One True Thing (42 page)

laptop, but I shoved it out of the way with my head

so I could nuzzle up under his tank top and kiss his

belly.

Dusty giggled. “Hey. That tickles.” He did

that thing with his fingers in my hair that I loved so

much, tugging just a little bit but mostly just

touching. I burrowed my face right into his body

and let him play with my hair for a long time. It

was one of my favorite things.

“Dust?” I finally said quietly.

“Yeah?” He curled over and kissed the top of

my head.

“I’m really sorry for the past few weeks. I

know I wasn’t in the best mood, and I took it out on

you a lot.”

“Not really. Believe me, I know what that

feels like, and this wasn’t it. You were just going

through a rough patch.”

“I just wanted everything to stay perfect

between us, you know?”

Dusty gave me a smile that was halfway

between adoring and pitying. “There is no perfect.

You know that. Reality was sure to intrude

sometime.”

“I know. I just didn’t want it to happen to
us
.”

He put his laptop aside and scooted down

until we were curled up in our customary ball

together. “We’re fine, okay? I love you.”

“I love you too.” I remembered then, that the

entire world didn’t revolve around me. Dusty had

been looking rather intently at his laptop when I’d

come in. “What were you doing? I’m sorry I

interrupted you.”

He shrugged. “I’m not sure what I’m doing.

I… well, this stuff with Archer kind of reminded

me of my sister. She’s not like Archer, at least she

wasn’t. But she’s in college now. I kind of

wonder, you know? What things could be like. I

just didn’t want to bring it up to you with all that’s

been going on.”

I felt awful. Dusty was always putting me and

us before everything. “This is nothing like me and

Arch. You know I’ll help you find her if you want.

Or not, if you decide you’re not up to it. Either

one. I just want to help.”

Dusty nodded. “I did look on Facebook. I

found her, but I’m not sure what to do next. She

could hate the idea of me for all I know.”

“Is she still living at home?”

Dusty shook his head.

“No. I guess she goes to school in Florida.

It’s more likely that she’ll want to talk to me that

way. Mom and Dad aren’t breathing so hard down

her neck.”

“Well, you know where she is, right?” I

rubbed his back. “Think about it. Decide what you

want to do. I don’t think there’s any rush.”

“Yeah. I’ll think about it.” Dusty reached

down and pulled his plaid comforter over us. I

snuggled him into my arms and kissed his

forehead, his nose, and his lips.

I hoped Dusty got his happy ending with his

sister. I doubted I’d have one with my own sibling.

At that point, I just wanted to put the whole thing

behind me for a long, long time.

Chapter Twenty

Dusty

OVER a month had passed since the weekend of

Archer’s first scene, and two weeks since Asher

had given the collection agency his very last

payment. Sure, his credit would be damaged for a

while, but there was no helping that. All things

considered, the situation had ended up much better

than any of us had thought it would. Aside from

wishing it had never happened in the first place,

we couldn’t ask for much more.

We’d heard from Dom that Archer had

become a rather hot commodity since his debut in

the porn world. Asher had seemed kind of

horrified when he’d told me about it, but I wasn’t

entirely surprised. Archer’s weaknesses were

drugs, money, and sex. I imagined he would love a

job where he could combine any of those things.

Asher hadn’t spoken to Archer directly in

weeks. After that first shoot, Archer had asked

Dom to pass the money along to Asher until his

debt was paid in full. I didn’t think Asher minded,

really, though I knew he would have liked to talk

to Archer himself. He wanted to make sure his

brother was okay, and I respected that. But Archer

had made it clear he had no interest in

communicating. It was sad, but, well, there wasn’t

anything Asher could do aside from accept it.

Our relationship was back to normal, and

stronger with the proof that we could withstand

just about anything. We made love, hung out with

Rue, Erik, and our other friends, and just enjoyed

each other, the way we would have been doing if

we hadn’t discovered Archer’s deception. It was

actually a blessing that we had, I supposed. If that

account had gone unpaid, we might not have found

out until someone showed up on our doorstep with

papers telling Asher he was being sued for the

balance. I couldn’t even conceive of the amount of

stress that would have come from that.

As for me, I’d been waffling about whether or

not to call my sister for days. I’d programmed her

number into my phone after finding it on her

Facebook profile, and I’d come so close to doing

it. So very close. But every time I tried, I wimped

out at the last second.

I didn’t know what was holding me back.

Well… I did know, actually. It was fear. I had no

idea if she wanted to hear from me. If she did,

wouldn’t she have attempted to contact me by

now? And if she didn’t, would it be better not to

know? To just keep thinking “maybe.” Maybe one

day. Someday.

But, no. I’d talked to Asher. I’d talked to Rue,

and even Michelle. They all agreed—even if we

couldn’t have a relationship anymore, at least I

would have tried. I wouldn’t have to go on

wondering forever.

