12. Chase
Chase
I can’t lie, Natalie has been a lifesaver. And not just because she dives in and helps wherever it’s needed without being asked. Just having another adult around has made things seem easier, less overwhelming and out of control.
In the three days Natalie has been here the girls have smiled more than they have in the past few months.
I hadn’t realized how much I missed the twins’ cheeky cheerful demeanors until Natalie’s presence brought a lot of it back out from under the cloud of grief.
Fuck, even I’ve been happier, and I’ve smiled so much my face is starting to hurt.
And I can’t deny the ache in my chest isn’t as sharp. I expected it to be worse when she first arrived with her offer. Dangling my lifelong dream in front of me when I could see no way of accepting it seemed cruel.
But as the days have passed, I realize it is anything but that. It’s a lifeline. A different direction than the one I thought I had to take.
I might be determined to make sure the girls have the lives they want just as our parents would have, but now I see it’s possible for me to have what I always dreamed of too. I don’t have to give up the life I worked so hard to achieve to take care of our family.
Our parents wouldn’t only want the girls to live out their dreams. They’d want me to as well.
Making the decision to sign or not sign a contract with the Rogues is the easiest and hardest of my life.
Easy because it’s everything I ever wanted and more, and a few months ago I would have signed the contract on the spot.
Hard because it means taking us all away from where our parents are buried, from the home they made for us, the only one we’ve ever known.
Moving away from here isn’t as simple as loading our furniture into a truck either. I need to decide what to do with the house, the business, the girls’ school…
But with Natalie’s help, her guidance, and the expert opinion of the agent of all agents, Drake Morgan, I think I’m ready to do it. To sign on the dotted line and change all our lives again.
There’s just one final hurdle, one final opinion—or two—I need to get before I take the Rogues up on their offer and take my sisters to the other end of the country.
Natalie has agreed to have Candace for the rest of the afternoon so I can pick up Cass and Stell from camp.
My plan is to take them—at Natalie’s suggestion—out for an early dinner so I can talk to them about the contract I’ve been offered and what signing it would mean for all of us.
I know they’re aware something is going on; they aren’t stupid, and any time Natalie and I have discussed things it hasn’t been secret whispered conversations behind hands or closed doors.
They must know why she’s here or at least suspect.
When I arrive in the camp parking lot, I stay in the car. The few times I’ve picked the twins up have been uncomfortable to say the least. The pitying looks, the awkward offers of condolence.
I don’t need or want or have the energy to talk with anyone right now.
I know a lot of the community has tried to help over the last few months, but I don’t need any well-meaning people getting in my face today. There’s too much going on in my head and heart to deal with someone else’s thoughts or emotions.
Honestly, it’s the sympathy and pity I can’t stand. And I have to wonder if the girls are noticing the difference in the way people look at us now. They leave the house more than I do, have more contact with people outside our little family, and I can only assume they’re treated differently since our parents died.
Movement in the side mirror grabs my attention and I focus on it, see the twins heading my way with one of the teachers a few steps behind them. My back snaps straight and my hand darts to the door handle when I notice the expressions on all their faces.
The girls look like they’ve been crying, and the teacher has a pinched, angry, disapproving look. Nothing about their appearances has me feeling good.
Opening the door, I hop out and walk toward them.
“Cass? Stell?”
My voice has them rushing forward and for the first time since the funerals, they throw themselves into my arms and sob.
Wrapping my arms around them, I raise my eyes to the teacher and stiffen at what I see. Her angry gaze is trained on the twins and if looks could send daggers, this one would.
“What the fuck happened?” I can’t hold the anger from my voice—or stop myself from swearing—and when the woman looks at me like I’m scum on the bottom of her shoe, I’m glad I didn’t.
“Cassidy and Crystal are suspended from camp for the rest of this week and next.” She folds her arms and glares at me. “When they return, they will apologize for the way they spoke to?—”
“Hold up. They’re suspended from camp?”
“I cannot allow them to remain when they spoke to several of my staff with disrespect.”
