Chapter 24: Twenty-three

Confession #22: My biggest nightmare was for Reese to meet Patricia.

I think I grew an ulcer in the hours that followed.

I had ignored Patricia’s threat, calling her bluff, and now she was going to be in the same house as Reese. If she really had anything to hurt my girl with, today would be a prime opportunity for her to unleash it. I wanted to warn Reese but I wasn’t sure how. And I didn’t have much time to do it, anyway.

As soon as the birthday girl realized I was home, I became her personal source of entertainment. First, she wanted to watch ~Hawaii Five-O~ with me, then read a chapter of the current ~Harry Potter~ book we were on, and I couldn’t tell her no; it was her ~birthday~.

After that, it was time to set out last-minute preparations for the party.

Half an hour before go-time, Sarah sat in her chair by the door, eagerly awaiting her first guest. When twenty-five minutes passed with no one ringing the doorbell, her hopeful expression slipped with each click of the minute hand of the clock on the wall, and my helpless frustration morphed more fervently into self-righteous anger.

And then, finally, the first guest arrived at four minutes before two. The next two after that showed up together another minute later, and that was it. Three classmates were all that showed. And they looked like reluctant shows because not a single one of them even bothered to speak to Sarah as their mothers ushered them forcefully through the doorway. One even asked her mom aloud how long they had to wait before they could go.

The good news was that Patricia didn’t show, but then… She was never on time for anything so she probably still had her grand entrance coming.

The bad news was that Reese was absent too. That’s what worried me most. The last thing I thought she’d ever do was let Sarah down on her big day. But when ten minutes after two passed and she still wasn’t here, I started to grow downright pissed at the entire world. Sure, I hadn’t wanted her to meet my landlady but I didn’t want Sarah to suffer either. And not having her favorite babysitter here on her special day would sting…big-time.

Where the hell was she?

Was she okay?

Fuck, ~was~ she okay? Had Patricia finally struck? Or did her absence revolve around me? She had seemed sincere when she told me that we were still friends before I’d left her apartment this morning, but what if that had just been a ruse to get me out of there without a fight?

Oh, God, what if I’d done something last night that I couldn’t remember that had actually hurt her?

I was tugging my phone from my pocket to call her when the front door swept open, and there she was. My relief was so visceral that I swear I could suddenly breathe easier.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” she gushed, hurrying inside. “I lost track of time while I was writing a paper for school. I know”—she gave a dramatic bow—“I’m a total geek that way.”

Noticing Sarah’s three classmates who’d been forced to come, she hurried to them, introducing herself. “Hi, I’m Reese. I’m Sarah’s evening sitter.”

And just like that, my relief clicked back into anger. All that worry and fear I’d felt for her, and she’d merely lost track of time? My irritation mounted, and this time it lashed out at ~her~. I knew it was misplaced even as I scowled, watching her make friends with the little brats ignoring my sister, but I couldn’t help it. I just felt helpless and pissed and I needed to direct it ~somewhere~.

She must’ve realized it, though, because as soon as she finally greeted Sarah, she thought up a smooth way to escort me from the room, announcing that we should help my mom set up food in the kitchen before she hooked her arm through mine and physically dragged me up off the loveseat I’d been sitting on.

As soon as we were alone in the hallway, she hissed, “What the hell did I miss?”

“Brilliant idea to invite the classmates,” I growled at her since she’d been the one to suggest it. “They’ve been ignoring her the whole time and won’t even stand on the same side of the room as her.”

Reese merely rolled her eyes. “Well, what did you expect, with you hovering over her like a pissed-off guard dog? I swear, you were foaming at the mouth as you stared at those poor little girls. I’m surprised they haven’t run screaming from the house yet.”

“Poor little girls, ~my ass~,” I snapped. “We invited every brat in her class, and only ~three~ of them showed up, the three who openly confessed they were only here because their parents forced them to come. Sarah is ~crushed~.”

Reese opened her mouth to respond, but we’d just reached the kitchen where my mom was rushing around like a frantic, blind chicken. And once again, Reese worked her smooth-magic and got rid of Mom, shooing her from the room with the promise that she and I would finish getting everything ready.

And what did my mother do in reply? She actually ~thanked~ her.

“Oh, Reese, you’re a saint. Thank you.”

I rolled my eyes and muttered as soon as she was gone, “Thanks for volunteering ~me~.”

“What?” she gasped before demanding, “What did ~I~ do?”

“Where ~were~ you?” I finally asked, unable to hold the question in a second longer.

