90 Days (Prairie Town Book 2) (19 page)

    
“Laney?”

     Callum’s voice pulled her out the tortures of her mind and she wiped at her eyes, peering up at him.  “Hm?”

     “Are you okay?  I lost you there for a second.”

     “I’m fine.” She replied in a quieter voice.  “I just um…I’m tired is all.”

     “Maybe you should go home and rest.” He suggested, touching her arm gently.  “I’m sure Lydia will be calling you soon, you know, to talk about this.”

    
Or to apologize for not including me.

     Saying goodbye and waiting for him to pull out of the parking lot, Laney sank into the driver’s seat of her car and stared at the steering wheel in disbelief.

     If she had known what was going on she could have done something to help out a lot sooner.  But instead, her brother and sister made the decision to treat her like an incompetent loser and they were trying to handle the problem alone.

     Someone was out to hurt Lydia and to destroy her wedding, and she didn’t even think to tell the co-maid-of-honor it was happening?

     “Why the fuck did you even bother asking me to be in your stupid wedding?” She sniffled, frowning as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.  “Why pretend like I’m actually important?”

     Starting the car and letting the tears fall freely, Laney decided then and there that family didn’t matter as much as she once thought it did.

----------

Lydia

     “She’s not answering.  Why isn’t she answering?”  She asked worriedly.

     “Maybe she’s in the bathroom or something.” Callum replied, busily typing away on his laptop at the kitchen table.

     “She’d still answer.”

     “Even in the bathroom?” Callum looked at her over the top of his laptop and quirked a brow.  He looked so damn good in glasses.  It was a pity he only wore them for reading.

     “Yes, even in the bathroom.” She scoffed.  “We’re sisters.  That’s totally normal.”

     Tossing her phone onto the counter with a sigh of frustration, she folded her arms across her chest and shook her head.  “I need to know exactly what you said to her when you were with her, Callum.”

     “I already told you what I said, baby.  She asked, ‘This isn’t the first time, is it?’ to which I replied, ‘No, Laney.  It’s not’.  That’s how the conversation went.”

     “Then she’s mad at me because I didn’t tell her sooner.” She groaned.  “God, I’m so stupid.  I should have told her what was going on.  I’m an idiot.”

     “You’re not an idiot, Lydia. You’re—aha!”

     Whirling about to see what had him so excited, she soon realized he’d finally gotten a hit on the phone number he’d been trying to find a location for.

     “Who is it?” She asked eagerly, hurrying to the table and standing behind him. Gripping the back of the chair, she leaned over his shoulder to get a better look at the screen.  “Alisha Thomas?  I’ve never heard of her.”

     “Neither have I.” There was disappointment in his voice.  “I honestly thought it would be that Rose douche Jeb hates so much.”

     “But if Devin knew the truth about me he wouldn’t be playing games like this.  He’d just shout it to the world and then come beat me up, just for old time’s sake.”

     “He could try.” Callum growled, moving his fingers rapidly over the keyboard.  “Do you think Laney or Jeb might recognize the name?  Your parents?”

     “Maybe.  I can call them and ask, but what do I say when they ask me why I want to know?”

     “Honestly?” He pulled his glasses off and turned his head to stare up at her.  “Just tell them the truth.”

     She curled her arms around his shoulders and pressed a kiss to his cheek.  “Always my voice of reason. What would I do without you?”

     “Probably marry a less intelligent guy.” He grinned, pecking at her lips.  “I think I’ll try to get some more intel on our new friend and see what I can come up with.”

     “Aw, now you’re sounding like your father.  Do you have any idea how sexy you would look in a uniform?”

     Their lips touched again and he released a deep laugh.  “You know, sometimes I get the feeling you’re weirdly attracted to my dad.”

     “But I’m attracted to you more.”

     “You better be.” He swatted her ass.  “Now go make those phone calls before you distract me.”

     “I’m going, I’m going!” She giggled, quickly dodging out of his reach.  Grabbing her phone and quickly finding Jeb’s number, she hit the call button and walked out of the room.

     It barely rang once when he picked up.

     “I’m sorry.”

     A little taken aback by his greeting, Lydia stopped in the long hallway that led to Callum’s room and smiled.

     “I’m sorry, too.” She said softly.  “Do you forgive me?”

     “Of course I do, Lyds.  But I really am sorry I lost my cool.  You didn’t deserve that.”

     “Well, you didn’t deserve my behavior either, Jebson.  There’s just been so much going on and…”

     “And what?” He prompted when her voice drifted off.  “Did something else happen?” 

