Truth or Spare (Princes Take New York #2)

Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

T heo’s sign had worked like a charm. He was able to take it down after less than twenty-four hours and Dewey was holding his head higher. Neither had mentioned Theo’s workshop confession since he threatened to climb Dewey like a tree and a peaceful calm had descended over the bowling alley. Dewey had yet to describe himself as boring or undesirable, and Theo was counting that as a victory as well.

“Do you think Cassie will be by with lunch today?” Theo asked after they had finished disinfecting the prior day’s shoes.

“No. Didn’t I tell you? Bryce is coming home for spring break tonight. He called Cassie yesterday evening and said his only class had been canceled so he’s coming home a day early.”

“You didn’t but that’s wonderful. I can’t wait to meet him.”

“Cassie’s running like her hair’s on fire, buying all his favorite foods and she’ll be cooking all day.”

“My mother used to do the same thing whenever we’d come home from school. She was always grateful when they could afford to send us because she wanted us to have every advantage. But she would complain and complain!” Theo said with a soft laugh. There was a catch in his throat, though, as Theo missed her. “Now, I cherish the holidays and years before boarding school, when we were all together.”

Dewey coughed and patted Theo’s hand on the counter, attempting to comfort him. “I’m sorry. I get moments like that too. I’ll wish I still had my dad and Roddy here and I miss my mom every time I walk through my kitchen door or pass by her piano.”

“Do you play?”

“Not much. I’m here most of the time and it’s out of tune now,” Dewey said and Theo frowned.

“I’ve never seen your house. You’ve mentioned it several times, but I have no idea where you live.” He had no idea if Dewey had a freezer full of roadkill or a tremendous doll collection either. Theo suddenly wondered at the wisdom of fake proposing to Dewey. They spent just about every day together at the bowling alley, but how well did Theo actually know Dewey. What if there were horrors in his house?

“It’s just at the end of Brooks Avenue.” Dewey hitched a thumb in the direction of the street on the west side of the bowling alley’s parking lot.

“Oh! I assumed they named the street after the bowling alley.”

“They did,” Dewey confirmed. “My grandparents used to have a house over on 2nd Street. They built the house at the end of the road after they opened Brooks Family Bowling, before my dad was born. Dad left the house and the bowling alley to me and Roddy but Roddy ‘signed it all over to me’ before he took off,” he explained with a sarcastic curl of his fingers.

“What does that mean?” Theo asked and Dewey rolled his eyes.

“Roddy downloaded some bullshit form from some legal website in the middle of the night. He had Keith notarize it, but it’s still sitting in the kitchen drawer. I don’t know if it was any good back then, but it’s worthless now because everything goes to Cassie and Bryce if anything happens to me.”

“Huh.” Theo’s lips pursed thoughtfully.

What did he have to leave to his brothers, aside from a terrific wardrobe and a few properties they wouldn’t care about? Matteo was a communist and had already donated most of the property he had inherited and Elio had a habit of setting things on fire and blowing out windows. Theo wished he had something more meaningful to leave them.

“They would be thrilled with a bowling alley,” he said, but Dewey wasn’t listening.

“Is that…” Dewey rose and leaned over the counter. “It is!” he said as he ran around and opened his arms wide as a young man threw the front doors open and ran to him. “I thought you weren’t getting in until tonight,” Dewey said as he lifted the younger man off his feet and spun him.

“Easy, Doob!” he laughed and leaned back, searching Dewey’s face. “I wanted to surprise everyone. How are you?”

“Stop! I’m great!” Dewey said as he turned them and waved for Theo to come over. “That’s Theo. He’s new here,” he explained tersely. “Theo, this is my pride and joy, Bryce Brooks!” he said, beaming and patting Bryce on the chest.

“Of course, you are!” Theo said as he held out a hand and rushed over. There was no doubt that the young man was a Brooks. He was tall and broad-shouldered like Dewey and had his uncle’s reddish brown hair, soft hazel eyes, and sly grin. “Brooks has told me so much about you.”

“Has he? Mom’s had a lot to say about you too, but it’s nice to finally put a face to the name, Theo.” His grip was firm and Theo could tell that he was being assessed.

He straightened and clasped his hands behind his back, hoping Bryce approved. “You’ve left large shoes to fill here, but I’m doing my best to learn and be helpful.”

Bryce blinked for a moment, then smiled brightly. “That’s great. Can’t wait to see what’s changed around here. I’ll be keeping an eye on you,” he said, then turned and pulled Dewey into another loud, laughing hug. “It’s so good to be back!”

“Missed the shit out of you, kid.” Dewey said as he rocked them, making Theo smile and bringing tears to his eyes. He knew how good that hug felt and longed to grab Eli or Teo and hold them tight.

“Did you do the lanes yet?” Bryce asked, but Dewey shushed him.

“You just got back and you’re already looking for work.”

Bryce made a dismissive sound. “Come on! Let me do them,” he insisted, then hooted and sprinted off to the workshop when Dewey gave in.

It was immediately obvious just how much was missing with Bryce’s absence. His voice and his laughter filled the alley and he was everywhere Theo looked, emptying trash cans, wiping down tables, tossing shoes over the front desk to Dewey, vacuuming, skipping down the gutters to manually clear balls… He was like a tornado of laughter and joy, but instead of leaving a disaster in his wake, Bryce tidied and teased patrons as they welcomed him home with big, tearful hugs.

