Chapter Twenty-Seven
TWENTY-SEVEN
Phoebe
Now
“Jesus fuck,” Rocky groans, staring at his phone in the middle of the grocery store aisle. I halt my shopping cart next to the dairy fridge. It’s twenty minutes until closing, and besides the cashier, no one is in the grocery store. Except for Hailey and Oliver one aisle over.
We’ve been talking more freely than we normally would, but it feels like a measured risk since this store is on the edge of town. Hardly the one favored by locals.
“What is it?” Jake holds a bottle of Bordeaux by the neck.
“Your needy bitch of a brother,” Rocky says, those words coming out so casually it even takes me aback.
My brows shoot up. “Okay, that was nasty, even for you.”
He runs a hand through his hair. “I can’t help it. Trent’s a parasitic leech.” He reaches absentmindedly for a carton of milk while texting with his other hand. “He wants me to come over for poker night.”
I wince. Poker night for Rocky is an art of restraint. He could clean out the entire group without blinking, but he has to actively try to be average.
Rocky sees he grabbed the skim milk and puts it back with a scowl. I reach for the chocolate milk and pass it to him. His gray eyes soften at the gesture, but we’re in public. Can’t kiss. Can’t hold hands. It’s not as painful as I thought it’d be, because a deep look at his gaze says, Later . And our later s tend to bring the most sweltering heat.
Jake watches us carefully before his eyes roam around the empty grocery store aisle. Both Jake and Rocky wear dapper suits like they stepped out of a board meeting an hour ago, but really, they attended a wine-tasting evening at the country club.
I served guests New Zealand whites from the region of Adelaide Hills and did my very best to annoy Claudia. I kept offering her a taste, and her lip curled higher and higher.
She wants nothing to do with me, and even when she commanded “Go” and swatted the air, I acted dumb and came back around. I just won’t go away.
I won’t listen.
I won’t obey.
It’s been fun trying to unzip the monster inside, but unfortunately, Rocky is dealing with a different species of beast.
“What if you brush him off once?” I ask Rocky. “Would it really ruin everything?”
“It’d piss him off. He likes his friends on a leash.”
“I’ll go with you,” Jake says, passing me the bottle of Bordeaux. “Without Phoebe.” It’s been clearer these days that Jake is trying to “big brother” Rocky—who has never had anyone outside of our two families outright, and genuinely, care about him.
I don’t think Rocky knows what to do with it yet. Other than be peeved. “You weren’t invited, sweetheart.” He flashes a dry smile.
“I’m a Koning,” he says with ironclad confidence. “I don’t need an invitation.”
Rocky lifts his brows, almost impressed. “Truth…I do like watching you go toe-to-toe with your brother, but you say about fifty percent of what I actually want to say to him.”
“You want to write a script? I’ll memorize it?”
I make a face. “Are you being serious?”
“I’d do anything ,” Jake emphasizes with brimming anger. “Short of murder.”
“That shouldn’t even have to be stated,” I tell him, placing the wine gently next to a frozen pizza in the cart. “We’re trained to deceive, not to kill.”
Jake exhales a long, powerful breath, his gaze on Rocky. “What more do you want me to tell Trent? I’ll say it if you can’t.”
“Forget it.” Rocky texts again.
“ Grey ,” Jake forces out. “Let me. Help you.”
Rocky lifts his eyes off the screen. “You don’t want to become me, man. You don’t want to know what’s writhing in my head.”
“Maybe I do.”
“No. It’s good you’re only fifty percent acid, because if you go a hundred percent, you’ll only burn yourself.” He pats Jake’s firm chest. “Let it go, Prince Arthur.”
“You mean King Arthur.”
“You’re not a real king yet.”
Rocky cares about Jake, too.
He’s already giving me a hot fuck off look, since I am smug and happily drawing hearts around this newfound friendship. Despite the annoying aspects when it’s two v. one against me. The longer I gloat, the more Rocky stares me down like he’s a second from throwing me over his shoulder.
I’d like to see him try.
He yanks the cart forward, since I’m stalling for this conversation, and it slips out of my hands.
I give him a middle finger. Soon, we’re in a seasonal aisle, and with Easter approaching, the mountain of pastels and bunnies makes me feel like we’ve landed in the very trippy children’s video Wee Sing in the Big Rock Candy Mountains —which I loved growing up.
Nova says it’s deranged.
Jake turns to me. “About brunch tomorrow.”
“What about it?” I ask.
His family brunches have become a staple, and usually they’re boring affairs filled with talk of the weather. My presence is always mandatory as a reminder to Claudia that I’m not a one-off girlfriend for Jake.
