Chapter Seven
Maya
Holden helps me up from the counter and kisses the top of my head before tugging on his jeans. “Why don’t you go wait for me in the bedroom? I’ll send whoever this is away.”
I can’t imagine what he wants to talk about or who the heck would be knocking on the door at dinner time, but I’ve still got jelly legs from the orgasm he just gave me and I’m ready for another one, so I nod and smile sweetly.
Seriously, a genie granting wishes could be at the door right now and I’d ask him to come back later. I’m good.
I’m halfway down the narrow hallway, standing next to a framed painting of a wildflower field when I hear my brother’s voice. At first, I think I’m hearing things, so I pause and wait until I hear it again.
Sure enough, Wyatt is hollering my name through the house like a crazy person. Why do I have such an idiot for a brother?
Drawing in a deep breath, I turn back toward the front of the house, walk past the stained oak planter with some kind of greenery, and step out onto the front porch where Holden has Wyatt in a chokehold.
It’s too cold for this. It’s too cold, it’s too late, and it’s snowing like crazy again. Why? We really don’t need more snow.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I stare at my brother, wondering where his life went wrong. Alice is right… he wasn’t always like this.
“You’re dating a liar,” he barks. “A liar who stole sixty thousand dollars from the company he claims to love so much.”
Holden tightens his grip and I roll my eyes.
“Wyatt! You’re so drunk! What’s wrong with you? Why did you drive here?” I step toward him, but I don’t smell alcohol this time.
“I’m not drunk.” He elbows Holden in the ribs and pushes free from his grip. “I gave Holden a chance to tell you before tonight. He didn’t, so… now you know.”
I’ve never been more embarrassed for my brother. I don’t know what’s happened to him. He’s completely lost it.
I cross my arms over my chest and shake my head before glancing back at Holden. “I’m so sorry about this. I’ll take him home.”
“He’s not lying, baby.” Holden stands tall and strong in the center of the porch, his gaze fixed on mine as though he’s trying to speak directly to my heart.
I narrow my gaze, confused as hell. “He’s not lying about what?”
“He’s not lying. I stole sixty grand from Blackrock. It was ten years ago. I had Wyatt launder the money through a casino in the Springs.”
My mouth drops open, and though it’s cold enough to stop your heart, I feel my body heating up. “What? No. If you’d have stolen that much money, you’d be in jail.”
He shakes his head. “It was a slow process. Took nearly a year to transfer all the funds.” Holden glances back at my brother. “He took a lump sum as payment for help and used it to pay your tuition. Truthfully, I’m probably the reason he ended up with a gambling problem.”
I don’t know what to say. I’m sick, nauseous, seeing both black and red simultaneously.
“What?”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.” He steps toward me. “I put it in the past a long time ago, and obviously it’s not something I talk about.”
“What did you do with the money?” The words feel stuck in my throat. “Why did you take it?”
The wind howls through the eaves as Wyatt steps forward with a sigh. “You remember Alice’s heart surgery? The one she needed shortly after her parents died?”
My cheeks flush and I glance up at Holden. “Oh my God! You stole the money to pay for it?”
He nods once. “She’d been canceled from their insurance, and I sure as hell didn’t have enough money on hand for a surgery. She needed the operation within the year or she,” he exhales deeply, “wouldn’t have made it.”
“Fuck, man.” Wyatt slaps Holden on the shoulder.
“As you’re saying this out loud, I realize how fucked up I am.
” Wyatt grits his teeth and then releases a sigh.
“You turned your back on me, you started dating my little sister, but I forget that Alice wouldn’t be here today without what we did.
I shouldn’t have said anything, no matter how pissed I am. ”
“It needed to be said.” Holden lands his rough hand on my elbow. “I’ve paid the money back little by little over the last ten years.”
I’m not sure the crease in my forehead could get any deeper. “And no one noticed that there was an influx of money coming in?”
Holden tilts his head to the side. “Our clients tip fairly regularly so no one thought anything of some extra money getting added.”
I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to think. I don’t know how I ever believed Holden was such a good guy. He literally stole sixty thousand dollars. I’m pretty sure people go to prison for life for that kind of stuff.
“I should go.” I step sideways into the house and grab my coat off the hook before swinging my purse over my chest.
“I fucked up.” Wyatt reaches out for me as though he wants to apologize. “I’ve been so fucking angry about what went down with everything… I’m not thinking straight.”
I reach my palm out toward him. “Give me your keys.”
