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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Cash

I raised the carafe of coffee the next morning, where Declan’s latest round of guests sat at the breakfast table. “Who wants a refill?”

Gray had called with questions about the greenhouse project, and Declan had looked so excited to go talk shop that I’d offered to cover breakfast service.

A broad-shouldered guy in a plaid shirt named Chuck raised his cup. “Hit me. I’m used to coffee darker than oil. This fancy stuff isn’t cutting it.”

I smiled gamely and refilled his cup. His wife, a sturdy sort of woman with curly red hair and tons of freckles shook her head when I offered her the same.

“Well, I love the coffee,” Jade, a blonde in a flowery tank top said. “It’s just right for us lightweights.”

Her boyfriend, Drew, lifted his cup, saluting me. “And for those of us with a hangover. Fill ’er up.”

“Did you all hit Shallow Beach again?” I asked as I poured the dark brew. Jade and Drew were the couple who were out late the night of the vandalism. Unfortunately, they’d told Declan they hadn’t seen anyone when they got in that night.

Chuck snorted. “That’s an appropriate nickname. I’ve never seen so many bikinis in my life.”

He must not get out much. I was fairly certain Ft. Lauderdale would have us beat by a mile. But the partying got pretty rampant across the lake.

“It’s wild over there,” Katelyn said from her spot at the table. “I’ve only been to a party there once, and I thought Cash would kill me when he caught up.”

“Nah, I’d have to hurt any guy trying to lay hands on you though. You’re only fifteen.”

“Aw, you’re a protective big brother,” Jade said. “That’s sweet.”

Drew slung an arm over her shoulder. “Now, don’t go getting any ideas, Jade. You’ll break my heart.”

She laughed and slapped his arm. “Stop it! You know Declan is his boyfriend.”

Drew grinned. “Eh, some guys go both ways.”

“He’s not wrong,” I said, tapping my chest. “Bi guy. But I’m also loyal, which means no cheating with pretty guests.”

“That’s good news for me,” Drew muttered.

Jade laughed and blushed a little. “Don’t be silly.”

Katelyn sighed. “So gross. Why do people think you’re so hot?”

“It’s the burden I have to bear,” I said with a put-upon sigh as the guests all laughed. The conversation moved on to their plans for the day, and Chuck got into a lively debate with Jade about the best kind of vacation. He insisted there was nothing better than fishing in a quiet spot at the lake, enjoying nature, while she liked to get out and experience the local culture.

I could see the appeal to both, but I had no desire to wade into that mess. I mentally checked out while I finished my breakfast plate.

My phone rang shortly before the end of breakfast service. I pulled it out to check the screen.

Mom.

“I’ve got to take this,” I told the guests. “Take your time. We’ll clean up later.”

Katelyn looked at me with questions in her eyes. I nodded to confirm that the call was from our mother. When I headed toward the private quarters I shared with Declan, my sister followed.

I answered the phone as I stepped through the door. “Hey, Mom.”

“Cash, I’m glad you answered. It’s time to come home.”

I sighed. I knew as soon as I took her call that would be her take. It’s why I’d avoided talking to her the past few days. I hadn’t been ready for the reprieve to end.

“Will things be different?” I asked.

“Your father has cooled down. I explained to him why Kat was upset. We just want things to get back to normal.”

Normal was a shit baseline though, wasn’t it? I couldn’t forget what Declan had said to me the day before. That I didn’t have to go back. That maybe Kat didn’t either.

I’d continued living at home far past the point I wanted to leave because I didn’t want to abandon my sister. But maybe there was an alternative. Declan would let us stay here, and when he sold, I could work out some sort of arrangement with Skylar.

I wouldn’t be able to help Mom with as many bills, but maybe that would encourage her to see Dad for the albatross he was.

“Cash?” Mom prompted. “I want to see Kat there when I get off work at 11, okay?”

“You’re calling from work?”

“I’m on a break.” Her voice faltered. “I really can’t go another day without seeing her. She doesn’t pick up when I call.”