He slips off his suit jacket and splays it over the cart. “You don’t have to go tomorrow morning.”
“Did it get canceled?” I watch him roll his sleeves to his forearms, something he does very often. I thought it was a nervous tell.
Rocky said Jake isn’t nervous. He’s being protective. Like he’s shedding the extra weight to fight for someone or something.
“No, it’s still happening,” Jake says. “But you’ve both been dealing with my family almost every day for months. No stopping. Not to decompress or even really take in what you learned about your parents weeks ago. You can pause—”
“There’s no pausing,” Rocky cuts in sharply. “This isn’t a game you can hit a button on.”
“Rocky’s right,” I say. “Our job isn’t one you can call out sick for. It’s an all-in or cash-out kind of thing.”
Jake rubs the back of his skull, then sets his hand on the metal frame of the cart. “I’m just worried about all of you, I guess. It’s not a small thing.”
Our parentage. The DNA.
But my world hasn’t been throttled as roughly as the Tinrocks’.
Rocky, Hailey, Trevor.
It’s hard to really mope or complain that I’m Elizabeth’s daughter since it’s what I’ve believed my entire life. But Rocky—he’s taking it all in stride. I think, maybe, he’s a little relieved he’s not biologically Addison and Everett’s. Maybe it makes hating them easier on his soul.
“Redirect your worry elsewhere,” Rocky advises. “We’re all fine…” His voice tapers off as wheels to a grocery cart squeak.
Coming down our aisle, Hailey pushes her cart unhurriedly. I tried to comb her hair yesterday while she was on her laptop, but tonight, the platinum strands are matted and frizzed like she rolled out of bed.
But I’m not even sure she’s really been sleeping. She’s skipped so many days of work ever since we read the DNA results on the beach, and whatever rabbit hole she’s descending, I wish she’d bring me down with her.
I told her, “Please, Hails. Just talk to me.”
“I don’t know what’s real…Phoebe, I don’t. There’s so much…that isn’t adding up, and it’s a lot of assumptions…I-I can’t, I can’t.” She tucked into herself, clawing at her head, and I wrapped my arms around her until she took deeper breaths.
In the grocery store, Oliver stands on the front of her cart. “Pink or yellow?” He’s holding two packages of marshmallow chicks.
“Yellow,” Hailey says with a faraway, glazed look.
“Classic.” He bops her nose with the package, and her lip tics in a fleeting smile. Then he chucks the Peeps in the cart.
She’s muttering something inaudible. Oliver either pretends to understand or he’s learned her garbled language, because he’s nodding along.
All week, she’s forgone her usual smoky makeup. No black eyeliner. No shadow. Not even a lip gloss. She looks younger than twenty-four.
Rocky has a dark expression as he restrains a tidal wave of worry for his sister’s health and mental state.
If we were regular people, we would have told her to talk to someone by now. A counselor. A psychiatrist. And not just Oliver, who might be this town’s charming part-time therapist, but has zero qualifying degrees to back it up.
Jake runs his fingers against his strong jaw. He twists back to Rocky with a pointed look. “You were saying? About everyone being fine?”
Rocky sucks in a sharp breath through his nose. “We’re working on it.”
“She’ll be okay.” I nod a lot, because I can’t fathom a scenario where this gets worse. It can’t get worse.
The only solution will be figuring out the origins of the Tinrocks, but every time Rocky and I try to insert ourselves into the research, she’s adamant that she has it handled. That Carter and Jake are helping her piece things together.
That we need to focus on the Konings.
Her cart screeches louder as it nears ours, and I see it’s full of Easter baskets, chocolate bunnies, and a floppy stuffed rabbit with lavender fur. It’s missing an eye .
“That ugly bunny should be on clearance,” I say.
Rocky doesn’t look up from his phone. “Phoebe is a full-fledged frugal princess now.”
“Well at least I know how to budget.” Sort of.
He almost smiles, but he’s rage typing.
“I like the ugly bunny,” Hailey says to me, and I grow a million feet tall. She was listening to us! She’s here.
“It’s definitely worth getting, Hails. Every ugly bunny needs a home.”
Oliver checks the tag on its floppy ear. “No markdown, but I’ll work my magic with the cashier. Full price discount.” He winks at Jake. “Learn how it’s done, Koning boy.”
“Or I can just pay for it,” Jake offers.
“Or you could follow my lead. Every spider needs to stretch its legs,” he whispers furtively, his smile infectious. It draws me in and makes me want to be what he is, too. A spider. Devious. Cunning and shrewd. I’m grinning. He hops off the cart and practically glides around Jake, just to pluck white bunny ears off the highest shelf. He slips them on his own head. “I’ll give you tips and tricks—”
“Don’t corrupt him,” Rocky warns.
