9. Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine
Leo
T he windows rattle as the wind picks up outside, howling low and long. It almost sounds mournful.
The wooden floorboards lightly creak under my steps as I make my way through the house, my eyes heavy with tiredness as midnight approaches. Regardless, I can’t fall asleep. The noise in my head is too much.
Too demanding.
I stop in the middle of the hallway and lift my eyes to the gold loop of the attic door above me. I can’t even begin to imagine what all is stored up there.
Holiday decorations. Antique furniture. Photo albums.
Just a bunch of dusty memories .
Before I can walk away, there’s a pull from within my chest. A longing that infiltrated me the day I arrived.
I open the small closet to my left and grab the hooked pole inside, moving quietly to not wake up Dad in the other hallway. He was the type to call naps “a waste of time” because he was so restless and determined to work.
Now, he mostly sleeps.
I slide the hook into the loop and pull down, making the door open and the steps fold out. Dust floats in the air as I peer up into total darkness, a pit of uncertainty forming in my stomach.
But I still climb up the steps and switch on the pull light to flood the large attic with light.
Large plastic totes are stacked throughout the space, a slight chill permeating the air as the temperature continues to plummet outside. I’m not sure there’s a rhyme or reason to how things are organized. What I’m looking for could be anywhere.
I carefully step around piles of smaller boxes and stacks of papers, the floor slightly groaning under my feet. My eyes sweep over labels written in black marker on the tote lids .
Christmas lights. Family china. Leo’s school projects.
Julie.
My mom’s name makes me stop abruptly, my heartbeat halting as well. A singular plastic tote for her things is stashed in the very back farthest away from the attic door. Far from where Dad could ever see it again.
When Mom passed away, Dad couldn’t bear to even look at her things any longer. Not her jewelry on the vanity. Not her clothes in the walk-in closet. Not her pictures scattered throughout the house.
Many things were donated. Some more personal items were stored in this tote, but Dad had no say in what was kept because he couldn’t find the strength to do it.
Juliet’s mom had to do it with my help. The incredible woman who I still keep forgetting to ask about because I’m so distracted by everything else.
I told her to keep Nana’s rings that were handed down to Mom. The last bottle of her perfume she had so that I could remember how she smelled. And every single picture of her that could be found .
I hated having to pack up all her things and stash her away like she never existed, and I hated how Dad was never the same after she died.
It wasn’t fair. Now, he’s dying.
And I just…fuck.
I pull off the top and stare down into the box, my heart lurching at the sight of all her things. She smiles up at me from one of the photos of her tucked under Dad’s arm, her hand resting on his chest as his lips press against her head.
My throat tenses. They were so happy. All of us were so damn happy.
Now, everything is fucked. If she saw how things were between Dad and me, she’d be so mad. Even worse, she’d be devastated .
But she wasn’t there for that fight that made everything come crashing down.
That made me turn my back on this place with the intention to never return.
~* ~
Quiet laughter fills my bedroom as Juliet and I sit on my bed, college brochures and applications abandoned on the floor.
“If you get into NYU too, we can get an apartment together instead of staying in the dorms. They’re so expensive,” Juliet tells me as she takes my hand, our fingers twining.
I nod. “I just want to be away from here. I don’t care what university we go to.”
Juliet’s face softens as she tightens her grip on my hand. “Everything will be okay, Leo. We’ll hear back from colleges soon. We’ll have our own life.”
I sigh and lean my forehead against her temple. “I know. I’m just…ready. I can’t stand being here.”
Juliet places her other hand on my cheek and coaxes me closer, our lips joining together.
Kissing her doesn’t take all the pain away, but it does help. She’s the only reason why I haven’t completely lost my damn mind every time Dad and I fight over something.
But I’m being held together by a very thin thread that’s ready to snap.
When it does, I don’t even think she’ll be able to keep me together .
“Kiss me,” she whispers, her fingers sliding into my hair. “Stop thinking so much.”
I do my best to shut off my mind, moving out of instinct to kiss her deeper. My hand finds her thigh, steadily gliding up toward the bottom of her jean shorts.
She smiles and teases my bottom lip with her teeth. “There you go.”
The corner of my mouth curls up a little, comforting warmth spreading throughout my body. I move my hand to the side of her thigh, preparing to haul her onto my lap to straddle me.
