Love Behind Lies (11 page)

Chapter 22

We had arrived at a restaurant downtown. Sam had taken a different way so he hadn’t arrived yet. Brent and I sat in the car, silent.
“Sorry.” Brent broke the silence.
“For what,” I asked.
“Everything.”
“I thought we made a deal.” I kept my eyes forward.
“I can’t take it anymore.”
“Okay.”
“Are you okay,” Brent asked me.
“Yeah, are you?”
“Cat, I can’t explain to you how bad I feel.”
“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”
I leaned over the arm rest and kissed Brent gently on the lips. I rested my head on his shoulder and took a deep breath.
“Cat, I never want to lose you,” Brent said to me, resting a hand on my back.
“You won’t lose me. I’m not going anywhere.” I said, but Brent never responded.
My phone vibrated.
You ready to go? Or are you going to stay in the car?
Sam texted me.
“Where is he,” Brent asked. He must have been looking at who the text was from.
“I have no idea,” I replied to Brent.
“Well, we should probably get out then.”
“Probably.” I opened the car door and got out of the car. Brent followed me and we walked into the restaurant together.
Sam was already sitting at a table.
“How did you get here so fast? I thought you were behind us,” I asked.
“I sped here. I wanted to see you.” Sam smiled and then laughed.
“Stop talking.” Brent snapped. He pulled me closer to him and we sat down opposite of Sam.
We told our waiter what we wanted to drink, and then we waited patiently for her to come back. After she gave us our drinks, we began to get serious.
“So, what is our goal,” Sam asked.
“Before we do all this, I think you should fill me in on what is going on,” I said.
Brent took a deep breath. He was choosing his words again. “Cat, it’s going to take awhile. I don’t even know where to begin. Loren told you most of it. What do you want to know?” Brent sounded really concerned.
“I guess I don’t know. I just feel really lost and I want to know more about those questions I asked you the other night. I am still sort of flustered by all this, I guess.” I replied. Brent shook his head. He didn’t know what to do.
“That makes sense, Catherine, but Brent talked to me about those questions, and none of us can answer them. Only Loren and Evan can; he knows the most about the situation. And they might not be able to answer the questions.” Sam paused and looked a me. “Don’t worry about it though. We will figure all this out. We will all have fun! We are going to Italy!!” Sam was so excited. He was almost jumping up and down in his seat with excitement.
“Yeah, I’m sure it is going to be a ton of fun,” Brent said sarcastically. “So, anyways.” Sam and I just stared at Brent. “We are going to be leaving on Wednesday, tomorrow, by plane.”
“Are you sure that will be enough time,” I asked the boys.
“We have to find your dad soon. Something could happen to him if we don’t Cat.” Brent reached over and grabbed my hand.
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense,” I replied. It was silent for a moment. “How long are we out of school,” I asked.
“Until we are ready to come back,” Brent said.
“That is sweet!” Sam was even more excited.
There didn’t seem to be much to talk about. Everyone acted like there was something missing, something that everyone didn’t know about. I think that was what was bothering me. I could tell for sure that Brent was keeping something from me, but I knew for sure that he wasn’t going to tell me anytime soon.
“Are we done talking? I have no other questions.” I was really bored, and it seemed that there were no answers to any of my questions.
“Yeah, I think so.” Brent sounded bored too.
“Cat, can I talk to you for a moment.” Sam was serious. “Privately?” Sam looked toward Brent.
I looked at Brent, who nodded back at me. He got up and left, leaving Sam and me sitting in the booth.
“I wouldn’t try anything. He is probably watching you,” I told Sam, as soon as Brent was out of the restaurant.
“I wasn’t going to try anything. Trust me,” Sam replied. He stood up and grabbed my hand. He pulled me out of my seat before I answered.
“Why would I want to trust you?”
“You should trust someone you will be working with for the next week at least.”
I moaned. “I don’t want anything to do with you.” I took a step away from Sam, taking my hand from his.
“I don’t believe that. I know that you loved kissing me more that you loved kissing Brent. I could tell by your reactions.” I looked away from Sam’s stare. “Have you told him that you kissed me?”
“Yes.”
“I told you not to tell him unless I was around!” Sam’s voice was almost whiney.
“I am not listening to you.”
“Why not?”
“Why should I?”
“Cat, you are going to have to like me at some point. Like I said, we are going to be working together for a long time.”
“Don’t call me Cat! You don’t deserve it!” I was making my way towards the door.
