Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
HUDSON
T his week was weird. Elena didn't show up at work with a smile on her face. We didn't have lunches on the beach or marathon question sessions where we talked about everything, from our childhood to our dreams for the future.
I missed her even though I saw her every night. We usually ate dinner with Grams and sat on her porch for a while until she went to bed. Then we headed back to my place where I kept Elena up late, exploring every inch of her gorgeous body.
I knew she was getting worried because Valerie hadn't given her an answer about her next assignment yet. But I hoped we'd know something after the party, which was slated for Saturday at a local restaurant and bar.
On Friday night, I arrived early at my parents' house for dinner to talk to my mom alone. Elena was at the senior center for bingo night with Grams.
"How are things with you and Elena?" Mom asked as she cut veggies for the grill. Dad was out back seasoning the steak in the outdoor kitchen we'd built for them a few years ago as an anniversary present.
I'd talked to her and Dad about what was going on between me and Elena since I'd been tasked with ensuring the article was positive. "She's a little nervous about her job at the magazine."
Mom's brow furrowed. "I thought she said her boss was pleased with the end result."
"Valerie has the final say on layout and edits, and I don't think Elena will relax until she sees the published magazine. Plus, she hasn't given Elena another assignment yet."
"I'm sure it will be fine. I read what she'd written, and it was wonderful."
I let out a breath. "I hope you're right."
Mom patted my hand. "You picked a good one. I like her."
I let out a slow breath. "I told her I was in love with her."
Mom glanced up, surprise etched in her expression. "Are you serious?"
"When have I ever told you I was in love with a woman?" I asked, even as my heart beat wildly.
She set the knife aside. "Never."
"I'm serious about her. She's the one for me, but I don't know if she's going to be living here much longer."
"When you're in love, you make all kinds of sacrifices. I wanted to leave the island and travel, but in the end, your father was here and so was his business. For years, we were just trying to get it off the ground, and now we're so busy it's tough to take time to travel."
"We can handle the business so you can travel more." I wanted that for them, but it entrenched me further on the island, and I didn't know where Elena was headed next.
She gave me a look. "Your father has had a hard time giving up control."
"Don't I know it," I mumbled.
"If you love this woman, then you'll do whatever is necessary to keep her."
My brow furrowed. "Are you saying I should leave the business if she goes back to Boston?"
"You don't know what's going to happen yet, but I'd start to explore the idea in your head. What would it be like if she left? Would you be happy with a long-distance relationship? Would you eventually want more?"
We'd spent so much time together the last few weeks; I couldn't imagine not ending every day with her. I had visions of us renovating a house together or fixing up Grams's place, room by room. I just wanted to be with her. "I can't imagine her not being here."
Mom nodded. "I thought so."
"But moving? That's crazy. My job has always been with dad's business."
"You have six brothers who can pick up the slack?—"
"Marshall isn't here, and who would handle everything I do? Can you imagine Shep in charge?" I chuckled, but Mom didn't laugh with me. In fact, her lips were pressed into a tight line.
Mom braced her hands on the counter. "I love all of you equally. I don't love you more because you appear to be more responsible than your brothers."
"I know that." Where was this coming from?
Her forehead wrinkled. "I think Shep would rise to the occasion should you give him more responsibility."
"I'm not willing to risk that."
"Your father feels the same way, but I hoped that you would see his potential. He's crying out for some acknowledgement."
"He comes to work late. He forgets to clean everything up at the end of the night." If a worksite was going to be vandalized, it was his. He'd become known for being neglectful of the tools and equipment.
"You know he has ADHD. He has to have a system in place to help him remember things."
"I don't think he's interested in setting up a system." He seemed to enjoy the chaos and disorganization.
Mom pursed her lips. "I don't think that's true. I think he's embarrassed that he needs help."
"What do you need me to do?" I asked carefully.
Mom sighed. "I want you to be open to Shepard getting more responsibility."
Perplexed, I said, "You know that's up to Dad."
"I know, and I'm hoping you can talk to him, make him see another way. I don't want to drive away another child like we did Luna."
I shook my head. "You didn't drive her away."
My mother lifted her gaze to meet mine. "She lives part of the time in Maryland."
"That's where Axel's family lives."
"It's partly why she's not around as much. Marshall left too. I don't want to lose touch with another child."
The familiar guilt settled in my chest. "None of us know why Marshall left except he felt called to do what he's doing."
