Chapter 6
6
DOMINIC
I wake to the scent of stale lavender and mothballs. Blinking away the lingering weight of a restless night’s sleep, the hideous floral wallpaper of my room swims into focus.
Ugh, waking up in this B&B feels like being throttled with my dead grandmother’s wardrobe.
I groan at the assault on my senses, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed and rubbing the crusting of sleep from my tear ducts. The ancient springs beneath me creak in protest, urging me to leap to my feet before the whole thing collapses.
I guess that’s one way to force someone out of bed.
I shower and dress quickly, the walls feeling like they’re closing in on me with every second I spend trapped in this hellhole. “Some fucking vacation,” I mutter to myself. I’m just about ready to march out the door with no real plan for how to spend my day when my phone starts buzzing in my pocket.
The moment I catch sight of the name on the screen, I consider hurling the whole damn thing out the window. Instead, I bite back a string of foul curse words and swipe to answer. “Hello, Mother.”
“Dom, darling! I just heard the most interesting news,” her shrill voice chirps merrily through the speaker. “Apparently, you were spotted leaving the coffee house yesterday. Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to visit us after all this time?”
I pinch the bridge of my nose hard enough to risk a bruise, focusing on the pain to anchor me before I lose my mind. “I’m not here for a social visit. Just some quick business and then I’m leaving.”
“Nonsense,” she tuts. “You have to come and have Sunday brunch with us at least. The whole family together, doesn’t that sound lovely?”
“No,” I snap, picturing her jumping slightly at my harsh tone. “I don’t have time.”
“But Dom–”
“I gotta go. We’ll speak another time.” I hang up before she can protest. Tossing the phone onto the bed, I claw my hand through my hair, my gaze wandering to the view from my window. Main Street stretches out before me, a fucking Norman Rockwell painting brought to life. Ancient little shops, tree-lined sidewalks, and a bunch of irritating gossip mongers who can’t help but report everything and everyone they see as if it’s breaking news.
Clearly, I won’t be able to go anywhere in this town without someone reporting it to my mother. The obvious move would be to leave now, and head back to the city where I belong. I should give up on this failure of a fun vacation. I can’t torment Shiloh and avoid the rest of my family at the same time.
Shame. I’d felt like the rush of yesterday’s antics was just the tip of the iceberg, once I had calmed down. And I didn’t even get to see whether or not Shiloh seemed shaken after my little visit…
“Fuck it,” I sigh, grabbing my leather gloves and storming out the door.
Thirty minutes and a brief text to my mother later, I’m pulling into the parking lot of Old Mabel’s Diner. I kill the engine but can’t quite bring myself to move just yet, gripping the steering wheel until my gloves creak.
Am I really going to go through with this just for the chance to stay in town a little longer without being hassled?
It seems the answer is ‘ yes ’ as I slam the car door shut and stride into the lion’s den.
The nauseating smell of cheap coffee and maple syrup hit me like a thick tsunami, and I almost turn right back around–which seems to be a growing habit of mine. The only thing that stops me is an enthusiastic wave from the mother who’s unfortunately already spotted me. She has a megawatt smile plastered on her face as she swings her arm through the air with such gusto it might just fall off. Next to her my stepfather, Charlie, offers a tentative nod. Finally, bouncing in their seats like caffeinated chimp-babies are Theo and Ellen–the replacement spawn.
Here we all are, the happy little family plus one black sheep.
I approach slowly, still considering leaving, each step feeling like I’m wading through the very syrup this place reeks of. My mother leaps out of her seat as I finally reach the table, arms thrown wide.
“Oh, Dom! So glad you made it!” She envelops me in a cloud of floral perfume and latent maternal affection. I stand there stiffly until she lets go. “Let me look at you. My goodness, you’ve packed on some muscle! Do you ever leave the gym?”
“Yes, Mother. Oddly enough I have a job to go to, if you remember.” I roll my eyes with enough dismissal to have her stepping back, her bright expression faltering slightly. Charlie extends his hand next to her.
“Dom. Good to see you.” The strain in his voice is almost enjoyable, as he’s clearly as thrilled about this gathering as I am. Can’t say Shiloh was the only one I indulged in tormenting as a kid.
“Charlie.” I respond, briefly shaking his hand with my firmest grip. His wince has the corner of my mouth curling up.
Theo and Ellen are practically vibrating out of their skin with excitement. We’ve never met, but it seems they’ve built up some story in their mind that I’m going to be a doting older brother. I can’t wait to crush that dream in my fist.
“Dom! Dom! Guess what?” Theo yells, waving his arms in the air like the spitting image of our mother.
“Indoor voice, sweetie,” she chides gently.
I slide into the chair across from him. “What?” I ask, not one trace of interest coloring my tone.
“I lost another tooth yesterday!” Theo grins wide, proudly showing off the gap in the center of his mouth.
“And then! And then! A FAIRY came!” Ellen pipes up, determined to not let her older brother hog the spotlight.
“For real! I got a whole five dollars!” Theo tacks on.
“Wow,” I deadpan. “Inflation really is hitting everyone these days.”
Charlie clears his throat, attempting to make it sound like a lighthearted chuckle. “So, Dom. How’s the Big Apple treating you? Still climbing the old corporate ladder?”
I lean back, crossing my arms over the overcoat I haven’t bothered to remove. “There’s not much left to climb, unless I decide to murder my own father.”
