Chapter Thirty-One PAISLEY
Chapter Thirty-One
PAISLEY
The old summerhouse was dark when my headlights arced across the front of it, illuminating the dormer windows peeking out like eyes in the night. Disappointment settled inside me, churning into the worry that had been chasing its tail in my thoughts.
I was positive my brother might’ve been here. Okay, maybe not positive, but reasonably confident. We used to spend summers here back when everything seemed easier. Those halcyon days felt a million miles away in the rainy darkness.
I turned off my headlights and left my rental car running because it was cold and raining.
“Where are you?” I muttered into the darkness.
Getting a call from my brother's friend had me deeply worried.
The relief I'd felt at realizing my father finally knew what was going on had quickly been washed away. My brother was protecting me more than I’d thought.
I hadn't been so foolish to think he told me everything, but I sure hadn't realized one of his best friends was in deep with him.
I fished inside my purse, pulling out the key to this place.
When my parents spent a few weeks here every summer, I usually joined them for a weekend or two.
Just as I was about to turn the car engine off and climb out, I saw a glimmer of light through the darkness and realized one of the rooms in the back had a light on.
Maybe my brother was here after all. I was a little nervous, but my determination to find Ryder overrode my nerves.
I checked my phone to see if there was any reception.
Not even a single bar. I turned the engine off and waited for a few more minutes before I climbed out with the key clutched in my hand.
I knew the pathway in the darkness and counted the stone steps.
When I was a little girl, I’d run down them in my bare feet to where they curled around the house and led into the trees on one side.
My footsteps were quiet. I slid the key into the lock, and it turned smoothly.
Opening the door, I called out, “Ryder?”
Silence greeted me. I walked through the living room into the dining area, where a hallway flanked off to one side. Following the light, I hoped it was Ryder here. Alas, it was my brother’s friend Todd who’d called me.
“What the hell are you doing here, Paisley?” he asked as he stepped out of the room.
“Looking for my brother. What the hell are you doing here?”
“I was looking for him too.”
He curled a hand around my elbow and tugged me into the enclosed glass porch at the back of the house. There was a single lamp on in the corner. “What are you doing here, Todd?”
He sat down in a chair, resting his elbows on his knees and tunneling his hands through his hair. “There’s a reason your brother went on vacation.”
“I know that. I came down to try to find him.”
Todd lifted his head, his eyes going wide. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Uh, no.” I silently cursed. I’d known Todd since high school and would’ve trusted him once upon a time. Now, I wasn’t so sure.
“You can trust me. Ryder and I are both trying to get out of this mess.”
“Well, it's quite the fucking mess,” I muttered
“Is your cell working?” Todd asked.
“I doubt it. Reception’s not great here.” I slipped my phone out of my purse first, checking the screen again. “Still no reception,” I muttered to myself.
“There's not great reception, but your parents left the Wi-Fi on.”
“They did?”
Todd nodded. “They sure did. Go figure.”
I tapped into my settings and selected the network for my parents’ place. A minute later, several texts came in, including the banner for a voicemail from Russell. A confusing sense of relief and anticipation shot through me.
“What's up?” Todd asked.
“A friend called, someone I was hoping to hear from,” I replied. I wasn’t about to get into the mess of my feelings about Russell with him. Yes, he was a friend, and an old friend at that, but discussing romance with my brother and any of his friends wasn’t something I cared to do.
Lifting the phone to my ear, I tapped play on the message, making sure the volume was low.
“Hey, Paisley. It's Russell. I'm guessing you went to Washington to find your brother, and your brother's here.
He is seriously stressing out, so now we're flying down there.
Please call me and let me know where you're at. Your best bet is to go to your parents’ house.
Your brother's kind of panicking. I guess his friend is a problem right now. Please call me when you get this.”
Fear shot through me, but I kept my expression neutral. I lowered the phone as I tapped the button to lock the screen.
“Everything okay?” Todd asked.
“Oh, yeah. So, uh, how long are you planning to stay here?”
My mind spun over whether or not Todd was the friend Ryder was concerned about. Surely, Todd wouldn't hurt me. That would be crazy. But then, if he was involved with whatever my brother was doing, it wasn't as if I could assume he was making good choices.
“I'm not sure. I'm trying to get ahold of your brother. He's been using burner phones and turned off his old number.”
I nodded slowly. “Well, since Ryder isn't here, I think I'm going to leave. It seems like you're trying to lay low, and you certainly don't need my rental car out front drawing attention here. You might want to keep the light off back here.”
Todd narrowed his eyes, and I still didn't know how to interpret anything with him. “Why don't you stay put?” he asked as I turned toward the hallway.
I looked back at him. “Why would I do that? If Ryder’s not here now, he's probably not coming.”
Todd shrugged lightly. “You never know. We can wait together.”
I made a calculation. It was better if Todd didn’t think I suspected anything of him, so I shrugged. “Okay, might as well. If we've got Wi-Fi, the cable’s probably working.”
He cast me a lopsided grin, and for a second, he was my brother’s teasing friend from high school. “True story. I can't remember the last time I was here.”
“Probably in high school with us,” I said casually as I stood and walked down the dark hallway toward the front of the house.
I took that moment to check the time on Russell's message. He’d left it while I was in the air and said they should be landing in Seattle around seven thirty.
I did the math in my brain. By the time they landed and got a rental, it would be nine o'clock before they got here.
That was two hours away. I only hoped I could play it cool for that long with Todd.
“Why don't I go get us some pizza at the store in town?” I prompted a few minutes later after checking in the kitchen and discovering not much of anything other than a few energy bars and some soda. “Do you drink anything other than soda?”
Todd shrugged. “The water’s off. I thought about turning it on, but I thought maybe that wasn't the best move.”
“No, that's a whole process. It's town water, so they have to call out before they come and get it turned on.”
Todd was studying me quietly, and I hoped I looked completely oblivious.
“Pizza sounds like a good plan. I'll sit tight.”
“What kind of pizza do you want?” This conversation felt so weird. It was about nothing important, yet the tension was coiled tightly inside me, so tight that my chest hurt.
“Meat lovers, that's my fave.”
“We'll do half and half,” I said.
He rolled his eyes. “Hell no. Get me a whole pizza and get whatever you want for yourself.” He reached into his pocket, fishing out his wallet and handing me two twenty-dollar bills.
I left, almost gasping with relief once I started my car and backed out. I couldn't tell if my anxiety was better or worse once I was out of the house. It was only after I was halfway to town that I decided to call Russell and leave a return message explaining the current situation.