Saving Sloan (Sloan Series Book 2) (15 page)

“Yeah, we’d better go see him before lunch is over.” Sloan overly smiled at Mackenzie. “You can come if you want.”

Please don’t let her come,
Sloan thought to herself. She loved Mackenzie with her whole heart, but she needed to talk to Aaron and Ray alone. Mackenzie knew some things, but not all of them. She didn’t have time to go through the backstory with her before Aaron gave his news.

Mackenzie must have sensed her hesitation. “You go ahead. I think I’m going to talk to Miss Blaylock over there.”

“Blaylock?” Ray said. “Like…”

“Yeah,” Sloan answered, picking up her tray. “Thanks, Mackenzie. I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Okay. Call me.” She winked as they walked by.

Sloan had only eaten outside a few times since she’d been in high school. It had just never been that important to her. She was an indoor girl.

“Did he tell you anything?” she asked Ray. With every step toward the outside doors, she got more and more nervous.

“Not a thing. Just that he was here and waiting,” Ray answered. He had an edge to his voice that Sloan caught. This was going to be interesting. Ray obviously had feelings for her, and Aaron had kissed her. This could go all kinds of bad.

They made it outside and found Aaron sitting with his back against the big oak tree at the far end of the lawn. With every step, Sloan felt like she was walking to her execution: nervous, anxious, unsure of what was going to happen.

“Brother.” Aaron smiled when they got closer.

“Aaron,” Ray answered.

“Hi, Aaron,” she said as easily as she could, praying her voice didn’t quiver. To her relief, it didn’t.

“Sloan.” He looked up at her with eyes so intense her toes curled within a second. Her breath caught and everything else fell away. Ray. The world. The roses. Everything. More than anything, she wanted to jump into his arms and kiss him. It would be a very bad idea though.

Just as quickly as he’d looked at her that way, he averted his eyes and picked up a small twig lying next to him. “Sit. Eat.” He motioned toward the ground.

They complied, but Sloan didn’t think she had any appetite. “What did the florist say?” she blurted out.

“Just want to jump into that, eh?” Aaron broke the twig.

“It’s why you’re here,” she reminded him.

“I came to see you.” That look again. Oh that look. “And my little brother,” he added almost as an afterthought. Ray’s nose flared, and she didn’t think it would take much for him to haul off and punch Aaron.

“Nice of you to join us for lunch.” Ray’s voice was strained. “Especially since you’ve never done it before.”

“Had something to tell that I didn’t need to text.” Aaron’s posture matched Ray’s. Like two bulls challenging each other.

“Enough!” Sloan broke the stalemate. “Enough with you two and your games. This is bigger than you so get over it.” She wasn’t talking to either one in particular. “Aaron, just tell me what you learned. Who sent the flowers?” She rubbed her eyes to keep them focused on him. She really needed to eat so the fuzziness would go away, but she didn’t think her stomach would keep it down.

“Did anyone send any today?” Aaron asked.

Sloan sighed. If she knew Aaron, she knew he wouldn’t tell her his news until he was good and ready. “No. Not yet.”

“Hmm…” he said simply, driving her crazy.

“What did you learn from the flower shop?” she repeated gruffly.

Aaron picked up another twig and fiddled it between his fingers. Apparently, the piece of wood had suddenly become very interesting. “I talked to the florist. She wasn’t the one who took the call on Monday, but she looked up the information. And I talked to the delivery man.”

“You did? Good! See, I told you he was real.” Sloan felt relieved for the first time in forever. She was getting answers. Finally! She hadn’t made him up. She wasn’t crazy. The delivery man had actually come to her house and handed her flowers. Good! They’d have to believe her now. It wasn’t in her head. “What did they say?”

“The delivery man said he got an order to deliver three long-stemmed roses to your address. So he did. He thought it was strange…”

“I know. Three roses isn’t many.” She finished his sentence.

