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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Cash

I knocked on the door of the Dogwood Room until I heard a muffled, “Go away!”

I let myself in and perched on the side of my sister’s bed, ruffling her hair and making her duck farther under the blankets.

“Come on, sleepyhead. We should get home so we can talk to Mom about your adventure.”

She peeked out of the covers. “Do we have to tell her?”

I nodded. “We do.”

“She’ll be mad I lied.”

“Maybe, but she’ll understand. You don’t want to lie and keep secrets, okay? That’ll only make everything worse.”

“Can it even get worse?” she grumbled.

“Pretty sure it can.” I yanked back the covers, making her squeal a protest. “Come on. Gray is letting me borrow his pickup. I’ll bribe you with a hot chocolate if you hurry.”

Katelyn grimaced. “You’re not gonna ditch me alone with Dad, are you?”

“Nah. You can come to work with me at the resort later. Hit the pool.”

She brightened a little. “Okay.”

“But you have to be straight with Mom and deal with the consequences.”

She groaned and flounced back on the bed.

“Ten minutes,” I said as I slipped out to wait for her.

Fifteen minutes later, she dragged her butt out of the room and we walked over to The Roost to climb into Gray’s rusted-out truck. He’d gotten started installing the kitchen cabinetry without me. I’d told him he could wait, but he’d waved off the offer and told me to deal with my business.

If only it were that easy…

The engine sputtered and coughed when I started the truck, and the route out was as bumpy as the one in the other day. Katelynn grabbed the oh-shit bar above the window and glared at me. “Do you have to drive like an idiot?”

“Would you rather walk?” I asked sweetly.

She wisely kept her trap shut.

I found a parking space in front of Just The Sip and left her sulking in the truck to go order our drinks.

I was surprised to see Danny slumped over the front counter, chin in his hand, looking more glum than I’d ever seen him.

“Hey, I need a DP Cream and a hot chocolate for my little sis.”

“Okay.”

Danny didn’t make a single flirty comment about my drink order—or call me out for avoiding the menu name Hot Cock-a-Lot when ordering for my sister.

The drink names were fun and all, but I had to draw the line somewhere.

“Anything else?” Danny asked as he turned to start making the first drink.

“Yeah. I’d like to know what alien race you are.”

He blinked. “Huh?”

“Obviously, you body snatched my barista, Danny. He’s cute and flirty. Always has a smile and a wink for his customers.”

He pumped syrup into the cardboard coffee cup. “Sorry, guess I’m not myself today.”

I hesitated. “You okay?”

He smiled wanly. “Yeah, just a bruised ego. I’ll recover.”

“Good, because not to make this all about me or anything, but I’ve got a tough conversation coming up at home, and I came here because you’re cute and flirty and always have a smile for me.”

Danny huffed a small laugh, which was the goal. “As long as it’s not all about you.”

“I’m selfless like that,” I said with a grin.

“Well, anytime you want to help me make Abe jealous, say the word,” he said as he moved through the motions of making my drinks on autopilot. “Maybe we can work a little magic on Declan at the same time.”

“Oh. Uh…”

Danny’s eyes widened, and he paused in the act of spraying whipped cream on top of the hot chocolate. “Shut up. You and Declan?”

“Shh, no. I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.” Danny waggled his brows, getting a bit of his spunk back. “Guess I’ll have to pine away on my own.”

He finished the second drink and set it on the counter. I gave him my card to swipe. He ran the tab and handed it back. “Receipt?”

“Nope.”

“Tip?”

“Yeah.” I tapped in fifteen percent, then he finished the transaction.

“Always just the tip for the sad little barista,” he joked, though it was missing a bit of his usual pizzazz.

I hesitated. “Maybe I don’t need to make Declan jealous, but if you need help winning over Abe, let me know if I can do anything.”

His eyes brightened. “Really?”

I was almost sure I was going to regret offering by the spark in his eye. “Yeah. But nothing illegal and no sex.”

He lifted his hands. “I would never do Declan that way.”

I rolled my eyes. “And keep your big mouth shut about that, too.”