"I know you were hurt the most when he left, but I hope that one day you'll talk to him about it and forgive him for leaving."
My forehead creased. "I forgave him."
Mom raised a brow as she continued chopping peppers. "Have you?"
My chest hurt from just thinking about how he left. "Maybe not."
"I have faith in you and in Shepard. Will you talk to your father about him?" Mom asked.
"You know I'll do anything for you."
Mom sighed. "That's all well and good, but I want you to do it for Shepard."
"Okay." I wasn't sure I completely understood where Mom was coming from. But I was helpless to deny her anything.
"I'm so proud of everything you've accomplished. You always put family first. But I think it's time for you to consider what you want out of life, and if it's Elena, then we'll support you."
"Thanks, Mom." I just hoped that Elena felt the same way. Sometimes loving someone wasn't enough, and they still left.
I hoped that wouldn't happen with Elena, but I wasn't confident in her feelings enough to assume that she'd stay, or that I'd follow her wherever she decided to go.
* * *
On Saturday, nerves fluttered in my stomach as I got ready for the party. Was I nervous about the party itself, the article being published, or my future? I didn't like feeling out of control, and right now, I was spiraling.
I had no control over what was printed in that article, which photos were chosen, or whether Elena would stay on the island. There were so many possibilities, and I couldn't help but worry about the worst of them.
I was meeting Elena at the restaurant because she had to go in early and decorate. I parked in the rapidly filling lot. Everyone on the island had been invited, and the crowd was spilling off the deck onto the sand surrounding the restaurant itself. A live band was playing, and tiki torches dotted the beach.
Brady appeared at my side with a look of concern on his face. "Have you seen the photos?"
"Elena wanted to wait until the magazine was finalized for me to see them. She wanted it to be a surprise."
Brady frowned. "I'm not talking about the magazine article."
"Then what photos are you talking about?" I asked, my stomach dropping.
Brady pulled out his phone and went to a popular social-media app. There was an account for the Island Times that included daily posts about which brother was the hottest. Each day, a different brother was featured along with a photo and details about us. I read Shep's first, and it wasn't flattering.
"It says Shep enjoys picking up women at bars. That it's like a sport to him." He lowered his phone. "That makes him look like a player who doesn't care about anyone's feelings."
I grabbed the phone from him, reading through Dalton's bio that mentioned him getting a girl pregnant. "I can't believe that Elena did this. She promised she wouldn't publish this stuff, that she wanted everyone to know what made us unique."
"I'm not sure it was her—" Brady began.
The pressure built inside my head until I exploded. "Who else could it have been? She was the one interviewing us. It was her article."
"I saw the draft she sent Mom and Dad, and it's nothing like what was published in the magazine. This makes us out to be playboys who care about picking up women and nothing about the business."
I ran a hand through my hair. "This is a disaster. Dad trusted me to handle this, to ensure that we were portrayed in a good light."
"Shep frequently says things like this, but he's joking," Brady said. "I don't think he does half the things he says he does. It's all an act. I don't know why he does it. I just can't believe that Elena would have done this. She seemed so genuine."
Elena appeared in front of us, wringing her hands. "You've seen the article?"
"Brady showed me the social-media posts."
"I didn't have anything to do with that."
"I trusted you," I ground out, because I felt horribly betrayed.
"And I trusted Valerie would tell me if she was making any big changes or if she created a social-media campaign. But I guess I really didn't know her at all."
"You're the writer. You're the one who asked for personal information and then exploited it." I pointed at Brady's phone. "This could ruin us and the business. My father was counting on me to handle this, and I let him down. I let my brothers down."
Elena moved closer to me, touching my arm, but I shrugged her off.
"Hudson—" Brady chided.
"I have to get out of here," I said to Brady.
"Are you sure?" Brady hesitated, his gaze moving from me to Elena.
"Hudson, will you let me explain what happened?" Elena asked, her voice filled with a soft plea I struggled to ignore.
"I can't. Not when I'm dealing with the fallout."
My phone rang, Dad's name showing on the screen. "Dad's calling. I have to talk to him."
I turned on my heel and headed toward Brady's truck. I felt too volatile to drive myself.
Thankfully, he was quiet as he drove to our parents' house. I couldn't talk. I couldn't seem to make the words go past the lump in my throat. Everything inside me felt too tight, like I was going to jump out of my skin.
At home, Brady put the truck in Park. "I think you should listen to Elena. I know you're upset, but I'm not sure that she's the one who did this."