“I told you,” she bit out. “I was at home, writing a paper.” Opening the refrigerator, she found the punch mix and brought it out so she could fill the bowl. “It’s actually a pretty interesting subject for my Brit Lit class. We had to read Chaucer in Middle English, which totally sucked monkey butt, and then translate it into today’s English. But let me tell you, ~The Canterbury Tales~ is not just some sweet, innocent fairy tale. I mean, I’m still pissed the rapist ended up in a happily ever after romance, but—”

“I don’t care about your ~paper~, okay,” I exploded. “My sister is about to cry in there. I wanted this to be the best birthday ever, but she ~hates~ it.” Plus, Patricia was probably going to burst through the door any moment now.

Reese blinked at me dumbly. “Oh my God, Mason. Breathe. It ~will~ be the best birthday party ever. I swear. We just need to get past that first stage of awkwardness and everything will be fine. Trust me.”

I gripped my hair, actually feeling myself lose my cool as she calmly moved from the punch to the cake, cutting it in choppy, uneven rows.

For some reason, watching her horrid cutting skills centered me. It showed me her flaws, her truth. So if she also said to trust her and things would be okay, then that had to be the truth too.

Right?

It was all kinds of wonky reasoning but it worked for me. Letting go of my hair, I clutched the back of a chair, bending slightly at the waist to blow out a long breath. And I relaxed.

“I’m sorry,” I told her. “It’s just… After that thing with Eva this morning, I wasn’t sure if you were going to come at all. Then you were late, and I thought—”

“Hey.” She immediately stopped what she was doing and took my hand, causing me to lift my face and meet her blue, blue eyes. “Don’t worry about Eva, okay? We talked. She isn’t going to go to the police. I swear to you, you don’t have to worry about her.”

“That wasn’t the part I was worried about.” I squeezed her fingers and wished she could just see everything inside me so I wouldn’t have to explain.

She seemed confused a moment before she let out a harassed breath. Rolling her eyes, she promptly smacked me in the side of the arm. “Oh, whatever,” she muttered. “You know you can’t get rid of me that easily. I’m going to be that annoying friend who never leaves you alone.”

“Promise?” I asked, watching her closely.

She winked. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”

I sniffed out my amusement, and the tension in me drained some more. Until I remembered the last reason I was so disjointed. “That’s not all,” I added on a wince. “Mom went and invited our ~landlady~ to the party. And she said yes.”

Reese immediately smiled. “Oh, that’s nice,” she started, flopping the first piece of cake ungracefully onto a plate and getting frosting all over her index finger in the process. But a second later, she froze, then looked up at me. “Wait. Is this the same landlady who was your first—?”

Christ, why had I ever told her about that?

Because I was an idiot, that’s why.

When my silent gaze answered her, she winced. “Right.” She drew out the word miserably before lifting her eyebrows. “Well… This should be fun.”

Fun.

Like a proctologist exam, maybe.

“I hate it when she comes over,” I muttered, beginning to pace the kitchen. “She always manages to find a way to corner me somewhere and ~talk~. It makes my skin crawl.”

Reese grabbed my arm, stopping me in my tracks. When I looked into her face though, she was busy frowning at my hair. Reaching up, she smoothed out a piece that must’ve gone wild while I was losing it.

Liking her hands on me, I stood there, letting her do whatever she wanted.

When she was finished, she finally met my gaze. “Do you want me to protect you from the mean old cougar?” she asked a little too seriously.

With a grin, I lowered my face and rested my forehead on her shoulder. “Yes.”

“Done.”

I looked up, only to smile when I caught her licking frosting off the knife. She smiled at me, accidentally smearing a little at the corner of her lip. I couldn’t resist. I reached out, murmuring, “You got a little something.”

I took my time brushing the frosting away and watching her gaze go unfocused before I pulled back and popped the dab of pink buttercream into my mouth. Then she focused on my lips, her attention growing so intense I found myself leaning in until we were only inches apart.

Her eyes lifted to mine, and her throat worked as she swallowed. The temptation was clear on her face, and it ran so thick through my blood, I was a little surprised we weren’t attacking each other already.

Suddenly, she turned away to open the can of mixed nuts. “You know, I might’ve been saving that frosting for later.”

I tried to laugh at her joke, but it didn’t flow out so well. “But you know me,” I retorted. “If you have food on you, I’m bound to steal it.”

“True.” With that, she held out the can, letting me steal my fill.

“See, you ~do~ know me.”

“Don’t take them all,” she scolded when my handful grew heaping. “The guests might want some.”