Aaron bit his lip and shook his head. He couldn’t look at her. “Not that. He was surprised by how you reacted.”

What? “How I reacted? Why?”

“Because most people would be happy to get flowers,” Ray said, leaning back on his hands with his legs stretched out and crossed. He hadn’t touched a bit of his food either. A chicken had died in vain for both of them.

“That wasn’t it.” Aaron cut his dark eyes to Sloan. “He was surprised by you.”

“Me? Why?”

Aaron sat up and poked the stick in the ground a few times. “Sloan, there isn’t any boogeyman. Boyd isn’t stalking you. No one is.”

Her heart sank. It probably shouldn’t have. Most people would be happy to know they weren’t being stalked, but not when they had physical evidence! “I don’t…” She looked at Ray and back at Aaron. “I don’t understand. I know someone is after me. They sent me the roses. I know they did. I saw them! The delivery man was real! I didn’t make him up! Stop talking in riddles and tell me!”

Aaron took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak. He shut it again, appearing to struggle to find the right words.

“Just spit it out.” She couldn’t take it anymore. Her heart was racing a mile a minute, and she felt horrible. Her head felt funny, and she just wanted to lie down.

Aaron sighed and his jaw flinched. “Sloan,” his voice was deep. “I saw the order slip for the roses sent to your house.”

“Then stop stalling and tell me who sent them.”

Aaron looked at Ray and so did Sloan. Ray didn’t flinch. Didn’t move a muscle. Not him. Not Ray. He wouldn’t harass her. “Ray?”

“You.” Aaron said, causing her to do a double-take.

“Me? What?”

Aaron started breathing harder like he couldn’t believe what he had to say. “The order, Sloan. It had your name on it.”

“I know because it went to my house.” What was he talking about?

From the corner of her eye, she saw someone walking toward her. A woman. Her mother.

“What’s she doing here?” she asked neither boy in particular.

Her mom kneeled down beside her. “Aaron called me at work, baby. He’s worried about you.”

“Why?” She growled. Why wouldn’t anyone give her a straight answer? Or were they, and she just couldn’t get it through her sleepy, fuzzy brain?

“What’s going on, Aaron?” Ray asked. Good, another person who didn’t get it.

“Sloan sent the roses to herself,” Aaron said.

“I did not!” Sloan sat up and pushed her mom’s hand off her shoulder. “I didn’t!”

“It was on the slip, Sloan. I saw it. The delivery man was shocked that you were so surprised to be getting the flowers you’d sent. He said you were behaving strangely.”

“Because this
is
all strange!” She looked to her right and saw tears in her mother’s eyes. “I’m not crazy! I didn’t do this! You have to believe me.” Now it was her turn to cry. “Mama, please.”

“Why are your eyes so red, Sloan?” her mother asked.

“What?” She shook her head.

“Your eyes. They stay red now. They have all week. And you sleep all the time. You look frazzled.”

“I am frazzled!” She yelled so loud others around her looked to see what Saint Sloan was freaking out about now. “You all think I did this?”

“No.” Ray stood up with her. “No, I don’t. She didn’t do this, Aaron. She wouldn’t send flowers to herself. It’s stupid.”

“Maybe she doesn’t know it.”

Ray shook his head. “Like a split personality? You jumped to
that
conclusion because of one piece of paper.”

“Sloan paid with a credit card.”

“Doesn’t that seem obvious? Think, Aaron. A credit card. With her name on it? Who would do that? Someone is setting her up.”

“Do you really believe that?” Aaron stood. Challenging him. He sure wasn’t going to let his little brother win.

So they were all standing now. That was awesome. Everyone who had decided to eat in the yard had a show, and they took advantage of it too. They were all gawking. If she’d been one of them, she would have gawked too. Ray Hunter, former assault suspect Aaron,
Saint
Sloan, and her mother. All yelling at the end of the lawn.

Sloan wanted to crawl under a rock.