"We obviously don't know her at all."
Brady sighed and got out of the truck. I followed him inside where Dad was pacing the living room, and Mom looked on with a perplexed expression. "What's going on? Your father said something about the article not being what we'd thought it would be."
"I didn't even get a chance to read it. I just saw the social-media posts, which were in poor taste."
"It was nothing like that draft Elena sent you," Brady said while I stood there, my heart heavy.
I sighed. "I'm sorry. I had no idea this would happen."
Dad stopped pacing. "I trusted you to handle this.”
"You did, and I'm sorry. I had no idea she would change the article." I wasn't sure what else to say.
"We're going to lose customers. Elena made it look like you boys were more interested in picking up women at a bar then working."
"We don't know that Elena is the one who wrote that—" Brady attempted to say.
"Her name is listed as the writer." Dad opened the magazine to the article and pointed at the byline.
I took it from him so I could see it. There were five photos, one of each of us with a little bio underneath. I skimmed it quickly, my heart sinking with each awful word. "Where's the stuff about our volunteer work and how seriously we take the business?"
"This was a mistake. I never should have given you this responsibility," Dad said.
"Now, Jonathan. I'm not sure that's fair," Mom interjected.
"I'll figure out a way to fix this." I felt defeated. This was entirely out of my control. I didn't know much about social media or what made something go viral. I didn't know how to stop what was already in motion.
"It's not your fault, sweetie," Mom began, but I turned and walked away, not listening to Brady's pleas to stay. I didn't have my truck, so I walked in the direction of my house. I needed time to think. How could I have trusted Elena? I barely registered the falling rain or that my clothes were soaked within minutes.
Was our relationship a lie? Was she planning this all along? The longer I walked, the less certain I was. I couldn't see any cracks in our relationship, any reason to believe that she wasn't trustworthy or that she was planning this behind our backs.
I walked on the path next to the road. A few minutes later, a truck pulled off to the side. It had the Kingston Construction lettering on the door. The window rolled down, and Shep leaned over. "Get in."
"I want to walk," I said stubbornly.
"And I want you to get in. You weren't the only one affected by that article."
"Fine." I stalked over to his truck and opened the door. I climbed inside, feeling irrationally irritated that Shep had interrupted my time alone.
Thankfully, we rode in silence to my house. He parked and turned off the engine.
"We're sitting in the dark now?" Ever since I met Elena, I had a new appreciation for storms but not tonight.
"What's going on in your head?" Shep asked, ignoring my question.
"Why do you care about any of this? You want people to believe those things about you." I knew it was rude, but I couldn't stop myself from lashing out.
Shep leaned back in his seat. "I'll let you have that for now. How I act is one thing, but putting that in writing was not cool. Especially when she tried to say that we're all like that. Like we don't care about the business or our reputation."
I turned slightly to face him. "You're upset with Elena too?"
Shep blew out a breath. "I'm not sure if Elena is the bad guy here."
I rubbed the back of my neck. "She's the one who wrote the article."
"She wrote the article that she sent Mom and Dad, which was nothing like the one that was published. She said she didn't have final editorial say on the finished product."
I shook my head, trying to clear it. "So what are you saying? Elena didn't do this?"
"It's a possibility. What did she tell you?"
"She said it was Valerie, and she felt terrible for not knowing that she'd do something like this." It was the first time I allowed myself to process her words.
"What if she's telling the truth?" He shifted on his seat so that he was facing me. "Did she give any indication that she could do something like this?"
"No." My jaw hurt from clenching it so hard.
"So this would be out of character for her?" he asked carefully.
I felt his gaze on the side of my face. "What if I never knew her at all? What if I let a woman in, and she just used me for her career?"
"You knew her better than any of us. What's your heart saying?"
"That I love her." I should be with her, talking to her right now and not my brother.
"Do you think it's worth having a conversation with her? I'm just as pissed off as you are, but I'm not so sure everything is as it seems."
"I don't know." I wasn't prepared to do that now.
"You should talk to her. Give her the benefit of the doubt. If you still don't trust her after talking to her, then that's different. But right now, you're operating on anger."
"I thought she was it, you know. The one for me."
Shep shook his head. "I can't pretend I understand what that's like, but if you find someone like that, you shouldn't let them go so easily."
I couldn't believe I was taking advice from Shep on relationships, but maybe Mom was right. He deserved more credit than we gave him.