18. Chapter 18
Cameron
When Seb texted me saying we needed to go on a field trip, I thought he was fucking with me.
But, when I went to ask him what the hell he was talking about, he let it slip that Dale invited him to the parsonage, and Seb wasn’t stupid enough to go alone.
I asked why he didn’t call for backup from whatever sketchy agency owned him, and he refused to tell me.
Still, against my better judgment, I agreed. My only stipulation was that we took my truck. With everything going on around me, it was a miracle I hadn’t gone to the corner store to pick up a new pack of cigarettes. I didn’t need to be reminded what they smelled like.
I reached up and adjusted my rearview mirror until it caught the blue of Sebastian’s eyes. The subtle motion caught his attention, and his gaze flicked toward me.
“Seriously? You can’t go ten minutes without looking at me?”
“It’s impolite to hold a conversation without eye contact.” I also didn’t trust having him out of my line of sight.
Sebastian rolled his eyes but didn’t escalate the issue. Instead, he crossed his arms before leaning back into the passenger seat .
He’d removed his facial piercings today and straightened his hair. That, mixed with the fitted navy suit and crisp white button-down he wore, almost made him appear handsome. If it weren’t for his god-awful personality, he probably wouldn’t be terrible to be around.
“Keep your eyes on the road. I’d rather not be involved in a car accident today,” he grumbled.
“Can you explain to me why Mason likes you?” The comment slipped before I could stop it.
His gaze hardened into a glare. “Why exactly does it matter to you? Looking for a new partner?”
“Just curious. It sure as hell ain’t your personality.”
Seb’s demeanor shifted slightly as something akin to hurt flickered across his features. But, the second of vulnerability he showed was nothing if not fleeting because before I even had a chance to feel bad, his scowl was back. He looked like his brother with an expression like that.
I readjusted the mirror to look away from him as the parsonage came into view.
I’m sure it was impressive in its day. But time had gotten the better of it, much like it did everything in Hartwood. The exterior walls were coated in weathered white paint, leaving bricks exposed in random spots. Ivy crawled up one side of the house, making part of the windows useless.
I was supposed to move in here shortly after I relocated to Hartwood, but there was a heating problem, and Dale didn’t want me freezing to death while we waited for it to be fixed. That’s when I met Sophia’s grandad.
He was the only one with a space to rent that wasn’t connected to the church.
All he wanted in exchange for room and board was a farmhand, and I’d never been one to shy away from a hard day’s work.
It was crazy to think that if I never met him, I might have never had the life I did today.
But that wasn’t to dwell on now, not with Dale’s black truck sitting in the rounded driveway.
I pulled in beside it before removing my key from the ignition. My heart beat a little faster as I realized I was going to be face-to-face with Dale again.
“Hey… Do you really need me to come in with you? ”
Sebastian’s lip curled. “Do you genuinely think I'd subject myself to your presence if I didn't need you here?”
“I mean, maybe.” It was hard to tell with Sebastian.
Last night, he looked like he was mentally undressing me, and today, we were back to business as usual.
“Don't flatter yourself, cowboy.” He reached over to unbuckle himself. “The quicker we get out of here, the faster I'm away from you, and the sooner I can surprise Mason.”
Between him and Lucian, Seb wasn’t going to win the award for the biggest surprise. Seeing as Sebastian had demanded Mason get a GED before he’d think about marrying her, he wasn’t going to be getting down on one knee anytime soon. Still, I wanted to know what he had in store.
“Can I ask what you’ve got in store for Mae?”
“Her name is Mason. Please don’t disrespect her with that god-awful nickname,” he lectured, but after a moment of staring at me, he looked away and covered his mouth.
A subtle flush across his cheeks was visible just above the tips of his fingers.
“But Lavender is probably coming sooner rather than later, and I noticed the boxes and cans of paint in the nursery. So, I was going to finish it for her.”
He trailed off at the end of his sentence as if something about assembling a changing table embarrassed him.
Honestly, there was a lot I could use to make fun of him there—the fact his surprise was just piggybacking off of my apology, or even how I was pretty sure he’d fuck up and spill the gray paint all over the floor.
But I didn’t like that he used that dish-soap-sounding name for my daughter again.
“Why do you keep calling the baby Lavender ?”
“…Because that’s her name? Did you seriously not know that?”
I cleared my throat and shifted in my seat. “Mae ended up changing it. Rosemary, we’re still working on a middle name, though.”