“Oh honey, you love my big mouth, but don’t you worry, I know how to swallow a secret.”

Reassured that Danny was his usual ridiculous self, I took my drinks and headed out to the truck.

I handed Katelyn hers. “Here, this counts as your birthday present.”

She scowled. “Please, it’s a bribe to get me home and you know it.”

“You’re wise beyond your years.”

I put the truck in Drive and headed inland, curving around the backside of the park and pulling up to our little house on a block of modest two-bedroom bungalows.

Katelyn drank down her bribe, slurping the last dregs of it by the time I got to our empty driveway.

Shit. Mom’s car wasn’t there.

I checked the time. There was a half hour until she should have left for work. Unless…her schedule changed again and I didn’t know it because I hadn’t been home to check for updates.

Great. She was usually our buffer when Dad was in one of his moods. We’d have to hope he was still sleeping.

“Come on, let’s go change and get cleaned up before my shift at the resort. Looks like you won’t have to tell Mom just yet.”

We climbed out of the truck, and I opened the door quietly, hoping we could sneak in and do what we needed without waking Dad.

“And just where the fuck have you two been?”

I froze in the doorway while Dad glowered from the recliner, a beer in his hand.

He was up, which meant it was one of his better days. That also meant it’d be one of our worse ones.

On Dad’s bad days, he lay on the sofa and slept a lot. But on his good days? He sat in the recliner and he spouted every toxic feeling inside him onto us.

“We’re fine, thanks for asking,” I said.

His eyes narrowed. Dad never had liked my backtalk. Admittedly, I was a little punk when I was younger.

“Don’t be a smartass and answer the question.”

“I spent the night with Jenna,” Kat said. “I told Mom.”

“Jenna called over here,” Dad said. “So you’re just a fucking liar, aren’t you? Just because you’re crying over some goddamn boy doesn’t mean you get to run out and act like a little whore.”

“Hey!” I cut in. “Don’t call her that.”

“You shut up,” he bellowed. “It was bad enough when you ran crazy, but at least you weren’t gonna come home pregnant.”

“I’m sorry,” Katelyn said in a tiny voice, sounding on the verge of tears. “I was just upset about Benny and?—”

“I don’t want to hear your excuses,” he growled.

“I kept Kat safe, okay? Nothing bad happened, so let’s all just stay calm.”

“Oh, you’re giving me parenting advice now?” Dad said derisively.

“Seems like you need it.”

“Watch your mouth,” Dad snarled. “I’m the goddamned man of the house here.”

My mouth was really on a roll because a jagged laugh spilled out. “You’re a man? Please. You don’t even know the meaning of the word.”

“What did you say to me?”

“A man wouldn’t make his daughter feel like crap about her breakup,” He started blustering, and I steamrolled on. “A man would take care of his family, not make them all miserable. A man would stop being a goddamn drunk and?—”

“Get the fuck out of my house,” he bellowed. “You think you can stand under my roof and talk shit to me? Go do it on the streets. Go find some whore and spend the night with her. Isn’t that what you usually do?”

“Stop it!” Katelyn cried. “Please?—”

“You’re a sorry excuse for a man,” I said. “And I like men too. I’ve told you a hundred times! I’m bi.”

“Who cares where you stick your dick?” he shouted. “You’re setting a terrible example for your sister!”

“Maybe I’m not the best example.” A sense of surreal calmness came over me. “But it doesn’t take much to do a better job than you, does it?”

Dad lurched forward as if to reach for me, then stopped short, face reddening, then twisting with pain.

Katelyn choked on a sob. “I hate it here!”

She ran from the room. Shit. I probably owed her an apology for escalating the situation. I was never very good at putting up with Dad’s shit, which was exactly why I’d spent so many nights out with random hookups.

“Goddamn fucking ungrateful bitch of a whore kids,” Dad muttered as he fell back into his chair with a pained groan.

“Real nice, Dad,” I said caustically.

I left him swearing and followed Kat to her room, where she was screaming into a pillow. She tossed it down when she saw me.

