Chapter 4 #2
Silence stretched between us, and I swallowed hard. “Oh, really? Then have your mother switch places with mine.”
“Thad,” Henry said.
I snarled at him like a rabid dog. “No. Let Clive run over your mother, and see how it feels when she reaches out her hand for help, and he leaves her for dead. Then you can set the better fucking example.”
Heat stained his cheeks, and his voice cracked. “I’m not saying I don’t understand. I’m just—”
“Fuck you,” I growled. “You two-faced piece of shit.”
Silence.
The dinner was ruined. I stormed out of the house. Henry followed behind me. Warm lights blazed from Summer’s house, and I assumed all the women had left the dinner to go and console her.
Maybe I was asking to move heaven and earth hoping people would see my side of this issue after all this time.
Guess I was crazy to think that any of these people could truly see the situation through my eyes. We both lost our parents to murder, but we weren’t the same. Summer was a victim, and I was the biggest monster some had ever seen.
“How are you and Summer going to coexist in this town? Is there anyone else who can head the project at Fitzgerald? You two can’t stomach being in the same room,” Henry spoke quietly.
I closed my eyes and raked my hands through my hair. “I’m not planning to walk on eggshells because of Summer. I’m a free man and plan to roam the town no matter her feelings. If she can’t take me being here, she can pack up and go, but Tarrytown is my home.”
His voice took on a pleading note. “Thad, you used to love her. You both loved each other.”
I paused at his useless words. “So what? I also used to have ketchup with my rice, eggs, every meal. I grew out of that, and I grew out of Summer too.”
Summer
“You see, once a murderer, always a murderer,” I lamented as I topped off the wineglasses in my kitchen.
I was going to need a lot of wine to ignore what had just happened.
My shoulders were still shaking. All these years, and you’re still the asshole who ignored my cries so you could get petty revenge.
Eden looked at Ashley, Daisy, and then me. “I don’t think Thad meant it. Just like you didn’t mean what you said either. You won’t throw yourself in front of a wrecking ball.”
Rolling my eyes, I sighed. What would it take for everyone to see Thaddeus as I did?
He wasn’t some cute, charming guy. He was calculating and brutal.
Fury shot through me every time I thought about how my friends had entertained the idea of a coming-home party.
There should have been no question of whose side they were on.
Mine or a murderer’s. The fact that I’d once laid in bed with that man made my stomach turn.
“Let’s not talk about him anymore,” Daisy suggested.
Ashley’s best friend Mimi, whom I never liked, and I figured only tagged along since all the women left, didn’t take the hint. “I don’t get it,” she said. “It sounds like you’ve both got reasons to be upset—”
I poured wine down my throat.
“There was more to the story than both their parents dying,” Daisy continued. “Summer’s dad had a drinking problem. He accidentally hit Thad’s mom with his car. He panicked and left her there to die. Summer and Thad were engaged at the time.”
I nodded and pressed my lips together.
Ashley patted my thigh. “This is all my fault.”
I sighed. “It’s not. You didn’t kill my dad, and you didn’t know.”
Mimi’s face wrinkled. “I guess Thad believes in an eye for an eye.”
The way she said Thad like she’d known him forever was jarring.
“Henry never told me the details of why Thaddeus was incarcerated,” Ashley said.
I understood. The conversation stuttered, but somehow, we managed to steer it to a different topic.
Ashley phoned her house across the street. Minutes later, Felix arrived with containers of food.
“No sense starving while they fill their bellies,” Ashley stated.
She’d clearly worked hard on the meal. Why should the men enjoy all of Ashley’s hard work?
The food was delicious. I felt terrible about the way the dinner had gone.
I’d have to bake her one of my homemade cakes to make up for ruining her evening.
She and Wylie especially loved the German chocolate.
The idea of decorating a cake with skulls came to me.
Wylie would think that was great. He was a good kid.
My thoughts turned to what Thaddeus’s skull would look like.
“Summer, why are you smiling?” Daisy asked.
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
“Can you believe Halloween is almost here?” Eden asked.
Everyone shook their heads. This year, time just seemed to move so quickly.
Ashley lifted her glass into the air. “Eden, what are we doing for your birthday?”
“Nothing. I don’t want to celebrate turning thirty. Let’s just grab a bite,” Eden said, then looked over at me. “Girls only.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Daisy said.
How long could we split off into two groups, though? Ashley being married to Thaddeus’s best friend made that impossible.
Mimi seemed to take great pleasure in saying, “So, you’re throwing away your husband for the group?”
“My life doesn’t revolve around Henry,” Ashley firmly stated.
It was exactly as I’d both dreaded and expected: Thaddeus getting released meant everything had changed. He would be every-fucking-where. Nervous energy coursed through me. I paced the room while everyone watched.
“Summer, isn’t there someone else at work who can fight with Thaddeus over the Starlight building?” Eden asked.
Other than Olivia, I was the best choice, and I knew it.
My heart raced. Even if there were anyone else, I wouldn’t step aside and give them the opportunity.
Not when this would be my first chance to stick it to Thaddeus and his damn father.
The thought of seeing Thaddeus’s perfect jaw sink to the floor when I won filled me with joy.
I won’t be blindsided . . . this time. I’ll win because I have insight into just how cruel he can be.
I’d work day and night and make sure the building’s sale never went through.
All I needed was some time to think of a way to permanently kill this deal.
One name came to mind. The name of someone who owed me a favor and happened to work in the right place to delay a sale.
I wasn’t beyond playing dirty to get what I wanted.
I looked up at the ladies. “No need. I’m going to beat him.”
“Summer?” Daisy’s brow furrowed in pity.
Eden dropped her forehead into her open palm. “Makes no sense trying to talk either of them out of it. The showdown will happen eventually.”
“Well, I hope you win,” Ashley said.
I caught Mimi rolling her eyes. “Not to be a bitch, but little old you against the Fitzgerald corporation? You can’t think you’re actually going to win.”
“Hey, don’t underestimate her. Summer is an excellent attorney.” Daisy winked at me and smiled.
I could feel how proud she was of me.
Mimi stood and grabbed her purse. “I’m sure Fitzgerald has better ones. They’re a multi-million-dollar company. Honestly, I don’t even get why you’d bother.”
I didn’t plan on dignifying that with an answer.
Ashley’s jaw dropped. When the door slammed behind Melissa, Ashley finally spoke. “Don’t mind Mimi. She’s harsh on the outside but kind underneath. She means well.”
Yeah fucking right. I’d probably need a chisel to find that bitch’s gentle center, and I didn’t care to. “Best friend or not, I don’t want her back in my house.” I wasn’t at all remorseful about my harsh tone.
“I understand. I’m sorry you were blindsided tonight. That was the last thing I wanted.”
I softened my voice. “It wasn’t your fault at all. I shouldn’t have come . . .”
She chewed her lip. “Sorry again for the mix up.”
Ashley gave me a hug. The rest of the women filed out behind her, each wrapping their arms around me. Daisy went last. “Will you be okay?”
“I feel better than I have in years,” I said.