Page 52 of Into The Rabbit Hole

“Yes.” She completely agreed because that was her only option. She still wished she’d been more understanding towards Wade when Merissa told her about their son. She’d always wonder if her understanding would have changed the course of events. Maybe Merissa wouldn’t have died. She would neverknow.

“There’s a lot for everyone to get through. I guess by now you realize there’s heaps more to what’s going on than we know,” Wes intoned, biting the inside of hislip.

“Heaps.” It bothered her a lot that she didn’t know everything. She hadn’t spoken to Regina properly since that day at the station, and she didn’t think that if she asked she’d be told any additional information. She tried asking Wade, but he knew as much asher.

“I often wonder what old Ben Vanderville really gets up to. Have you seen thenews?”

She noted the concern in his eyes. “I stopped watching a few daysback.”

“Probably a good idea. Ben’s all over it. Every day there’s a new scandal, and when I say scandal, I mean serious stuff. It’s obvious this Aaron person is just feeding the press with their daily dose of frontpagers.”

That didn’t sound good at all. All these years she’d had her reservations about Ben. It was perhaps from her early childhood that she started feeling uncomfortable around him. Not for any reason in particular as he’d never done anything to her, but it was just that uneasy feeling she got whenever she was around him. It was like a warning that something wasn’t quite right with him. Now she knew why. She’d seen some things on the news about him before Wade came home. It was all quite disturbing. The scandals were all allegations, but she thought it was true. That part she never talked about with Wade. She didn’t think it was appropriate for her to. Ben was his father, and she respected that. There were certain lines you shouldn’tcross.

“I’m keeping my head down on that,” she stated, to which Wes noddedvigorously.

“Our work is done. Let the police do the rest.” He smiled. “I think I earned my wings by helpingWade.”

“He’s very grateful to you, Wes. Honestly, Iknow.”

“It’s okay if he’s not. It’s all done now. I’m good as long as he backs off and doesn’t think I’m trying to steal his girl.” Wes did the voiceagain.

Chloe laughed again at that, but then she thought about it. “Have you ever wondered how comes we never gottogether?”

He inclined his head to the side and moved one of his useless pawns across the board. “I hope you don’t get mad at me if I say not really.” He pressed his lips together and gave her a tentativelook.

She laughed at his expression. “No, of coursenot.”

“Oh, good. Did you ever wonder why we never got together?” he asked through gritted teeth, as if he was scared she’d sayyes.

She frowned at him. “Relax, Wes, it’s just a question.” She picked up one of his pawns and threw it athim.

“I’m just messing around, geez.” He chuckled. “Well tell me then, did you ever wonder aboutus?”

She shook her head. “No, because you were more like a brother to me. We both don’t have any siblings. I just took you asmine.”

His features softened and appreciation filled his eyes. “That’s real sweet, Chloe. That means a lot tome.”

She knew it did for many reasons. It wasn’t often that she thought of his family situation, or rather his situation with his family. He was adopted and she supposed she could think of their relationship as an adopted one. He was her brother because he was everything a brother would be. A best friend, the person you could rely on to always be there, and the person who you knew would love you no matter what andalways.

“You mean a lot to me.” Shesmiled.

“Hey, don’t make me go all soft. I need to gear myself up for action in case I need to use myfists.”

“You won’t.” Lost in the sentiment, she moved the same pawn she played earlier byaccident.

When she winced, Wes shook his head and moved his knight to a useless place on the board, purposely ignoring hermove.

Just as he did that she heard the front door open and seconds later Wade walked through to the sitting room withTaylor.

Laughter and lightheartedness aside, Wade looked drained, but she noticed a difference in him. In the way that he carried himself. Taylor smiled at her, but her eyes zeroed in on Wes and her cheeks grew rosy as she smiled at himbrightly.

“You’re back,” Chloe said, standingup.

“And before you say anything, look, see, we’re just playing chess,” Wes said to Wade. “No stealinghere.”

“Sure, I can see. You just moved in on my sister instead,” Wadeanswered.

Chloe folded her arms and tried to read his expression. Because he looked so drained she couldn’t tell if he was just messing around. And he had his beard. When he shaved she could decipher his expressions a little easier. Wes stood up, too, as Wade moved closer tothem.