I expect him to put up a fight, but he does it without hesitation.
“I’m taking your truck home. The snow is bad right now. I won’t make it down the mountain in my car.”
“I’ll drive you home.” Holden reaches inside for his keys like he’s going to help me, but I jog down the steps before he tugs on his boots.
“I don’t want help tonight! You two deserve each other!”
He keeps moving like he’s going to try to out race me to the truck, but I have a head start and he’s not as fast as me on his best day.
I make it into the driver’s seat with time to spare and I start the old Ram up with a quick turn and a pump of the gas pedal.
I haven’t driven stick in years, but at some point, it’s like getting on a bike.
It’ll have to be because I’m not staying here right now.
I can’t. Not when my mind is reeling a hundred miles an hour.
I mean what the hell? What the actual hell?
Of course the nicest guy I’ve ever met also committed grand larceny.
I mean, that only makes sense. That said, I remember when Alice was sick.
The doctors found a hole in the wall between the upper chambers of her heart.
Apparently, she was born with it and didn’t know.
She’d been lucky enough to evade symptoms for most of her life until she was running during gym class and fainted.
The doctor heard a murmur, she got an echo, and her whole world changed.
I remember Holden bringing her into the hospital and I remember how scared they were that she wasn’t going to make it. Like Wyatt and I, Holden and Alice were all the family they had.
He did the best he could with her. I know he did because I was there, watching it happen.
I shift gears as I lean forward in the truck, trying to focus on the snowy roads, but my phone buzzes beside me in the console and forces my gaze to the light.
It’s Alice. I totally forgot she said she’d call later. I wonder if she knew about all this.
I answer and attach my phone to the magnetic holder that Wyatt keeps in the air vent. “Hey!”
“Howdy, sweet little Maya Ann Davis. This a bad time?”
“No.” I clip the word more harshly than intended, then make an effort to sound smoother as I say, “Just driving back home. It’s snowy though, so I can’t watch my screen.”
“Oh! Do you want to call me back when you get to the house? I was just going to ramble.”
I consider taking her up on the offer, given the gridlock I’m in conversationally, but the roads are making me nervous, and a distraction might help ease the tension. “No, that’s okay. I’d like the company. How’d the rest of your day go?”
She drags in a deep breath. “It was just fine. I ended up having dinner with the editor again and it wasn’t so bad this time.
He took me to this sushi place down by the water and we talked about more than all the awards he’s won.
So,” her voice trails off, “it was kind of fun. I just… I don’t know if I should even be dating. ”
“Why do you say that?” I keep focused on the road as the world blurs to white. I can’t believe how bad this storm has gotten. I’m ready for spring. At this point, I’m not sure who isn’t. We’ve had record snow and cold this year.
A few silent seconds go by before I glance toward the screen to see Alice walking back and forth in her kitchen.
I think it’s the kitchen. I only look for a moment before drawing my eyes back to the snowy mountain road.
“What’s wrong? You’re pacing. You only pace when you’re worried or trying to make a decision. Did something happen?”
“No,” she sighs. “Not really. I mean, something did happen a while ago, but I don’t know… I think it took me a while to come to terms with it, and now that I have, I don’t know what to do.”
The suspense is killing me. “Okay…” I flick on my blinker and turn left into pure white, hoping no one else is coming. There has to be a better way to do this. Actually, the best way was probably to stay off the road. “What is it?”
I’m halfway through the turn when she finally answers.
“I’m pregnant.”
Pregnant? Did she just say pregnant?
“How pregnant?”
“Four months.”
Four months!
My heart stops, my chest tightens, and suddenly I’ve lost traction with the road.
Of course I have. That’s the most logical next step to a day from hell. First, your brother walks in on you while you’re making out with his former best friend now worst enemy, then your evening date gets blown up with horrid secrets, and finally you crash your car in a slurry of white.
This was a well-orchestrated day from hell. Kudos to whatever devil thought this one up.
I always believed people were being dramatic when they talked about the flashes of memories they had right before an accident. Now, I know they weren’t. That, or maybe I’m dramatic too.
It’s hard to say.
All I know is that Holden keeps flashing into my thoughts. The way he holds me, the way he comforts me, the way he makes me feel more safe and loved than I’ve ever felt. Right now, I don’t care about the mistakes he’s made. I need him.
“Maya, oh my God! Are you okay? Ease off the gas!” Alice’s voice is a mere echo in the background as the truck spins in at least two circles, slides off the road, and slams straight into a massive pine tree.