Remembering there were other people in the house—people who were upsetting Sarah, I said, “Those ~guests~ better start treating my sister right or they can kiss my ass.”

“Don’t worry,” she assured me once more. “I have a plan for the little children. They’ll be eating out of Sarah’s hand before the end of the day.”

I lifted a suspicious eyebrow. “You’re smiling a bit too evilly right now. I don’t know whether to be awed or scared.”

“Awed,” she said, quickly running her fingers across the stubble of hair on my jaw. “Always be awed by me.”

“I usually am,” I admitted.

My answer seemed to please her; she beamed out a grin that lit up the entire room. Then she sprinkled nuts onto plates with cake on them and added ice cream before piling them in my arms until I held more than I thought I could possibly handle in one trip. But she loaded just as many plates into her own arms, and then sent me a wink. “Let’s go save this birthday party, shall we?”

For the next twenty minutes, that’s exactly what Reese did. She pretty much single-handedly saved Sarah’s party.

She made sure everyone was fed well and she led us in singing the birthday song. Then she sort of steered the conversation and suggested when it was a good time to open presents.

She and I somehow ended up sitting on the loveseat next to each other as Mom helped Sarah open her gifts. Reese and I had coordinated our present buying to go together. I had gotten a charm bracelet, and Reese had gotten a charm to go on it.

But when Sarah got to Reese’s present and unwrapped it, there were actually two more boxes to unwrap inside that.

I leaned close, scowling. “You got her ~two~ things?”

Grinning smugly, Reese swept her hair over her shoulder. “Of course.”

I sniffed. “Suck-up.”

“You know it.” She knocked her knee against mine, proud of herself.

I just shook my head. And then I nearly laughed when Mom saw the makeup kit Reese had gotten my sister. I doubt Mom had ever even considered her baby girl growing up enough to wear makeup. The dread in her expression was priceless.

Reese didn’t seem to mind my mom’s reaction though; she just grinned at me as Mom helped Sarah attach her new charm to her bracelet, and she said, “Do we make a good present-giving team or what?”

She offered me a fist bump, which I couldn’t turn down. We’d just knocked our knuckles together when the door flew open and Satan entered…carrying a huge birthday present wrapped in Mickey Mouse paper.

I stopped breathing, not sure what to do. I wanted to stand up, grab Reese, and haul her out of the house. But then, I didn’t want to leave Sarah and Mom behind with Patricia either. The landlady could be perfectly pleasant whenever she was in the mood, but I had no idea if this was going to be one of those days or not.

I found myself watching Reese’s expression as she studied Patricia from head to toe. She probably wasn’t expecting someone who looked so well put together, but Patricia had style, and it seemed to intimidate Reese.

I pressed my knee to hers, trying to get her to look away or at least look at me. I could almost see every thought in her head as she tried to picture me and Patricia together. It made my stomach churn with unease.

I was about to lean in and beg her to stop thinking about it when she actually swayed my way and whispered, “Who’s he?”

Huh? ~He?~ With no idea what she was talking about, I turned toward the doorway only to find some guy entering the house behind Patricia as if he were here ~with~ her.

“No clue,” I whispered back, furrowing my brow, because seriously, who ~was~ this guy?

“Everyone,” Patricia announced. “I’d like you to meet my fiancé, Ted. Ted, this is Dawn. She’s been my tenant for what feels like forever.”

I have no clue what they said after that, my brain was too busy buzzing over the word fiancé.

But ~fiancé~?

No.

No way.

She hadn’t mentioned anything about a fiancé a few days ago when she’d tried to get me to come over. I was so confused. But also relieved. Mostly relieved. If she had that guy to keep her occupied, she wouldn’t have any time to bother me.

I suddenly didn’t care who he was, I didn’t care if the fiancé claim was a complete lie; I just hoped it helped get her off my back.

I turned blindly to Reese, needing to share my relief with someone. “Thank God,” I mouthed.

She snickered and squeezed my knee, only to whisper, “Guess you won’t be needing my protective services today after all.”

“And Reese,” Patricia broke in, dragging her poor fiancé behind her. “I had no idea you’d be here today. Hello, again.”

Wait. What?

Hello ~again~?

Again?

When had they met before? Why did I not know about this?

Reese merely sent her a chipper smile and greeted, “Hey, Mrs. Garrison.”

Patricia didn’t get a chance to introduce me to her fiancé because Mom and Sarah stole her attention by opening the gift Patricia had brought. So I took that moment to lean and whisper to Reese, “You guys have met?”