Damn. It hadn’t occurred to me that Mom would call Katelyn too, but of course she would. What did it mean that Kat was avoiding her as much as I was?

Probably that we were both at our limit for family drama.

“Okay, we’ll come home today to talk. I can’t promise we’ll stay.”

“Cash—”

“We’ll see you in fifteen minutes.”

Katelyn whirled away and stormed out the door. I hung up the phone and followed, finding her shoving things haphazardly into her duffel while dashing away tears leaking from her eyes.

“Kat, we’re just going to talk to them.”

She grabbed up an armful of clothes, sniffling. “We both know they’re going to make me stay.”

“Then I’ll stay with you.”

She shook her head hard. “You’ve got a good thing here. Why would you come back? Why did you stay so long in the first place? I’d leave now if I could.”

“For you, Kat. I stay for you.”

She dropped the wrinkled mess of clothes into the duffel bag and turned to me with wide eyes. “No, you don’t.”

“Of course I do.”

She scrubbed at her teary face. “But I…” Her voice gave out and she tried again. “I wouldn’t stay for you. If it was the other way around, I mean.”

“I know.” I smiled, not hurt in the slightest. She was fifteen. At that age, I wouldn’t make the same choices either. Plus, she was my baby sister. It was my job to protect her, not the other way around. “But we both know I’m the better Hicks sibling.”

I startled a laugh out of her, and she slapped my arm. “You wish.”

We finished packing her bags in a few minutes. By the time we left, she looked more resigned than heartbroken. But I wasn’t so sure of the outcome just yet. Declan had planted some thoughts that were taking root.

Why had I thought staying was the only way to look out for Kat? Why hadn’t I considered that helping my mom with bills only enabled my dad’s behavior?

We arrived at the house a few minutes early and headed for the door. It was like a replay of the last time I’d brought Katelyn home after the night of that party. She’d been ready to apologize and accept consequences for going—but Dad had laid into her instantly, saying inappropriate, disgusting things. In another situation, I might have said that Kat deserved a good lecturing after lying and putting herself in a dangerous situation. But Dad had been the one to provoke her into that rash action by insulting her, cutting her down, always drunk and ready to spread his misery.

It was a toxic environment she shouldn’t have to live in.

I eased the door open. Dad lay on the sofa, eyes only half open. “’Bout time,” he slurred. “One of you get me a beer.”

Katelyn turned for the kitchen, but I stopped her. “We’re not feeding your addiction anymore.”

My sister turned wide eyes on me. “Cash, you know how he gets.”

I shook my head. “Things have to change if we’re coming back here. Dad has to get help.”

“Help.” He barked a sharp laugh. “There’s no help. You two are fucking useless.”

“Where’s Mom?” Katelyn asked in a small voice.

“Working. Always fucking working,” Dad mumbled. “Dunno why she keeps going back to those assholes.”

I secretly agreed with that sentiment. Mom deserved better hours, better pay, better respect. But Dad was the hugest hypocrite, lying on that couch, doing nothing to help.

“You’re not paying the bills,” I said.

“Neither are you,” he snarled. “Fucking loser.”

Katelyn made a wounded sound and whirled toward the front door. “I can’t do this anymore!”

She fled outside.

“Goddamned drama queen,” Dad snarled.

I decided Kat had the right idea. I went outside, closing the door hard behind me. Mom was just coming up the driveway in her old Chevy beater. She opened the driver’s door.

“Good. You’re here.”

“And we’re leaving,” I said flatly.

Katelyn was already climbing into the truck and slamming the door behind her. Mom looked from me to the pickup. Then she sagged. “What happened?”

I shook my head. “Dad’s a bastard. What do you think?”

“Don’t talk about him like that,” she said sharply.

“I’ll respect him when he earns it,” I shot back. “But we both know he never will.”

Her eyes welled with tears. I looked away, unable to face the pain in her face. This had always been my weakness. Mom loved, and she loved hard, but I couldn’t keep living by her choices.