     That creepy sibling ESP.  It was something they had often done as kids, but it seemed so rare these days.  In a way, she was thankful it was still possible.

     “Yeah, it did.”

     Over the course of the next fifteen minutes, she confessed everything she knew about the woman determined to shatter her life.  She talked about the voice mail, the text message Laney had received, and the name Callum had discovered online.  Jeb remained silent the whole time, not really saying much.  It was very un-Jeb-like behavior.

     “And now we’re just trying to figure out who she is and what I’ve done to her.” She sighed.  “So I just wanted to know if you recognized the name before I call Laney.  She’s already dealing with enough.”

     “No.” Jeb’s voice cracked a little and that immediately told her he knew
something
, but she couldn’t very well push it.  Not yet at least.  “I don’t know
that
name, Lydia, but you don’t need to bother Laney with it.”

     “What do you mean?”

     “I mean… I mean I know why it’s happening and I’m so fucking sorry.”

     Listening closely, she swore she heard her brother’s breathing change. 

    
Oh, lord.  Is he crying?

     “Jebson?” She whispered, staring at her phone in disbelief.  “Are you okay?”

     “No.” His voice was strained and filled with pain.  She didn’t like it at all.  “No, I’m not.  I’m sorry, Lydia.  I fucked up.”

     “What do you mean?  I don’t understand.”  Her stomach churned and knots of nervousness squeezed around her innards.  “Jeb, what’s the matter?  What happened?”

     “I don’t want to talk about it over the phone, Lyds.  I’d much rather see you face to face.  Just… I’m sorry, okay?  I’m really, really sorry.”

     “Jeb—”

     “I’ll be over in a few minutes.”

    
Click.

     Lowering the phone from her ear, Lydia walked numbly into the kitchen and leaned against the counter for support, unsure of what her brother meant and even more confused over the fact he was crying.

     Was he insinuating this waking nightmare was his fault?  What could he have possibly done?  And who was the woman who kept sending voice mails and text messages?

     “Find anything out?” Callum inquired, glancing up from his laptop.  When he saw the look on her face, he immediately got up from his seat and moved to her, cupping her face with his hands.  “What is it, Lydia?  What did they say?”

     “It’s Jeb.” She murmured as her mind began to race in a thousand different directions.  Why?  How?  “He’s coming over.  He wants to talk to me.”

     “About Alisha?  Did he say who she was?”

     “No.  No, he didn’t.” Her teary eyes met his and she frowned.  “But I’ve got a bad feeling about this.  I don’t think Jeb ever meant for anything like this to happen, Callum.  I…”—her voice broke as tears began to fall—“My brother doesn’t cry.  Not ever.  I think he’s in trouble.”

----------

Benji

     After three grueling hours of rearranging two aisles of books and adding motivational posters to the small reading nook, Benji said goodbye to Tula and prepared to lock the shop up all on his own.

     Turning the lights off and making sure the back door was locked tight, he headed back to the front of the store and carefully stepped around the display shelf containing copies of
The Man I Love
, one of Tula’s absolute favorite books by one of her absolute favorite authors. 

     Maybe he’d never understand how people fell in love with words on a page, but then again, he didn’t necessarily expect people to understand how he could fall in love with comic books or video games either.

    
To each their own.
  He thought as he fished the keys from the front pocket of his slacks and stepped outside.  The warm summer weather greeted him, reminding him that he’d been stuck inside all day while the world around him enjoyed the beautiful weather.

    
There will be more opportunities.

     He was just about to close the door and lock it when movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention.  Turning his head quickly, he stared at Laney in surprise.

     “Hey there.” He couldn’t help but smile.  “What are you doing here?”

     She lifted her light green eyes to meet his gaze and it felt like someone had knocked the wind out of him.  The sadness on her face killed him, and when he saw her bottom lip quiver, well, he was a freaking goner.

     “Laney.” He closed the distance between them, not caring that he left the door wide open, and wrapped her up in a tight hug.  “What’s the matter?  Talk to me.”

     She buried her face against his chest and her muffled sobs reached his ears shortly after.

     Why was she hurting so much?

     “I didn’t know where else to go.” She finally said, pulling back and wiping at her eyes.  “I’m s-sorry.  I just…I didn’t know where else to go.”

     “It’s fine. It’s okay.” He rubbed her arms as he reassured her.  “Come in here.  Let’s talk.”

     Grabbing her hand, he guided her back into the store and shut the door, quickly putting the
closed
sign in the window and turning the dead bolt. Afterwards, he turned around to find her sitting on a beanbag in the reading nook, her arms wrapped around her trembling frame protectively, her head lowered.

