37. Ian
37
IAN
I enter the bungalow as soon as Sarah drives away from the house. It's only past seven in the evening and we’ve just had dinner. If she's leaving the house, then Sheila must be aware.
And there's no way she's okay with her leaving, so I want to understand why she didn't talk her out of it.
Knocking on the door, she opens it almost immediately.
“Why didn't you stop her?” I ask.
She gives me a derisive look, a wry chuckle leaving her mouth before she steps away from the door, leaving it open. At least she didn't slam it in my face.
“And I can see how successful you were from the sound of the car I heard moments ago.”
Fine. Maybe she did try.
Groaning, I enter the house and close the door. Placing my hand on the edge of one of the cushions, I glance around, my eyes barely landing anywhere. I'm restless as fuck.
“Why does she have to be so stubborn?”
“From what I've heard, you're not the best listener yourself.”
“Come on, Sheila, now's not the time to joke around. She came to me for help and won't even let me do that! What am I supposed to do?”
“I don't know. Just leave her alone, I guess?”
Leave her alone? What good will that do anyone?
“You know I can't do that.”
“I know.” She nods and walks farther into the house.
I remain standing, wondering where she's going but not having it in me to ask. Fond as I may be of her, she's still aware of what Sheila is keeping from me, and she won't tell me.
I'm not holding it against her because I know her loyalty is to her niece, but what's happening with Peter right now will not go away if I don't know what she's hiding and how he can use it to get to her.
Sheila walks back in, a pitcher of iced tea in her hand alongside a bottle of whiskey. She never runs out of iced tea, does she? I can't believe she's made it since they got here yesterday.
“Which do you want?” she asks, presenting the objects in her hands.
“I’ll take the tea,” I say with a smile on my face.
She addresses me skeptically, a smile teasing her lips. “You sure?”
“Yeah, I am.” I don't want any alcohol in my system tonight, especially if things go south.
I'm still not calm about Sarah leaving the estate.
“Alright.” She places the bottle of whiskey down and carries the iced tea with her. “Fetch some glasses, will you?”
I do as she says and pour us both a portion before passing one to her. Taking a sip of my own, I let the past day's events play in my head again.
“Kyle Austen though, of all people. Did you know?”
Sheila shrugs, her face taking on a thoughtful look.
“I didn't know who he was until after Olivia's birth. I tried to pressure her into making him come see her, and that's when she caved. Told me he can never know about her. That's all I needed to know. A few years later though, I saw some news about him, and that's when I knew how dangerous he really was.”
Damn. I wish she had someone who protected her back then. If only I had stayed…
“Enough about that asshole. Are we going to talk about how you've still not told Sarah you're in love with her?”
“Sheila, shush,” I say, suddenly feeling self-conscious at the thought of Sarah's daughter hearing us.
Come to think of it, how come I hadn't remembered her when we were talking about her father?
Chuckling, Sheila speaks. “She’s asleep Ian, and even if she isn't, she's in the last room down the hall. No way she can hear us. Now quit deflecting and start telling me why you're still hiding how you feel from her.”
“I'm not hiding anything,” I grumble.
She gives me a look that says bullshit. I scoff and look away from her, take another sip of my iced tea, and wish I had taken the whiskey instead.
Why did she have to bring this up now?
Do I really love Sarah?
It's one thing to think I do. It's another thing entirely to be sure. And with all that's going on with us, I think the secret is the biggest problem I have with her. How can I know for sure that I love her when she won't even trust me with her secret?
She had sex with me many times, made me confide in her about Justin, yet not once did she think to tell me about her daughter. Or the fact that the father of said child is a notorious criminal.
“I don't know, Sheila.”
“What don't you know? That you love her or if you should tell her how you feel?”
A bit of both, to be honest, and it makes me smile at how insightful she is, yet she's being so graceful about it.
“You're a good man, Ian. She'll be lucky to have you.”
