanted.
"Is this about you hating cops or because of Philipe?" Brenton questioned.
"I thought his name was Peter," Holden thought aloud.
Brenton waved him off. "Whatever his name is."
"Brent," I started. "You just have to give him..."
"I'm not in the mood for this right now."
"But..."
"Dani, no," he said sternly. "And we're telling Adam."
~*~
Mom had stepped out of the house to drop off some paperwork while I was in the basement with Brenton but after she found out, she was on her way back home. To my chagrin, Brenton called Adam, who arrived at our house with a few squad cars — to the dismay of our police-hating neighbours.
We were in the living room, sitting on the couches, as we told Adam everything. He had his partner with him and the two of them jotted down what we told them.
"We'll look into this, but until then no going alone anywhere." He gave me a warning look.
I gawked at his outrageous demand. "But..."
"Your mother also agreed," he added. "No being alone outside, and that's final."
Holden checked the time on his watch and let out a quiet curse. "I should head back home. Is there anything else you officers need?"
Adam shook his head. "We'll contact you if we have any other questions."
"Later, dude," Brenton told his best friend.
"I'll walk you out," I offered. Holden and I went outside and stood on the porch. With everything that had gone on yesterday and today, there was never a good time to properly talk to him. "Are we okay?"
He slowly nodded. "Yeah, we are."
"Good." I paused. "I missed you."
"I actually missed you too," he admitted.
I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him. Holden hesitated for a second before hugging me back. A few seconds into our embrace, James' car pulled into the street. He got out and walked toward us. Neither boy said a word to the other as they walked past each other, but I didn't miss the dirty look James gave Holden.
"I guess you two are friends again," he grumbled bitterly.
"It's a long story." I leaned up and kissed him. "Thanks for coming."
James frowned at me. "Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"
"I honestly thought it was nothing."
His frown deepened. "What about our promise?"
"I'm sorry," I apologized.
His eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Hey, you're shaking. It's okay." He pulled me into his chest and kissed the top of my head. "I won't let anything happen to you," he promised.
We stood on my porch as we watched the other police officers put caution tape around the driveway. Great, my driveway was an active crime scene with my jeep being the primary piece of evidence.
James had his chin rested on top of my head as we watched the cops. "You don't think this has anything to do with three years ago, do you?"
"What..." My voice trailed off as I remembered what went down on the night of the lacrosse finals three years ago. "No way."
"Are you sure?"
I snuggled into his chest. "You need to stop blaming yourself, James. It happened so long ago and it's all in the past."
"Should we mention it to the police?"
I peered up at him. "No one aside from my family knows about it. If word gets out, it could really hurt my mom."
As if speaking of the devil, my mom's car pulled into the street. She did not look pleased having to park her expensive SUV on the side of the road. She exchanged a few words with one of the officers before walking up to the porch and hugging me.
"Two hugs in one day, are you okay?" I joked, hoping to lighten the tense atmosphere.
Mom looked at me with worry. "Who would want to hurt you?"
I locked eyes with James, begging him not to say a word.
"Who knows?" he said, earning a breath of relief from me.
"No more going out alone," Mom finalized.
"Mom, come on," I whined.
"I agree," James piped in. "Either call me or go with your brothers."
Mom nodded. "Or even Holden."
James did not look pleased by her suggestion at all though my mom didn't notice his reaction as she left us to go inside. I slipped my hand into James' and gave it a squeeze. Although he looked annoyed, he smiled down at me.
"Want me to stay for a bit?" he offered.
Now I found myself smiling. "I'd really like that."
We walked back to the house where we saw Brenton and Mom talking. "I'm going to kill whoever did this," he said to her.
Mom tapped away at her phone before looking at him. "Speaking of which, until the jeep is released from evidence and repaired, you'll need a car for the time being."
An ecstatic look replaced Brent's angry expression. "On a totally unrelated note, the sports car has been catching dust in Holden's garage."
So that was where it had been.
"Brenton Wilhelm Parker!"
"Mom, be cool for once," he pleaded.
She took in a deep breath to calm her nerves. "Only until you have the jeep again. Then I am selling that car."
"Buzzkill," he grumbled. "But thank you, Mother."
Once that show was over, James and I went upstairs to my bedroom. He plopped down on a beanbag chair I stole from Alex's room, while I sat on top of my fluffy carpet beside him.
"How'd the family react to your dirty little secret?"
I let out a sigh. "Niko doesn't know, Mom eventually accepted it, and Brent... Let's just say I'm happy he's preoccupied with all of the car shit right now."
James raised his eyebrows curiously. "Are you going to talk to him about it again?"
I blew out a puff of air. "I don't know. He was so upset with me, I wouldn't even know how to bring it up again without him completely cutting me out of his life."
"He wouldn't do that," he said reassuringly. "Brenton loves you."
"Yeah, but he hates our dad more," I pointed out.
"Give him time," my boyfriend urged.
How much more time could I give him? It had been years, and Brenton still had the same resentment towards our father.