“I can’t imagine either of my sisters would do that without provocation.”
“Of course they would. They’ve been nothing but rude and disrespectful from day one. They refuse to pair up with any of the other attendees and don’t take part in group activities like the other children.”
“How are they rude?”
“They’re sullen and barely speak when spoken to and when asked to help with the younger children refuse to do so.”
“What you see as sullen is probably sadness. I’m not sure if you’re aware of our situation?—”
“I’m well aware.” Her gaze trails down to my feet before returning to my eyes, the sour look on her face pinching tighter if that’s even possible. “And it’s obvious the children left in your care are suffering?—”
“What the fuck?” Nudging the girls away from me, I turn them toward the car. “Get in. Close the door.”
They must know I’m about to explode or they’re happy to get away from this harpy of a woman, because neither of them argues with me. And once they’re in the vehicle, with the doors and windows closed, I turn back to the woman.
“Are you the head teacher here? Is there someone above you?”
Her back straightens and despite being half a foot shorter than my over six feet, she manages to look down her nose at me. “I’m the camp coordinator.”
“Well, let me say this and then we’ll leave, and you won’t be seeing the girls in a couple of weeks because I’m removing them from this joke of a camp. You are one of the worst human beings I’ve met in my life. How you got your job here is questionable, and let me say, when I’m done, it’s unlikely you’ll keep it. Your job isn’t to judge the children in your care, but you obviously have.”
“I’ve been running this camp for over twenty years, and?—”
“There’s your problem. You’re too old and behind the times to understand the younger generation.”
“I beg your pardon.”
“Nope. No pardon. You get nothing but what you’ve given. Those two girls have just lost both their parents and as their brother I’m now responsible for them. They are far better off being in my care than split up and put in random homes for the rest of their childhoods.”
“Those homes can offer them?—”
“No, they can’t. What they need is family. I’m their family and I love them more than anyone else ever could. And I’m done arguing with you. But you haven’t heard the last of this. I’ll be contacting the camp organizers and reporting your behavior and treatment of my sisters.”
She sputters behind me when I turn my back, but I ignore her and climb into Mom’s car. Slamming the door, I hit the start button and after checking my mirrors, reverse out of my spot.
Ignoring the many parents and children standing around staring, I leave the parking lot before I say anything to the girls. It isn’t until the camp disappears from the rearview mirrors that I speak.
“We’ll talk about what happened, what’s been happening, at camp, when we get home. If either of you tells me anything between here and there that will piss me off more, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop myself from turning around and running that woman over.”
“Mrs. Bertram.”
I’m not sure which of the twins speaks, the rage over the woman’s insensitive comments buzzing in my ears making it hard to hear anything.
It only takes a few minutes to drive home and when I open the garage door and pull inside, I’m surprised to see Natalie waiting for us, a look of concern on her face.
With the car in park and the engine off, I twist around and peer between the seats into the back and study my sisters.
I don’t see any visible wounds or injuries but have to ask anyway. “Are either of you physically hurt?”
“No,” they murmur in unison, their hands clasped together on the seat between them.
“Okay. What do you want to do? I was going to take you out to eat but I don’t think the conversation we need to have about camp can wait. And I’ll be honest, I don’t think I can sit through a meal and wait until we get home to talk about it.”
“I don’t want to go out,” Cass says through her sniffles.
“Can I get out?” Stell asks.
Shocked she feels the need to ask, I nod my head. “Of course you can. You don’t have to ask.”
She’s out of the car and racing across the garage toward Natalie before I finish speaking. And when she falls into Natalie’s outstretched arms, I can hear her sobs echo off the concrete floor. My stomach cramps and my fingers clench so tight they ache.
“Are you really going to get Mrs. Bertram in trouble?”
I look back at Cass. Find her eyes swimming in tears and my resolve to find out what’s been going on and take action grows so much stronger it just about strangles my throat.
Taking a deep breath, I try to temper my anger. “Yes. Let’s go in and talk, yeah?”