Sam grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him. The restaurant was almost empty. Thank God. He wrapped his arms around me and I could barely move.
“Let me go!” I struggled against him.
“There is no point in trying. I thought you said that Brent would be watching.”
“He is. He’s just waiting.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“What in the world do you think you are doing!” Brent’s voice was so loud.
Sam let go of me quickly. I couldn’t even feel Sam’s presence anymore. He must have taken some steps backwards too. I walked over to Brent who had a death grip on my arm. I winced, but made no effort to make Brent let go. I still felt safe.
“Let go. You’re hurting her,” Sam said, looking at me.
“You should stop talking. You don’t have to go on this trip with us if we don’t want you to.” Brent let go of my arm and I began to rub it.
“I am coming with you,” Sam said.
“Only if we want you to.” I said.
“Catherine, you know you want me to go.” Sam looked right into my eyes. I twisted under his stare and looked away.
“Stop it! We are going home right now and we will see you at the airport on Wednesday morning. If you have any questions call me. Don’t text Cat.” Brent’s voice was stern.
“Yeah, I got it.” Sam laughed and we walked out of the restaurant, leaving Sam to himself.
What Sam had said about me wanting him to go really hit me. I realized that part of me did want him to go. I wanted him to be there with me. Even if that meant danger for me. I liked Sam, but I loved Brent. I just wish that Brent would have waited a bit longer before he kissed me. That night seemed to rushed, and I wasn’t sure of what I was getting myself into. Sam has taken the time to get to know me, a little bit. Now, whether it was in a good way or a bad way, I have still gotten to know Sam pretty well.
Sam was also right about the kiss. I did enjoy it. I enjoyed it more than Brent’s kiss. Was it because Sam’s kiss was forced?
I couldn’t organize my thoughts at all. They were all over the place. Between Brent, Sam, and my dad, I was about to explode. The worst thing is that I can’t do anything to help my dad without Brent and Sam.
I took a deep breath and tried to control my mind. I had gotten into Brent’s car and we were on our way home. I couldn’t let Brent see my confusion over everything. He would start to question my relationship between Sam and me, and I couldn’t let that happen.

Chapter 23

Brent must have been very mad at Sam, because he said nothing to me about it until we were almost home.
“What was going on back there,” Brent asked me as we pulled into my driveway.
“I don’t know,” I responded.
“What was he talking to you about?” Brent unlocked the car, and we both got out.
“Trust,” I said, once I was out of the car.
“What about it?”
“How I need to have some in him.” We were making our way to my front door.
“Why would you have trust in him? After everything he has put you through?”
“That’s what I told him and he blew up.”
“He makes me so angry.”
“I know!”.
“I’m sorry.” Brent said before we opened the front door.
“For what,” I asked, with a sigh.
“Sam. I wish there was some other way that we could save your dad without having to drag Sam along. He is very smart and he is perfect for the situation, but he’s not right for you.”
“Don’t worry about it. I have you, right?”
Brent took another one of his deep breaths. “You will always have me,” Brent said as he tried to open the front door. The door was locked, but we had a spare key under the mat. I grabbed the extra key and opened the door, leading into my huge kitchen. Margaret was either out of the house or sleeping, so we kept sort of quiet. Everyone else was at school, and my mom had some meetings today. So, she was out of the house too.
“What do you want to do,” Brent asked me after we had settled in.
“I don’t care.”
“There has got to be something.”
“Okay. Do you want to watch T.V. or something?”
“Sure! That works for me. I never get time to watch T.V. anymore.”
We went over to the couch that always sat in our living room. I turned the T.V. on and sat down next to Brent. He wrapped his arms around me and I leaned against him. I was really tired and didn’t really feel like watching T.V. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
About a half an hour later I was jerked awake.
“What’s going on,” I asked Brent suddenly.
“I’m not sure yet. Someone just knocked on your front door and then on your back door. It sounded like they were hitting the door with something metal too.”
“What?”
“Just stay here, okay?”
I didn’t say a word. I sat up a little bit and watched as Brent slowly walked over to the window.
The banging had stopped for the moment. Brent opened the curtain to the window that the last knock had been at. When the curtain was pulled back all the way there was nothing outside. Brent looked around but found nothing.
Then, there was another knock at the front door. Brent hurried over to it and opened it. It was Sam.
“What the heck are you doing here?” Brent asked Sam. “I am not supposed to see you until Wednesday.”
“Just messing with you,” Sam replied, taking a step into my house.