So there I was. Asher had just left for a shoot,

and I was locked in our bedroom, sitting in the

middle of our bed with my phone in hand. Her

number was pulled up on the screen. The only

thing left was to push “call.”

Finally, after days, weeks, of hesitating, I did

it.

Each ring seemed longer than the last. When

they stopped abruptly and I heard “Hello?” at the

other end of the line, I almost dropped the phone in

shock.

I scrambled to catch it and gripped it so hard

my fingers nearly went numb. “Mandy?”

“Yes?”

“It’s Dusty,” I said. “Dustin. Um… your

brother.”

“Dusty?” she repeated. “Oh, my God.”

There were so many emotions in her voice it

took me a few seconds to sift through them all.

Surprise was there. Definitely. Disbelief? Yeah,

some of that too. And under that… joy?

“I can’t believe this,” she went on. “How are

you?
Where
are you? Still in California?”

I blinked, taken aback. “Yeah, I… I’m in

West Hollywood. How… how are you?”

“I’m great. Now that you’ve called me, I’m

better than great. I thought I might never talk to you

again.”

I barely knew how to reply to that. “You

wanted to hear from me?” I asked. There was no

way I could keep the shock out of my tone.

“Of course,” she answered. “I went to The

Bean before I left Wilmington. Craig told me you’d

moved and gave me your number, but I… I’d been

wanting to call for a while, but, well… Mom and

Dad told me you didn’t want to talk to us anymore.

They said when you left, you told them not to

contact you, that you didn’t want anything to do

with us.”

For a long moment I couldn’t even find it in

me to speak. They’d told her that
I’d
left? That
I

hadn’t wanted anything to do with them? How

could they? How could they do that?

I was stunned, and right after that, I got angry.

Why was I surprised? I shouldn’t have put it past

them to do something like that. I should have

suspected they would. All these years, and my

sister had thought
I
was the one who’d walked

away?

My eyes filled with tears, and I reached up to

rub furiously at my cheeks when they spilled over.

“Dusty?” Mandy’s voice was timid. “I’m

sorry. Did I say something wrong?”

“No,” I forced out. I had that ache in my

throat, the one I got right before I usually lost

control and started sobbing. I tried to fight it back.

“I’m just… I’m just so….”

“They lied, didn’t they?” she asked when I

trailed off. “You didn’t leave. Not on your own.

They
made
you leave… right?”

I hesitated, not sure how to answer. My

relationship with my parents was ruined, spoiled

beyond repair. There would never be any getting it

back. But they loved her. They always had. During

the time I’d lived with them, they’d treated her

well. I didn’t know if I wanted to say something

that could cause drama between them, even with

all the wrong they had done me. It wasn’t that I felt

I owed them anything, not my protection, not any

loyalty. And yet… I couldn’t bring myself to say

the words.

When I didn’t respond, Mandy sighed softly.

“I thought so. I should have gone with my gut and

called you. I was worried you wouldn’t want to

hear from me. Now I realize what a moron I’ve

been.”

Instinct made me shake my head. “No. You’re

not
a moron. They’re your parents. You believed

them. There’s no shame in that.” I gave a low,

bitter laugh. “Why would you think they’d lie?

Why would you assume they were telling you

anything but the truth?”

“Because you’re my Dusty Bear,” she said

simply. “You would have never left me without

saying good-bye. I shouldn’t have believed you

would.”

I couldn’t help it. I cried then. And Mandy,

she stayed on the line through it all. She cried with

me, and listened, and when I calmed myself down,

we talked… and talked… and talked some more.

By the time we got off the phone two hours later,

we’d made plans for her to come visit me during

the summer. She would have almost three months,

and it wouldn’t be very long from now until I

could get her onto a plane and into my arms.

I was already planning for all the things we’d

do together, the conversations we would have. My

heart was filled to bursting with excitement and

elation. Finally,
finally
after all these years I

would get to see her.

I bounced up off the bed, practically floating.

Asher would be home soon, I knew. I couldn’t

wait to tell him. With the way I was feeling, I’d

probably jump him the moment he walked in the

door.

I went into the bathroom to take a shower.

Then I would get ready for dinner. And when

Asher got home? We were going to celebrate.

Asher

I WALKED into an apartment that smelled like

something amazing was cooking. Not unusual any

longer, but still very much appreciated. Dusty

came around the corner from our little kitchen into

the living room with an apron tied around his waist

and a big smile.

“Hey, you.”

Oh, I know that greeting.
The “hey, you”

with a big, kinda sly smile? It always meant good

things.

“Whatcha cookin’?” I snaked my arms around

Dusty’s waist and bent for a long hello kiss.

“A celebration dinner.” He didn’t say