Until my bedroom door flies open.
Juliet and I jerk apart, but we’re not fast enough to not be seen kissing by my father as he fills the doorway.
“You can’t be serious.”
“Why didn’t you knock?” I snap at him as I stand from the bed.
Juliet grabs my hand, her cheeks flushing from embarrassment. “Leo, stop. ”
I pull my hand away from her as Dad shakes his head in disappointment.
“Get out in the hallway!” Dad bites back before storming out of my room.
My face burns hot with anger as I follow him, my blood roaring in my ears. He wasn’t supposed to find out about us until we moved away. Until we were ready.
Dad spins around to face me, eyes sharp. “I do not approve of this. She is the daughter of one of my employees. She’s not right for you!”
“Because her mom isn’t in the right tax bracket? Because she’s beneath you?” I question him.
His face reddens. “Instead of sneaking around with that girl, you should be learning how to run the company. I have poured too much time and energy into trying to teach you for you to blow off your duty to this family for a relationship that won’t last.”
I ball my hands up into fists, nearly shaking with fury. “You don’t know anything about us! You don’t know how happy we are together. We’ve been together for two years now and you never even knew! ”
“I don’t care how long you’ve been sneaking around! She’s a phase!” he snaps, pointing in my face. “You need to focus on more important priorities.”
“Like the company?” I scoff. “You think I care about the company more than her?”
“You should,” Dad grits out. “Family comes first. She will only distract you. She could be using you for all you know.”
My eyes grow wide. “You’re wrong. She’d never do that.”
He steps closer. “I’m trying to protect you. You’re forcing my hand, son.”
“To do what?”
His face hardens. “You will break up with her, or I will make sure that she and her mother never step foot on this property again.”
“You…are you threatening to fire her mom?”
He doesn’t say anything. That’s all the answer that I need.
“That’s fucking cruel,” I tell him. “You know that she needs this job!”
“And I need my son to make better decisions for himself. Unfortunately, he’s blinded by what he thinks is love. ”
“I hate you,” I spit out, venom flooding my voice.
He blinks at me like I slapped him in the face, but he’s only silent for a few seconds before he tenses and inhales sharply.
“And you’ve disappointed me. Again and again. You’re selfish. You’re lazy. You’re unfocused,” he says. “I’m trying to give you everything, and you’re throwing it back in my face! What would your mom think?”
I lose my breath. Punching me in the stomach would’ve hurt less.
“Don’t…” I warn him. “You haven’t been able to say a word about her since her funeral last year. You don’t get to say her name to make me feel worse.”
His jaw tightens. “Break up with that girl and prepare yourself to take over the company. This is what you’re meant to do. Don’t throw it away.”
“Or you’ll fire her mom. You’ll never accept us,” I say, my heart pounding. I can’t even stand to look at him. This is the last fucking straw. “I’m done.”
Dad narrows his eyes. “Done?”
“I don’t want anything to do with you,” I tell him. “I’m getting the hell out of here.”
I put my back to him to see Juliet standing out in the hallway with tears in her eyes. She needs her mother, and her mother needs this job. Running away together was always the dream after we got accepted into the same college and saved up money.
But I can’t wait any longer. I can’t risk my father’s influence making life hell for both of us. For her innocent mother.
The only way to mitigate the damage is to take myself out of the equation. To turn my back on this town and everyone in it.
Spare the girl I love. Ensure her mother keeps her job. Prove to my doubting father that I can become something my mother would be proud of.
“Go home. You can’t stay,” I tell Juliet before walking past her to enter my room.
The first thing that I do is dig my suitcase out of my closet and flip it open on my bed.
~*~
I pull myself out of the heavy memory, but the discomfort lingers .
Things were never the same after that fight. My relationship with my father was severed that day, and I don’t see a way to repair that rift. Maybe it’s for the best that we remain broken.
I’ll never forget the terrible things that he said to me. How am I supposed to believe he cares for me like a father should care about their son? Why would I go crawling back to someone who made me feel so damn miserable?
I shut the box and pull out my phone, bringing up Devon’s contact. My thumb hovers over the message button, uncertainty stirring in my stomach.
Maybe selling to Devon and officially cutting all ties with Evergreen Heights is what I need to do. That’ll be the only way that I can truly move forward.
Living in the past just hurts me.