And Bryce was a phenomenal bowler! He rolled nothing but strikes and could roll them backwards and between his legs or with his eyes closed. He’d swipe balls off the return and send them spinning down the lane without so much as a glance, high-fiving and chest-bumping the other bowlers as he passed. If Bryce wasn’t fixing or cleaning something, he was bowling and celebrating on the lanes.

“I can see why you miss him so badly,” Theo said to Dewey as he leaned back against the counter.

Dewey chuckled and nodded, resting on his elbows as he watched Bryce. “He’s our world and it was so damn hard to let him go, but we all wanted to see how far he could fly.”

“They’re all proud of him,” Theo said, pointing at all the players on the lanes and gesturing around them. “All of Oslo is excited about his return and this whole place is glowing.”

“Yup. Roddy thought he’d be ‘the one’ to put this Oslo on the map, but Bryce is the smartest and the brightest thing to ever come out of this town,” Dewey boasted. “Everything’s easier when he’s here, but his mom and I wanted Bryce to follow his dreams. The whole town’s rooting for him because he’s ours and we all know he’s the best of us.”

“Maybe not the best,” Theo said with a wink at Dewey. “I’d say he had an excellent role model. Or is he the same model, just a younger version of his uncle?” he wondered out loud, earning an eye roll from Dewey.

“I just did whatever my dad did and made sure Bryce knew he was loved. He’s got everything under control out here so I’m gonna hang out in my office for a while. Catch up on some paperwork.” Dewey waved at Bryce and pointed at the office before leaving.

“Good luck with that,” Theo said weakly and grimaced in Bryce’s direction.

He didn’t know if it was his place and assumed that Bryce probably knew or at least suspected that Dewey had a drinking problem. Theo decided to be subtle and leave it up to Bryce, if he wanted to discuss how Dewey was managing his addiction.

“He’s doing paperwork ,” Theo said out of the side of his mouth when Bryce popped behind the counter to find the disinfectant spray and a clean towel.

Bryce crossed his arms over his chest and chewed on a lip. “Is that what he told you?” he asked and Theo hissed as he stepped closer.

“I suspect he might be napping.”

“That’s a good bet,” Bryce said, then gestured for Theo to follow him. “It’s going to be slow for the next hour and I’m guessing you’ve never checked the balls.”

“Checked the balls?” Theo repeated.

Bryce’s tongue pressed against the inside of his cheek as he tossed the towel over his shoulder. “Stuck my finger in some sort of purple syrup when I was straightening up on 3,” he said as he strode around the ball stand at the end of lane 1. He patted the largest ball on the end then nodded down the line. “We want to keep a good variety on each stand. Right now, most of the kids’ balls are on 9 and 10. I heard there was a party on Saturday. And I’m seeing that most of the heavier balls are down here. The blue hairs don’t use them as much.”

“I see…” Theo frowned as he turned and leaned and noted that nearly all of the brightly colored balls were at the other end. Why hadn’t he noticed or even thought to check?

“Most places don’t do it, but I like to wipe all the balls down and disinfect the holes at least once a week,” Bryce continued. “And I like to make sure there’s a good selection on each stand at the beginning of the day.”

“Once a week? Brooks never mentioned that they needed to be done,” Theo said, earning another eye roll.

“He wouldn’t ask you to do something, if he couldn’t do it himself,” Bryce said and braced his hands on his hips. His brows climbed up his forehead as he waited for Theo to catch on.

“What do you mean? If you usually…” Theo shook his head, still confused.

Bryce’s hand slapped the top of the ball on the end of the stand. “Did you know that these start at six pounds for the kids’ balls and go up to sixteen pounds for the adults’?” Bryce said, earning a grimace from Theo.

“I didn’t know the exact weights but that seems correct.”

“How many balls are in this alley and how many times have you seen Doobie pick one up?” Bryce asked briskly. His nostrils flared and there was a hard gleam in his eyes as he waited.

Bryce could have cracked him over the head with one of the balls, Theo was stunned as his ideal American bowling alley experience toppled around him like pins. “What did I miss?” he whispered in horror.

“A hell of a lot, Theo.”

Now that Theo’s eyes had been opened, the contrast between Dewey and his miniature, Bryce, was stark. “How old is Brooks?” he asked weakly.

“He’s thirty-six. How old are you, Theo?” Bryce snapped, stunning him again.

“I’m… I’ll be thirty-nine soon. I thought Brooks was a bit older.”

“And I was hoping you’d be a bit smarter. I’m going to check all the pinsetters and make sure they’re good on hydraulic fluid.”

With that, Bryce handed Theo the spray and the towel and left. Theo was glad that Bryce had given him a large, yet simple task to do. He needed to think and decipher the clues that Bryce had given him.

Almost anyone would understand if Dewey had a drinking problem. Theo had assumed that Cassie and Bryce knew, and like him, had done their best to cover for Dewey and care for him. And he had assumed that they were also afraid of injuring Dewey’s pride by mentioning it. How did you tell the person who carried everyone else on his back that it was time to get help?

Was it alcohol, Theo suddenly wondered. Was it alcohol and something else? Theo was beginning to suspect that there had to be something else. He had certainly seen enough tipsy bowlers in his time at Brooks to know that a drinking problem wouldn’t prevent Dewey from bowling and keeping the balls on the stand clean and organized.

And why was Bryce upset with Theo?

“What the hell is going on around here and what have I done?”