Declan was right. I was an adult now. That meant taking control of my life.

“I’ll talk to him,” Mom said after a tense pause. “I’ll get him to work on it.”

“He won’t change. He’s an addict, Mom.”

“He’s in pain. He’s suffering?—”

“So are we!”

She flinched back against the car, and I took a deep breath and forced my voice to soften. “So are we, Mom. We can’t go on like this. You might choose this life, but I can’t do it with you anymore.”

“You’re an adult. I can’t stop you if you want to leave. But Kat is a teenager. She needs her mom.”

“She needs a home life that doesn’t make her want to die, Mom.”

Mom sucked in a shocked gasp, tears spilling. “Wh-what… Did she say?—”

“The first time we left, yeah. I think she was being dramatic, but today.” I shook my head. “If you’d seen her face when she ran out of there. She can’t take it anymore. Dad targets her. She’s a teenager, and she’s going to cry over boys and make bad choices, and having someone eviscerate her for it is going to permanently damage her self-esteem. Her self-worth. If it hasn’t already.”

“I don’t know what else to do,” Mom said.

“You could leave Dad.”

She shook her head. “But he…he’s injured and in pain. It’s not his fault he’s like this. Do you know what it’s like to live with that pain every day?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I hope I never do. But, Mom…he refused the therapy that could have helped him manage the pain.”

“You don’t know that it would have worked.”

“You don’t know that it wouldn’t have.”

She cast a bleak look toward the pickup truck, where Katelyn was slumped down. It looked as if she were trying to hide in the hopes Mom would forget she was there. No such luck.

“So this is an ultimatum? Leave your father or lose my kids?”

“It’s not an ultimatum, Mom, but we can’t live like this anymore. You can make whatever choice you need to make. But I have to make choices, too.”

“I can’t stop you from going, but Kat is a minor. I can send the authorities to bring her home.”

“I know.” I swallowed. “I hope you won’t make that choice, though. If you want to stand by Dad, let me stand by Kat. Please. I’ll take care of her.”

“It’s not that easy to raise a teenager, Cash. You’re in your twenties. This is all too much for you.”

“I’ve been taking care of her my whole life.” I shrugged. “Why stop now?”

Mom surged forward from the car and threw her arms around me, hugging me tight. “I need to think about all this. Give me a little time. Please?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I’ll take Kat back to the B&B for now. She’s happy there.”

“I miss you both so much. I wish…”

“We’ll make a coffee date, okay? Swallow Cove is a small place. We’re not cutting you out of our lives, Mom. I’ll see you at the resort whenever you come to clean.”

She huffed a breath. “The resort is ending its contract with my company. Apparently, there’s been some issues with work not getting done.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I saw it firsthand one day.”

She drew back, pressing her lips tight. “We have a lot of turnover.”

Probably because of the shitty hours and pay. I decided not to rub salt in the wound, though. “Maybe without us to worry about, you could look for a better job,” I suggested. “Let the house go and rent a smaller place?”

She looked gobsmacked by the idea. “Oh, I don’t know.” She glanced toward the house. “We have some happy memories here. Before…you know?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

My father hadn’t always been a miserable drunk. He’d worked a lot, but when he’d come home, he’d tossed the baseball with me in the backyard, grilled burgers out on the deck, and fixed leaky taps in the bathroom. He’d been a little gruff, a little impatient, but nothing like he was now. He gave great hugs. I remembered that so clearly my chest ached.

But good memories didn’t change the past decade. It didn’t change that Katelyn barely remembered that man at all. He was gone. Maybe someday, Mom would realize it too.

Until then, I’d made my choice.

So had Kat.

Mom went inside and packed a couple more bags for us. When she brought them out, her face was tear-stained, her shoulders slumped in defeat.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly as she passed the bags over.

“Me too.”

We stared at each other a beat, but there was really nothing else to say.

I joined Katelyn in the truck, and we drove away. Neither of us looked back.