“I’m sorry, Kat. I didn’t handle that well.”

“I can’t stand this anymore, Cash! I’d rather die than live like this one more day.”

She was fifteen. She was dramatic. I knew she wasn’t really suicidal, but the pain in her eyes? That was real. I knew because it was my pain, too. Dad had only gotten worse in the past couple of years. There was no light at the end of this tunnel.

I had an escape route anytime I wanted it. I’d chosen to stay for Mom and Kat. But my sister was trapped for at least three more years, and it wasn’t fair. And maybe I couldn’t fix that for her, but I could do something right now.

“Pack a bag,” I said. “We’re getting out of here.”

Her eyes widened. “And going where ?”

“I’ll figure something out.”

I pulled out my phone and texted Declan, Skylar, and Sawyer. One of them would have a place for us. I hated to ask them, but I knew they’d come through.

I went to my room and threw shorts and tees into a duffel, then added my shampoo, body wash, razor, and shaving cream. By the time I finished packing, I had three replies.

Skylar:

We can book you rooms if you need them. Just let me know what you want to do.

Sawyer:

Ash just moved out of the houseboat, but I’m sure Hudson would let you stay there, man. I’m sorry things are so shitty at home right now. Hang in there.

Declan:

Come back to the B&B. Both of you. Stay as long as you want.

I paused over the messages, but I already knew which offer I wanted to take. I clicked into Declan’s text stream.

Cash:

Does this mean I’m sleeping in your bed again?

Declan:

As long as it’s where you want to be, you’re welcome. There’s another room opening up if you’d rather have your own space.

I’d never typed so quickly.

Cash:

Your bed is the only place I want to be, but I’ve got other offers.

Declan:

Don’t you dare take them. Come back to me.

Despite everything, I smiled. I didn’t know where this thing with Declan was going—or where it even could go. But he wanted me with him, and that made this situation just a little easier to take.

I returned to Katelyn’s room to find her working on her third bag. “Come on. That’s enough. We’re not moving out forever.”

“I wish we were,” she muttered, but she zipped her bag closed, and I picked up two of them to carry along with mine. Katelyn shouldered the remaining bag, staggering under its weight.

“What did you pack in there? Barbells?”

“Books,” she said.

I rolled my eyes, but my sister was a total bookworm, so I knew better than to talk her out of lugging half her library along with her. We headed down the hall.

“Just don’t engage if he tries to talk to us,” I said. “Just go out the door.”

She cast an anxious glance at me. “Is this going to make everything worse?”

“Can it even get much worse?” I asked, echoing her words from this morning.

“I don’t know.”

I nudged her with my shoulder. “We’ll talk to Mom. We’ll figure out a way to make things better. But right now, we just need to leave and let everyone cool down a little. Get some space so you’re not feeling so trapped. Okay?”

“Yeah.” She swallowed hard. “I know this is my fault. I’m the one who lied about where I was going last night. Dad was mad at me, not you, and?—”

“Kat.” I shook my head. “Dad is always mad. At you or me or Mom. Doesn’t really matter what we do or don’t do. He’s angry at the world. He’s bitter and miserable, and you can’t take the blame for that, okay?”

She sniffed and dashed away a tear that leaked from the corner of her eye. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Then let’s go.”

I led the way into the living room. Dad did a double take when he saw us. “Just where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

“Just keep walking,” I muttered to Kat.

We continued toward the door.

“Hey! Stop. I’m talking to you. You fucking bastards?—”

I slammed the door on his tirade, silencing his toxic words and leaving them behind.

At least for a few days.

“So, what now?” Kat asked. “Where are we going?”

“Back to the B&B. Declan said we can stay for a while.”

“What about Mom?” she asked hesitantly.

“I’ll let her know what’s happening. We’ll talk to her soon, okay?”

“Okay.”

We threw our bags into the back of the truck and I climbed behind the steering wheel. I took a minute to look at our house.

Then I flipped it the bird and peeled out.

Katelyn burst into surprised laughter, and I relaxed for the first time since we’d arrived.

Finally, we could both breathe easy—if only for a few days.