“I’m just bringing him into the fold.” Oliver perches against the shelf of egg-dyeing kits. Jake doesn’t shift to make room for him, so their shoulders brush, but Oliver isn’t one to be intimidated, ever. His smile softens on Jake. “It’s enticing. Our lives. You want to know all about us.”
Jake lifts his brows. “I’m not going to lie and say I don’t.”
Oliver gasps at me like a scandal has occurred. “He’s not going to lie .”
I snort. He grins, then tells Jake more seriously, “Don’t dig too deep. You might not like what you find.”
“Ominous,” I say to my brother. He wags his bunny ear at me.
Jake doesn’t seem afraid. He’s already bitten the forbidden fruit. There’s no going back anyway.
I check the price of a bunny-shaped night-light. Between its paws is a strawberry. Twenty bucks? Are they out of their minds?? It’s suddenly ripped right out of my loose grip, and I spin around.
“Rocky,” I accuse.
“I’ll buy it for you.” He’s half focused on me, half frustrated at his phone.
He’ll buy it for me? “I have the money.”
I’ve been able to form a meager savings. All because Hailey and I caved and let Jake waive our rent when he offered. Maybe we could’ve swung the cost, but not with how many unpaid days she’s taken.
Her time is better spent solving this mystery rather than being barked at by Katherine. We need her, but I also just need her to be healthy.
With Jake’s payout at the end of the job, money shouldn’t be much of an issue anymore anyway. It’s a little freeing. And do I feel bad that I couldn’t really hack it without returning to a con? Maybe…maybe not.
This is what I’m good at. At times, it’s even what I love. It’s like telling an Olympic swimmer to stay out of a pool.
“I know you have the money,” Rocky says, his eyes meeting mine like I’m your fucking boyfriend, Phebs. I can get this for you.
My heart flip-flops. I press my lips together. “Yeah, okay,” I say nonchalantly. “You can buy it.”
“Don’t sound so enthused.”
“Ohh, thank you so much, Rocky .” I flail against the shelf and put my hand to my forehead. “What would I ever do without you?” I stake a glare on him. “Better?”
“You’re such a—”
“Wonderful, kindhearted, gracious soul.”
“Drama queen.”
I scoff. “Take it back.”
He’s smirking now. “No.” He’s walking backward down the aisle with the night-light.
Oliver chucks a box of Cadbury Creme Eggs at him. “For the sweet tooth.”
He catches it. “Thanks, man.”
My smile fades into a deeper frown. “You’re leaving?” I call out, trying to mask my disappointment. You can go five seconds without him. He’s not gone forever.
“I have to,” Rocky says, then asks Jake, “You coming to poker night or not?”
Jake hesitates, his blue eyes lingering on Hailey. Like his main regret is leaving her behind. I want to ask—I need to ask about this. “Yeah, I’m coming,” Jake says. “Hailey?”
Her eyes slowly rise to his.
“I’ll catch up with you later?”
“Yeah.” She nods quicker. “For sure. We need to share notes on Treachery in Death .” Must be a book. Maybe for their book club?
Oliver is sifting through the groceries, checking the nutrition labels, and when Jake passes, my brother tells my fake boyfriend something in Dutch. But I can’t make out the words.
“I already told you,” Jake says, “I don’t know Dutch.”
“Look it up,” Oliver says breezily, but Hailey must know it. Her face is fire-engine red, and she’s suddenly very preoccupied with her phone.
I zero in on Rocky, but he’s not catching these signals. He’s checking the time on his watch.
Jake has an authoritative stride as he follows Rocky out, but Rocky is still walking backward, our eyes lassoed in a vise. His scarily attractive, confident gait has a way of pulling me in. No kiss or hug goodbye.
He’s going to buy me a strawberry bunny night-light.
He’s going to see me soon.
He better.
Because I can’t have anything happen to him either.
When he faces forward again, disappearing from sight, I intake a big breath, and then I see Oliver placing his bunny ears back on the shelf.
Hailey sees as well. “You’re leaving, too?” She frowns.
“I’ve also been beckoned to poker night with the boys.” He hugs me goodbye, then he squeezes Hailey in a bigger one. Her smile peeks out when he shakes her. Then he sets her on her feet.
“Olly,” she says, but her thought is caught or lost.
“Be terrible and get some sleep.” He kisses her cheeks, then her forehead. “Do it for yourself, Hailstorm. And if not that, then for Phoebe. My sister is losing her hair over you.”