My mother jumps in, immediately sensing the danger of an awkward silence. “Oh, but surely you want a break from working so hard all the time. How long are you staying? We’d love to have you over for dinner, you haven’t been in town for a decade. Doesn’t that sound insane? A decade , for goodness’ sake.”
“I’m not sure yet,” I hedge. “Depends how my business works out.”
“Well, you simply have to make time to see us all again before you leave,” she insists. “Have you even told Shiloh you’re here?”
At the mention of my sister, my fingers clench involuntarily. “She knows.”
“Oh, you’ve spoken to her? How is she? We haven’t caught up in ages, these two little ones keep us busy beyond belief. Is everything good with her?”
I arch an eyebrow, stunned that I should be the one around this table being asked about Shiloh’s wellbeing. Our parents live barely five miles from their eldest daughter, but apparently that’s too much of a distance to keep tabs on her life. “She’s a little stressed actually. That ridiculous Halloween Ball-thing lost its sponsor and now she’s nervous her school is gonna miss out on funding.”
“Damn,” Charlie sighs. “That place is so important to her. And she adores the Ball, she must be devastated.”
I snort. “Yeah, she seemed really cut up about it when she called to beg me for the cash.”
The table falls silent again, Charlie’s brows lowering in a deep frown. “Shiloh asked you for money?”
“Sure did. She was clearly hoping for a bailout from her dear, long-lost brother. I told her just where to stick her charity case.”
My mother’s eyes widen comically as Charlie’s lips flatten into a grimace. “Dominic! That’s your sister you’re talking about.”
“Step sister,” I correct her automatically. “If you can even call her that. We’re practically strangers to each other. She may as well have called any random dude on Wall Street for a handout.”
The pair of them just gape at me for a moment, as if I’d just told them I was on a mission to bring Hitler back from the dead. The tension is broken by Ellen tugging impatiently on my mother’s sleeve. “Mommy, is Shiloh coming for pancakes too?”
“I hope so, my love,” Mother simpers. “I think she’s just running a little late.”
Right on cue, that infernal bell above the door chimes again. I glance up and there she is. Shiloh stands frozen in the doorway, her wide eyes locked on our charming little gathering.
Well, this should be interesting.
Shiloh’s expression slowly morphs from shock to something harder, more guarded, as she approaches our table with measured steps.
“Well, isn’t this a surprise?” she says as she reaches the chair beside mine, her greeting dripping with false cheer. “The prodigal son returns.”
My mother beams, apparently determined to ignore the thick tension. “Shiloh, my love. We were just talking about you.”
Shiloh slides into the chair beside mine, scraping it across the floor in her effort to leave a wide berth between us. “Hey Viv, hey dad,” she says warmly before turning to the kids. “Hey there, little munchkins, what’s crackalackin’?”
Theo and Ellen launch immediately into excited chatter about anything and everything they can think of to say to the older sister they seem to see almost as little as I do. I watch in silence as Shiloh nods enthusiastically, playing the role of the big sister perfectly as she peppers the conversation with the appropriate oh, cool ’s and no way ’s.
It grates on my nerves to no end.
“So,” I interject when there’s finally a blissful lull. “Nice of you to grace us with your presence. I would think you’d be too busy with planning the costume party of the century, or whatever.”
Or wasting away in bed with a raging hangover.
Shiloh narrows her eyes at me, all warmth bleeding from her expression like I’d stabbed her in the face. “I always show up for my family. Unlike some people who’d rather pretend we don’t exist.”
My mother titters nervously and shifts in her seat. “Now, you two. Please, let’s not bicker. It’s once in a blue moon that we all get to be together like this.”
Charlie nods, obviously eager to provide backup to the peacekeeping mission. “Your mother’s right. How about we order some grub? I know two little gremlins who are dying for some pancakes.”
But the damage is already done. Shiloh and I stare daggers at each other. The fa?ade of happy families well and truly shatter on the floor, years of festering resentment spilling out.
“Dear me, Shy Girl. I know you’re really put out about this whole ball thing, but there’s no need to bring such a negative attitude to brunch. Are you feeling well?” I smirk at her, gleefully leaching out every last ounce of fury I can.
“Me?” she whisper yells. “No one fucking wants you here, Dom. Why don’t you do us all a favor and drag your shitty attitude back across state lines where it belongs?”
“Language, Shiloh!” my mother gasps. But that’s all she says. No disagreement. No blubbering speech about how she’s desperate for her first-born to stay right here. It seems the limits of her stunned joy have been reached, and now she’s remembering how difficult I made life for all of them when I was here all the time.
Another second of tense silence and something in me snaps. I spring to my feet, nearly upending the table in the process. The rest of the diner has fallen eerily still, all eyes seemingly glued on our familial spat.
“You’d like that wouldn’t you?” I growl at my brave little step sister, yanking my wallet from my pocket. I pull out a wad of cash–easily a few hundred dollars–and drop it on the table with a satisfying slap. “Here. Consider this my contribution to our happy family fun time.”
Without waiting for a response, I spin on my heel and storm back out the door, my gloved hands clenched into fists.
Who the hell does she think she is, dismissing me like she has the high ground? As if she’s better than me for hanging around this backwater town for a family who couldn’t give two shits about her.
Fury causes my vision to blur. Over my dead fucking body, will Shiloh get to dictate what I do. If she wants me out of town, so she can go back to begging for scraps of our parents’ hard-won attention, then she can damn well have the opposite.
I’m here to fucking break her now.
Good luck getting rid of me, Shy Girl.
You have no idea what’s coming to you.