“Okay.” She nods, sniffs while wiping the tears from her eyes, before climbing out through the door Stell left open.
It takes me a few minutes to gain control of my anger enough that I can let go of the steering wheel. When I do and get out of the car it’s to find only Natalie waiting for me.
“Crystal sent me a text.” She holds up her phone. “Said they were in trouble.”
Dragging in a deep breath, I hold it and count. I only get to three before I need to blow it out. “Yeah. They apparently are and after the words I just had with the camp coordinator I probably am too.”
“What happened?”
“To be honest, I’m not really sure. She called them disrespectful and rude?—”
“Cassidy and Crystal?” Her eyes and mouth are open.
“Yeah.” I shake my head. “I can’t see it either. They’ve never been rude or disrespectful a day in their lives.”
“And you?”
“Oh, I was probably disrespectful. Rude too. Definitely angry enough to see red and want to run the woman over with Mom’s car.”
“Sounds like your actions might have been justified. Let’s go inside. Order pizza or something and get to the bottom of what happened. We can determine if you overreacted or if the coordinator was out of line.”
“Mrs. Bertram.”
“Who?”
“The coordinator. Apparently, her name is Mrs. Bertram.”
“Sounds like the headmistress of one of the horrible boarding schools my grandfather sent me to after my parents died.”
I’m a few steps into the house before her words register. Spinning around, I have to grab her shoulders to stop her from plowing into me. “You went to boarding school?”
“Yes. Three different ones from fifteen to eighteen.”
“After your parents died?”
She nods. “They were killed in a boating accident. My grandfather wanted nothing to do with raising a girl. If I’d been a boy, things might have been different.”
“Sounds like a story.”
“Maybe I’ll tell you one day.”
The smirk she gives me shouldn’t lighten my mood, but it does. And if I’m honest, just being around the woman lightens my mood.
I think we’re becoming friends. I know she’s my closest acquaintance right now.
Despite what she’ll be if I decide to sign with the Rogues, I want to continue to develop our friendship.
Her presence makes me feel comfortable, capable, when in the last few months, I’ve felt anything but.
“Promise me no matter what happens we’ll stay friends.” The words are out before I think them but as they echo in my head, I know I mean them. “If we move in with you, if we do what you suggested to make sure the girls are looked after, I don’t want me working for you to cause that to fall apart.”
“I can’t promise we won’t have problems. If you sign with the Rogues, I’ll be your boss and that could, probably will, cause friction between us, but I promise you that relationship or any you and I have, will not affect my relationship with the girls. Even if none of what we’ve talked about happens, I want to stay in their lives. Help make sure they get everything they, and your parents, wished for.”
Her words are almost like a vow, and I know she means them; they aren’t empty promises from someone wanting something from me. “Okay. I have to talk to the girls, but after this afternoon I think a move might be the best thing for all of us.”
She doesn’t gloat. Simply offers a nod then tips her head toward the kitchen. “Let’s get something organized for dinner and sit down with the girls. Find out what happened today, what to do about it. Then we can talk about everything else.”
“I’m ready to sign.”
Her gaze locks on mine. I can see the excitement and the fear and wonder what evokes the second. I don’t get a chance to ask though.
With another nod, she says, “Let’s sort out today’s problem before we make more for us to work on.”
I know what she says is smart. One step at a time is the way I’ve been doing things since Dad was killed. Except now that I’ve made the decision to enter the NHL, I want to make everything needed for that to happen a priority.
Only I can’t.
I still haven’t talked to my sisters about the Rogues’ offer, and we have to deal with what happened at camp. And I definitely want to follow through on my threat to report Mrs. Bertram to whoever runs the camp.
Trailing after Natalie, my mind is a whirl of all the things I need to do, all the decisions I need to make.
It’s overwhelming but also exciting.
This could be—no, it is —the start of our new lives. It might not be what any of us predicted but with Natalie there with us, I think we can find a way to rise from the ashes of our parents’ deaths.