“Were you the one knocking on the windows and doors?”
“Yeah, I was just seeing your reaction.” Sam laughed.
“It’s not funny.”
“Well, I thought it was.”
“You woke Catherine up from a nap.”
“Oh. Sorry Kate.” Sam actually looked sorry. Sam stepped all the way into my house and shut the door.
“You don’t mean that,” Brent said.
“Actually I do.” He started to move towards me and Brent followed him.
Sam sat down on the couch next to me and Brent sat down on the opposite side. I didn’t know what to do.
“You can fall back asleep if you want, Catherine,” Sam said putting his arm around me. It felt so right for it to be there. I was instantly tired and wanted to lean on Sam and fall asleep.
“Yeah, on my, shoulder.” Brent leaned over and wrapped his arms around me and pulled me away from Sam. I was now on Brent’s lap and his hand was pushing my head into his chest. I closed my eyes and relaxed.
“She can trust me,” Brent whispered to Sam.
“She will learn how to trust me in time,” Sam said. He stood up, grabbed the remote to the T.V. and sat back down. He muted the T.V. afraid of waking me up again, the two boys sat there and did nothing, while I slept.
I didn’t know what time it was, but I must have been sleeping for a long time. The sun was setting in the west. I was still on my couch, but Brent must have moved me off his lap. I was sitting on the couch with my head on his lap. He was relaxed and he was watching T.V. Sam was still there. He was on the other side of me. I was surprised that Brent hadn’t made him leave awhile ago.
The boys must have noticed that I was awake, because they turned the T.V. volume down and began whispering. I was still too tired to comprehend what they were talking about.
“Cat, you awake?” Brent asked very sweetly.
“Yeah, still tired though,” I replied. “What time is it?”
“Around 6:30 P.M. When does your family get home,” Sam asked.
“They should be home by now.”
The room was silent as I was thinking, but then I remembered.
“But, William had a football dinner. Thomas and Oscar had a party for a kid in my class, right after school, and Margaret had a date tonight. Did she leave?”
“Yeah, she left right before you woke up,” Brent said to me.
“Oh. Okay. My mom has a late shift at work today, after her meetings, so she won’t be home until 8:30 or so. She should be the first one home,” I said to the boys.
“So we are home alone until 8:30?” Sam asked.
“Yeah, but don’t get any crazy ideas. Why are you still here?”
“I was never asked to leave,” Sam said.
“Oh. Okay.” I relaxed my head again.
The room was silent for a little longer. I was thinking about what we were going to do for the rest of the night. My stomach growled and we all laughed.
“Should we get sleeping beauty something to eat,” Brent asked.
“I think we should,” Sam said, standing up.
I sat up and I had a major headache. I was still very tired. Who cared if I was hungry? I still want to sleep.
“Come on,” Sam said to me. He put his hands out offering to help me up. I took his hands and he pulled me up.
“Thanks,” I mumbled.
“No problem,” Sam said as he walked towards to kitchen. I turned around to help Brent.
He grabbed my hands, but instead of me helping him, he pulled me back down. I was sitting on his lap again. We both laughed and then he pulled me closer to him for a tight hug.
I climbed off his lap and I offered to helped him up again. He took my hands, and I helped him up. He let go of my hands on the way up and grabbed my face between his hands. He kissed my very softly on the lips. The kiss was unexpected, but very sweet. That was what I liked most about Brent, how sweet he was.
“Do you two love birds want something to eat?” Sam’s voice sounded happy but irritated at the same time.
I pulled away from Brent and walked over to where Sam was. “I am very hungry, Sam,” I said.
“Yeah, I thought you would be.” Sam smiled at me and I had no choice to smile back.
“What do you think we should have for dinner,” I asked Sam and Brent.
“I don’t really care. We could order pizza or something,” Sam said.
“That doesn’t sound bad,” Brent agreed.
“Okay then. Let’s order some pizza.” I went over to the telephone and called the pizza shop that was downtown. The boys mouthed what they wanted and then we went back on the couch to wait for the pizza.
About 20 minutes later the door bell rang. I got up to get it, but Sam pulled me back on the couch and Brent stood up to get to door.
“What the heck? I was going to get the door,” I snapped at Sam.
“Don’t worry about it. Just relax,” Sam said to me. He patted the couch space next to him, but I just stood up and went into the kitchen.
Sam had no idea how badly I wanted to sit down next to him with his arms around me. But I couldn’t here, not with Brent in the house.