And, by the sound of it, we’d better pick fast.
Sebastian blinked twice as if he wasn’t sure what to make of me .
“Her name is Lavender Joy Albright. Mason would never change that without asking me first.” The small fray at the edge of his voice hinted at the fact he knew that wasn’t true.
“Well, she did.” But why didn’t she tell him that?
“… Did she let Lucian pick it out?” His guard continued to slip further.
And honestly, I felt a little bad for him. “No, he’s named two humans. He don’t get to name a third.”
Sebastian took a deep breath as a little of his undeserved confidence filtered back into his system.
“Please, when it comes to anything regarding my relationship with Mason, don’t lie to me.” His plea almost sounded human, which made it that much worse.
“I ain’t lying.”
Sebastian pressed his lips into a thin line as he shook his head.
“Look, I’m sure you’re used to the world bowing at your feet because of the whole cult leader thing—but Mason is the only person in the world who has consistently been nice to me.
I know she’d never let anyone other than my brother sway her. ”
A weird sense of pity filled my chest, and if I didn’t know any better, I would have probably felt bad for Seb. Mason shouldn’t have lied to him about something like this, but seeing as Sebastian had literally killed people. She probably had her reasons for keeping it secret.
Maybe she was afraid of what he’d do if he found out.
Sebastian prepared to open his door. “If you’re done trying to torment me, can we go inside now?”
Inside of the house was no better than the outside.
The walls were all painted some shade of white, and the plaster was chipped to hell. The wooden floors looked to be the ones the home was made with, and the dappled sunshine pouring in through the ivy leaves only made the place look more washed out .
But it was warm, so there was that.
I sat stiff as a board in the wooden chair directly across from Dale. His green eyes were trained directly on mine, and the Cheshire cat-like smile he wore grated on my already frayed nerves.
I shouldn’t have come here.
Sebastian cleared his throat, drawing Dales’s attention away from me, and it was like I could breathe again.
“So, as you can understand, I’m a little confused about the whole situation.” Sebastian was calm and cool on the outside, but I would have given anything to be able to read his mind.
I wanted to know what exactly he had to gain by not only coming here but also bringing me with him.
“Ain’t a thing to be confused about. Cameron here is fired, and I’ll be taking over as the head of the church until I find someone suitable to fill his shoes.” Disdain dripped from Dale’s words, and I had to look away. “He’s a disappointment, and there was no reason for him to join you today.”
“I brought him along, hoping to smooth things over,” Sebastian explained.
Like hell he did.
“Son,” Dale’s chair creaked as he leaned over to Sebastian before resting a hand on his arm.
A flicker of disgust crossed Sebastian’s face, but he did a good job regaining his composure.
“There ain’t nothing to talk through,” Dale continued. “I thought I’d found a man who would do my church proud, and all I found was a liar and a coward.”
A wave of dizziness washed over me as I forced myself to look my former father in the eye. My pulse thrummed in my ears, and I worried that if it beat any faster, it’d explode.
“What the hell have I ever lied to you about?” I snapped.
He’d been the one who forced me to take fake names. Before Dale, the most I ever lied about was sneaking drinks from the liquor cabinet.
“Cameron, I’m a lot of things but ain’t dumb.” Dale’s posture sagged as his gaze bore into mine. “You know what you’re lyin’ about, and so do I.”
Mason.
The dizziness grew to a punch of nausea as my hands started to shake. This was it. Seb and I were going to have to kill Dale. My attention bounced around the room as I tried to figure out how we’d do it. But, Seb placed a hand on the middle of my chest as if to tell me to just stop for a moment.
“Pardon me if this seems a bit nebby, but can I ask what this secret is?”
The animosity in Dale’s swampy eyes vanished as he looked at Sebastian. “Son, there ain’t a thing going on between Cameron and me that you should be concerned about. That ain’t why I brought you here, anyway.”
Sebastian’s lip curled slightly when Dale called him son, but he regained his composure faster than I ever would have.
“Then why did you ask me to come? You said we had to talk.”
“And we do, just not around prying ears.” Dale’s smile remained as he gestured toward me.
“Well, Cameron can go sit in the truck while you and I finish this.”
My gaze narrowed at Sebastian. There was no way I was letting this asshole tell me what to do.
Dale’s chair squeaked on the floor as he stood, folding his arms behind his back.
“Honestly, I’d love to chat with just the two of us. But I’ve got other fish to fry today.”