     It was a little funny, but he’d skimmed the pages of a paranormal romance book earlier that day and he’d read all about how werewolves became aggressively protective of their mates.

     He sort of felt that way at the moment.  All he wanted to do was take her pain away.  He wanted to hurt whoever had hurt her.

     “Hey.” His voice was soft as he crouched in front of her, reaching out to wipe away a tear before it could drip off her jaw.  “Talk to me, beautiful.  Tell me what’s wrong.”

     Sniffling, Laney finally looked at him and the anguish in her eyes absolutely gutted him. 

     “I’m not good enough.”

     He couldn’t believe his ears.  Why the hell would she say such a thing?

      “What do you mean, Laney?  Of course you’re good enough—you’re the best, you hear me? Superb human being and all that.” He slid his hand to the back of her neck, massaging the tense muscles he found as he inched closer and rested his forehead against hers.  “Don’t think like that.”

     “I can’t help it.” She squeaked, releasing a shuddering breath, the kind that made a person’s entire body quake in misery and despair. 

     If only he could comfort her.

     “I feel like such a failure, Benji.  All these years I have looked forward to having Lydia home again.  It’s stupid, but I imagined everything falling into place and being perfect.  Never did I think she’d fall in love and then get engaged.”  She smiled sadly.  “I never even dreamed of being her maid of honor.”

     “Okay.” He nodded. Knowing she was going somewhere with her admission, he played with her hair, raking his fingers through the silken locks as he held her gaze.

     “I’m so happy for her, Benji.  I really am.”

     “I know that, beautiful.  I know you are; we all are.”

     “I want her to be happy, I do.  She deserves all the happiness in the world.”

     “I agree.”

     “And Jeb.  He’s been such an amazing brother.  I love him.  I love them both so much.”

     “I know you do.” He frowned, his eyes darting back and forth between hers.  “Is that why you’re crying?”  Though that didn’t make much sense, did it?  Surely she wouldn’t have been crying if she was happy about having her family back together.

     It wasn’t adding up.

     “They don’t love me.” She sobbed, burying her face into her hands.

     “What?  Laney, that’s crazy.  Of course they love you.” He hugged her again and wracked his brain, trying to make sense of it all.  Laney wasn’t really making sense as it was, but what was he supposed to do?

     He wanted to help, but how?

    
Maybe I should call Lydia.

     “I’m not good enough.  They kept a secret from me and it’s not fair.  I could help.”

     “What secret?  Help me to understand, babe.” He leaned back and gazed at her.  “What secret did they keep from you?”

     “Well.” She hiccupped, reaching into her pocket to grab her phone.  “I got this text message and”—hiccup—“I was so worried.  I called Callum because I thought maybe it was the best thing to do and then I find out this isn’t the first time something like this has happened.  They hid it from me.”

     Glancing at the screen as she held her phone out towards him, he read the words and felt anger boil just beneath the surface. 

    
Fuck
.

     How would she react when she found out he knew about it before her, too?

     Would she push him away as well?

     Conflicted and greatly concerned for her well-being, Benji decided to pretend he was clueless about the situation.  It was probably the wrong choice, but he didn’t want to risk being pushed away, too.  Laney needed at least one of them to stay close right now.  If Lydia and Jeb couldn’t be that person, then he would.  He had to be.  For her sake.

     “Holy shit, that’s crazy.” He acted surprised.  “Somebody really sent that to you?  Why?”

     “I don’t know why.  Callum said he’d try to trace the number, but I’m not going to hold my breath.  They’re keeping it a big secret.” She said bitterly, wiping at her cheeks and sighing.  “I am just so…disappointed.  I thought we were closer than that.  I get it—I’ve got issues.  I know she’s afraid I’m too sensitive and she’s probably just trying to protect me or whatever, but I’m not a little girl.  I shouldn’t be kept in the dark about things like this.  Right?”

     “Right.” He nodded, swallowing hard.  “Of course you shouldn’t be left out.  That was a pretty unfair decision on their part.”

    
Liar.  Hypocrite.
  Was he not doing the exact same thing right now?

     “Oh, Benji.  Thank you for being here for me.” Laney hugged him and pressed a kiss to his cheek.  “You’re the best.”

     Annnnnd cue the guilt.

     She pulled away again and glanced around the store, seemingly calming a little.  “Oh, wow.  It looks so different in here now that she’s painted and everything.  I remember how bare this place was just a few months ago. She’s worked really hard on it, hasn’t she?”