Chapter 29
“W hatcha doing out here all alone?” Karina asks when she finds me out in the stable, stroking Hooter’s mane.
“I just needed a break from all that wedding talk. Nice guest list by the way.” I roll my eyes at her. She must know I despise half the people who are here tonight.
“Don’t blame me, Mom kinda intercepted it.” She holds up her arms in defense and takes a seat on one of the straw bales. I watch as her eyes slowly take in our surroundings.
“Do you feel kinda weird being here?” she asks like she’s got something on her mind.
“No. Not at all.” I move away from Hooter’s stall so I can sit beside her.
“You know, if she wasn’t dead, it would be her, right?” Karina looks at me awkwardly.
“What do you mean, it would be her?” I’m starting to wonder how much my sister’s had to drink.
“Bree. Caleb had a thing for her, the same kinda thing Wade’s got for you.” She nudges my shoulder playfully, but I don’t respond.
“I didn’t know that.” I look back at her in shock, and when her eyes drop down to where her hands are fidgeting, I force her to look back at me.
“What are you saying, Karina?”
“I’m saying, that Wade Carson is crazy in love with you, and you don’t even see it. You are gonna marry a man who doesn’t even know how special you are and I know Mom would beat me black and blue for saying this, but I don’t think you should.”
“I meant about Caleb and Bree.” All sorts of thoughts are running through my head now. I remember the night we drove back from the Shelton’s, what he told me about Bree made it sound like he was familiar with her.
“I don’t know much about it, Bree got real cagey before… you know.”
“Karina, do you think Bree and Caleb were a thing?” I ask, standing back up and reminding myself to breathe.
“I don’t know, he was too old for her, but all girls like an older guy. And he was different with her, not like he is with you. That’s why I’m telling you this. Caleb doesn’t love you, but Wade does.”
“Karina, when you say different, how do you mean?” I can hear the shiver in my voice along with its desperation.
“Well, for a start he’d write her these cute letters, and he was always giving her gifts. She still collected stuffies, half the ones she had were from him.”
“Oh, my God.” I close my eyes and try to catch my breath. “I gotta go.” I start backing up toward the door.
“What do you mean you gotta go?” My sister follows after me.
“Karina, go back into the party and tell Mom and Maisie that I got a headache and went home.” I open my car door.
“Wait, you can’t just…” I slam the door and drive away before she can stop me. And despite having no idea what my next move will be, I head straight for the Mason ranch.
I have to pull myself together before I go inside, I can’t let anyone here know I’m suspicious of anything, and so I put on a smile, and somehow manage to calm my nerves before I tap the heavy, iron knocker against the wood door.
The housekeeper answers and shows me inside, and when she leads me into the living room, Ronnie and Leonard are both sitting on the couch watching a documentary.
“Leia, what a nice surprise,” Mr Mason greets me with that creepy smile, while Leonard’s eyes look up at my head and he sniggers. I quickly remove the willy boppers I forgot I was wearing and hold them behind my back.
“I’m afraid Caleb isn’t here, he went out with a few friends of his own,” Ronnie informs me.
“It’s fine, I can wait for him if that's okay. I just… I missed him.” I force the words out, hoping that they sound believable.
“That’s sweet, dear. I’m sure he’ll be very happy to see you when he gets home.”
“I was thinking, I might wait for him upstairs. It’s been a long night.”
Leonard raises his eyebrow at me, and I have to try real hard not to show how satisfied I am by the mess Wade made of his face. He looks like he’s had stitches and the bruising’s really come out now.
“Of course, we’re a little more modern here than your folks are.” Old man Mason scoffs.
“Goodnight.” I head upstairs, remaining calm until I'm inside Caleb’s room.
Closing the door behind me, I quickly set to work going through his things.
A few months ago, Wade's house was broken into and Bree’s room got trashed.
I wonder now if it was Caleb. The Carsons knew that Bree was pregnant when she died and, if what Karina tells me was true, any letters or gifts from him could have been evidence that he was the father.
I work as fast and quietly as I can, searching all the obvious places, like the wardrobe and under his bed.
I can feel myself getting more and more frantic as the time passes.
Caleb could come home any minute and being here puts me in a position I don’t want to be in.
I find a lockbox in the bottom drawer of his dresser, but no key, and then spend another half an hour searching for where that key could be.
Time runs out when I hear footsteps on the landing, and I quickly sit myself on the bed and try to look casual.
“Leia, Leonard said you were here. I thought he was kidding.” Caleb laughs, undoing his tie and stumbling toward the bed. “Didn’t you have a party?” He kicks off his shoes and fumbles with the buttons on his shirt to get them undone.
“Yeah, I just wanted to come and see you.” I smile as I watch him hop on one leg and take off his pants. I’ve never seen him without a shirt on before, and it’s nothing like the body I had dancing against me, earlier.
“Oh, yeah… and what might that be for?” Caleb looks at me cleverly as he stalks toward me.
“I wanted to tell you… I came to say…” I have no idea what to tell him as he gets closer. “…that I’m gonna try,” I lie, hoping that, given the state he’s in, he’s gonna buy it.
“That’s real good news, Leia.” His body forces mine against the door and presses all its weight into me. His hand touches my face, but there's nothing tender in its touch, and when his lips press into mine it feels deceitful.
“You gonna stay here with me tonight?” He breathes me in.
“I can’t, my dad will be expecting me home. I know it’s hard, but it’s only a few more weeks. You can wait for me, can’t you?” I do my best to sound enthusiastic, and it seems to work, although it does earn me another kiss.
“I’m gonna hurl.” Caleb pulls away from me and stumbles toward his en-suite bathroom.
Looking at the pants he dropped on the floor, I quickly dash to pick them up.
Maybe the key to the lockbox is attached to his house keys, and when I fail to find them I decide to check his wallet instead.
The key I’m looking for is for a small lock, and as I search for it, I find something else.
Something that makes my hand tremble as I hold it between my fingers.
It’s a photo, one of Bree Carson, looking every bit as pretty as I remember her.
She’s smiling, but not at the camera, this is a natural shot, and she has a beautiful glow around her that looks as if it’s coming from the sun.
When I hear the toilet flush, I quickly put it back where it was, and before I have to face him, I rush the hell out of his room.
I don’t bother to check if Mr Mason, or Leonard, are still up as I rush out the front door.
I get in my car and as I pull away, I burst into tears.
I thought things were complicated before, but now, they just got a whole lot worse.