“Am not.” I cross my arms.
Oliver just smiles, then lifts a hand in a farewell as he strolls out of the grocery store. Leaving me with my best friend.
It shouldn’t be tense. Or awkward, but Hailey is staring more at her combat boots than at me. The grocery cart lies between us.
“We don’t have to talk about it,” I say. “Whatever’s bothering you.” Maybe I shouldn’t give her an escape hatch, but can I really prod her right now? “Let’s just check out.” I’m about to push the cart, but she grabs on to the handle to stop me.
“It’s just…I’ve…” Her gray eyes flash up to me nervously. “There’s a lot going on with…” She takes a breath. “You know I’ve always liked Carter.” Even saying his name, blush creeps up her neck. “I crushed on him so hard when I first met him at seventeen. Like immediately . It’s not just that he’s really talented. He lights up a room, and I-I don’t know, it felt like he lit me up, too.”
My lips lift higher, then I realize she said felt . Past tense. “Has that changed?”
“I thought we’d be like my parents. Me and him. You know that.”
“Yeah.” Of course I remember Hailey fantasizing about this epic grifter romance between her and the master forger. But that was well before our lives were overturned. “Do you not want that anymore because you see Addison and Everett differently?” They lied to Hailey, to all of us. It wouldn’t be easy to idolize them anymore.
“I don’t know if I want to be anything like my mom,” Hailey admits, her voice cracking. “Carter hates being stuck in one place for so long, and I thought I did, too. I thought I’d hate this, Phebs, but I-I don’t want to go. I know gossip is everywhere, even about us, but I like being in a small town. I love the festivals and the way people recognize me and smile—even if I look moody , they smile. Because they’ve seen me around, they know of me, and it makes me feel like…like maybe I belong somewhere.” Her face scrunches in an ugly cry.
I come forward, my stomach in knots, but she squeaks out, “Wait.”
Pulling back, I stay on the other side of the cart.
“He’s going to leave,” Hailey says, wiping at her eyes. “Carter told me up front and said that it’s better if we don’t hook up while he’s here. He could tell I’m not doing well, and he didn’t want to add to it by having sex and then taking off.” She sniffs, controlling the waterworks. “We’ve slept together when I was younger, you know, but I-I agreed with him because I don’t think I can handle him leaving after restarting something. Not now.” She grips the handlebar again. “It’s already hard enough knowing he’s going back to England.”
I mull this over. “It’s okay to envision something different for yourself, Hails. It’s okay to feel like what you wanted in the past might not be what you need now.”
“Is that how you feel with my brother?” she asks quietly.
Have I always wanted Rocky? Yes. Is he what I need now?
He’s all I need.
But I also never thought I’d be with him this honestly. “I think in my case, I just never let myself envision anything. Not a relationship, not a real future together, nothing . I didn’t want to need him as much as I do.”
Hailey seems understanding, but she gets in her head, and tears squeeze out of the corners of her cinched eyes. “It shouldn’t be this complicated.”
“What shouldn’t?”
“Emotions. Sex. ” Her nose reddens as she restrains another onslaught of tears.
“I feel like you’re still not telling me something,” I breathe.
Her gaze is on mine, but she picks at her chipped black polish, nervous again.
“Is it about Jake?” I wonder, since my flirty senses have been tingling. “It’s okay if you like him. It’s not like I’m actually with him—it wouldn’t bother me.”
She’s quiet.
“And what’s not to like, right?” I go on. “He’s handsome and he’s sweet to you, and he’ll be here. He’s not leaving Victoria. I honestly think he might have feelings for you, too. But I haven’t asked him…and I’m rambling.”
“I do like Jake,” Hailey admits softly and begins to stare off at the bunny decor. “I think I like his heart. I think I’ve always liked their hearts the most. How deep they are. How you can keep reaching and reaching, but you’ll never touch the bottom. It’s easy to just…fall into.” She’s dazed.
Their hearts?
“But it’s not like…it’s not serious,” she says, her focus returning to me. She rubs at her tired, watery gaze. “I wouldn’t date him.”
My frown is heavy. “Because the town thinks he’s with me?” Has she wanted to be with Jake? Have I prevented my friend from having her Mystic Pizza romance?
“No, because I don’t do relationships. I can barely take care of myself right now, Phebs.” She takes strange breaths. “I feel like I’m losing…time. A-and honestly, the only thing that truly matters is figuring out where we came from and why they want us to leave this town. B-because what if it’s really not safe to stay?”
“What do you mean?”
Her eyes are flooded with fear. “I have to tell you something. About the Wolfe family.”