Reese merely rolled her eyes. “She was outside smoking one night when I got off work… The night Sarah had her seizure, in fact.”

Figured.

She must’ve seen me and Reese in the kitchen together through the back window. No wonder why she’d come in after Reese had left and touched the wall right where we’d been standing. She’d purposely wanted to ruin my special spot.

Just then, Sarah thanked Patricia for the large stuffed bear she’d given her, and Patricia winced, pulling her face away before glancing around at everyone and asking, “What did she say?”

Sarah’s face drained of color, and I wanted to strangle the bitch for humiliating her like that. Yes, my sister might have difficulty talking because of her CP but she was perfectly understandable.

Reese saved the day by dryly answering, “She said thank you,” as if that should’ve been obvious…because it ~was~.

After that, Reese suggested that Sarah and her three classmates put Sarah’s new makeup on each other, so she popped up from the loveseat next to me and went to my sister, taking charge of that activity.

And about as soon as she left, Patricia blew out a breath. “Wow, my feet are just killing me. Do you mind if I sit here?”

And she sank down next to me without waiting for a response.

I sent her a scowl before I commenced to ignore her completely.

Her fiancé or whatever he was, stood awkwardly beside her, because he couldn’t fit on the cushions with us, until Mom seemed to take pity on him and asked him what he did, which left no one paying attention to either Patricia or me, and in turn let her think we should actually talk to each other.

“So… I tried to contact you last night,” she murmured discreetly.

I watched Reese spread a deep purple over Sarah’s eyelids.

“I know you saw the message,” Patricia added.

Blush was dabbled to my sister’s cheeks.

“You can’t ignore me forever.”

Oh, yes, I could.

“Do you even care what your sweet, ~innocent ~babysitter is hiding?”

Honestly, I didn’t care what Reese might or might not be hiding. Nothing could make her worse than the woman sitting next to me now. She was bright color in my black and white world, and I’d most likely defend her and stand beside her no matter what she’d done or hadn’t done. She could end up being just as big a prostitute as I was, and I just wouldn’t give a fuck. Reese was still Reese, no matter how her past had played out, and I loved her no matter what.

Shit…

Wait, what had I just said up there in my head?

Patricia sniffed next to me, her gaze on Reese. “She’s quite the attention seeker, isn’t she? Stealing the limelight away from your sister on her birthday.”

This time, I turned to glower at her.

She didn’t have a clue, not a single fucking clue how awesome Reese was for my sister.

Before I could tell her to go to hell and never come back, Sarah and her friends started screaming, hopping up on the cushions as not to touch the floor. Then Reese yelped my name in a panic.

As she cried out for someone to save Sarah, I lurched to my feet, trying to figure out what was causing the uproar, because I couldn’t spot the source of their terror at all.

“What the hell?” I said. “What’s wrong?”

Five females started in at once, telling me something I couldn’t understand but their frantic gestures toward the floor at least directed me ~where~ to look.

“Oh,” I said, blowing out a relieved breath when I spotted it. “It’s just a wolf spider.”

Reese gaped at me as if I’d lost my mind. “I wasn’t asking what ~kind~ it was,” she screeched in outrage. “Just ~kill~ it!”

Wow, she was insistent. And ruthless. But this bloodthirsty, kill-it side was cute. I cracked up. “It’s harmless. Jeez, Reese. I thought you would be more of a humanitarian than this.”

“Not when it comes to gross, hairy, eight-legged freaks. That thing is bigger than me.”

I rolled my eyes. “It is ~not~.”

She drew in a long breath as if she was about to bitch me out for laughing at her fear, which only made her even more adorable, when suddenly she screamed and clutched one of Sarah’s classmates.

“Oh my God! It moved. Kill it, kill it, ~kill it~.”

When Sarah and her friends started shrieking along with her, I finally had mercy—on them, not the spider—and I stomped my foot down, only to lift my shoe, exposing squished arachnid guts.

“Handled,” I reported.

Reese yelled, “Oh my God, ~thank you~.” Then she jumped off the couch and straight into my arms. I wasn’t expecting her to do that, so I had to grapple to catch her before we both crashed to the floor.

Her breasts smashed into my chest and her face was inches from mine when she gave an overly exaggerated sigh and announced, “Mason Lowe,” in a dramatic, falsetto voice, “you’re my hero.”

I chuckled and rolled my eyes, setting her back on the floor before I did something stupid, like kiss her in front of everyone. “You’re such a dork,” I said, loving that feature most about her.

Shaking my head, I smiled, because she was honestly the best thing that had ever happened to me.