Those words have me turning my head to look at her. She barely knows me, yet she speaks those words with so much conviction.
“Thanks, Sheila.”
“Don't thank me. Just tell Sarah you love her.”
“I'll think about it.”
“Well, don't take too long,” she says in a tone that tells me she knows something.
Of course, she does. The secret.
“Alright,” I mumble.
We remain seated in silence, neither of us speaking yet bothered as time passes between us.
I don't know how long we remain seated in silence for, probably long enough to catch a nap, but there isn't any awkwardness.
She's growing to become family.
The thought comes from nowhere, and although a new discovery, it's a welcome one.
She's a good woman.
The sound of a car stopping in front of the house has us both standing up. I'm at the door before her. Yanking it open, I almost bump into Sarah, who's trying to come inside.
“What are you doing here? I thought you'd be asleep by now?” she asks in surprise.
Looking away, I try to not let my irritation at the question show. She leaves the estate against my wishes and expects me to go into the mansion and be able to sleep well?
“How was your outing? Got what you needed?” I ask, switching the topic. She nods and motions for me to step out of the way. I do, and she steps inside. I close the door and turn to watch her.
“Actually, yes, I did. I've changed my mind. I'm going to help save my father.”
“What?” Sheila and I both bark at the same time.
“Sarah, you can't!” Sheila says, moving close to her with a horrified look on her face.
“Auntie, don't worry, I'll be fine.” She tries to appease her aunt. From her demeanor though, I know she doesn't believe a word of what she said.
What's going on with her?
“But what about?—”
“I said, I'll be fine. Don't worry. Just go inside. Get some rest. I'll need you to stay here with Olivia till I'm back. I'm leaving in a few hours.”
Bullshit, she's leaving.
“You're not going anywhere until you tell me what's really going on here,” I inform her.
Her eyes snap at me, defiance clear as daylight in them. I don't care how stubborn she plans on being, she's not leaving.
“You're not in any capacity to tell me what I can or can't do,” she scoffs.
“Bullshit. You came to me for help, and I've been tiptoeing around you, not wanting to piss you off. But this ends now because I'm starting to realize there's nothing I do that doesn't piss you off anyway, so I might as well start setting you straight instead of kissing your ass and letting you continue to make stupid decisions.”
“Don't talk to me like that!”
“I'll talk to you however I want!”
“Both of you, calm down,” Sheila says, trying to get in the middle since we're now almost in each other's face.
I've just had it up to my neck with her.
“Sheila, stay out of this,” I warn.
“Auntie, please don't interfere. Go inside your room.”
Sheila remains in the middle, not budging at both of our words. She wants to stay? She can be my guest.
“You're not leaving this house until you tell me what's going on,” I address Sarah.
She rolls her eyes, a taunting smile on her lips. “You can't do anything to stop me, Ian.”
She's right, I can't.
But if she's going to be stubborn, then I can be, too.
“Maybe you're right. Maybe I can't do anything to stop you, but you bet your ass I'm going to follow you to New Jersey and do my best to frustrate you until you start trusting me and telling me the truth!”
“This isn't about me not trusting you,” she huffs.
“Then what is this about?” I thunder. What else could be keeping her from telling me the truth?
“My daughter!”
“What?” I blurt out stupidly.
“I'm doing this for my daughter, and if you can't respect that then what the hell are you doing in my life?”
“What?” I mutter again in confusion.
“Instead of always ranting that I don't trust you, how about you start supporting me for once? Or you might as well have stayed gone forever because Lord knows I wouldn't be in half the trouble I'm in right now if not for you!”
What is she talking about?
“I don't understand.”
“You never do. Well, let me make it simple for you. Have you ever thought of how my life would be right now if you hadn't left? Huh? Have you ever wondered if she would be yours? Not his! You know what? Don't bother answering that. I'm out of here.”
She walks away. My ass has been handed to me, and all I can think of is what did Peter say to her?
He had to say something.