“You think ‘split personality’ was the first thing that popped in my mind?” Aaron said, his nose flaring.

“Boys, not here,” her mom reprimanded, but the guys were too far gone in their own sibling rivalry.

“Seemed like you jumped to it fairly easily,” Ray yelled back. “Oh, a credit card was used in Sloan’s name, so she must be crazy, right? Crazy like Mom, is that it?”

Whoa! When had their mother gotten in on this? Sloan only knew what she’d been told about Susan Hunter. She’d left the boys when Ray was sixteen and Aaron was eighteen. Could the drugs have driven her crazy too?

Did Aaron really think she’d lost her mind?

Aaron’s brown eyes got very dark at the mention of his mother. “Don’t compare Sloan to her. They are nothing alike.”

“You seem to think they are.” Ray crossed his arms, flexing his muscles as he went toe to toe with his older brother.

“You don’t know what happened to our mother. You have no idea.”

“And you do?” Ray’s yell echoed through the campus. It was so loud a few teachers stuck their heads out of the front entrance to see what was going on.

“Not here. Not now,” her mother whispered forcefully.

“Not now. Not ever,” Sloan corrected with tears in her eyes. “I’m not crazy, and I’m not on drugs. Something is happening to me whether you want to believe it or not.” She looked at Aaron. “I didn’t send those flowers to myself. Someone else must have. Someone took my credit card or something.”

“Do you have it?” Her mother asked.

“If I do it’s in my bag.” She handed it to her mother without taking her eyes off Aaron. Her heart broke looking at this boy she’d kissed yesterday. The one she’d put so much effort into thinking about all day. The one she would have chosen if she’d had to choose.

Now, he thought she was crazy or had split personalities, or maybe had even made it all up. It hurt so badly, and she fought to stand there and not yell at him. Everyone at the school had already gotten a show. No need adding to it.

“You can think what you want about me, Aaron. I can’t stop you, but know someone is setting me up for a fall. That’s what the note said. Maybe this is it. Maybe this is my fall.”

His eyes hardened, and the compassion she rarely saw flashed in them. “Sloan,” he said gently. “I believe you. I do. I think we need to talk about all of this tonight. When people aren’t all around.”

“You chose this place, not us,” Ray spat. Aaron didn’t pay him any attention.

“I’m worried about you, Sloan.” He looked down at his hands. Whatever he was going to say next seemed very difficult for him. “I care about you. You know I do, and I don’t want to see you hurt.” His jaw clenched after he’d declared his intentions.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Ray flinch. It wasn’t fun to be stuck between brothers. Not fun at all. Especially with all of this going on.

“Then prove it,” she said, her voice cracking. “Prove you care and stop thinking I’ve lost my mind. Someone is setting me up, Aaron. I don’t know who, but I know someone is. Someone took my credit card and sent those flowers to me to make you all think I was doing this to myself. I’m not. I promise I’m not.”

“Uh… Sloan,” her mom said next to her. When Sloan looked she saw her mom holding a blue card. “This is your credit card.”

“It can’t be.” She jerked it from her mom’s hand and turned it over, studying it. Sure enough. It was hers. The only one she had. “That can’t be right. I didn’t use it.” Her eyes found Aaron’s. “I promise I didn’t.”

The look he gave her broke her heart. It was confusion, hurt, frustration, and most of all, sadness. He honestly thought she’d done it.

Scared, she focused on Ray. He shook his head and stared at the card in her hand in shock. “It has to be a mistake. Someone could have stolen it and put it back in there, right?”

“Right,” Sloan agreed, hoping someone else would.

“When?” Aaron asked.

“I don’t know, but someone had to,” Ray answered.

The older brother ran his fingers though his hair and let out a frustrated breath. “Okay. I think we need to talk about this. Not here because it was a bad idea to do this now. I admit it. I made a mistake.”

Sloan never thought she’d hear him admit it. Sad that it had to do with her sanity.

He kept on talking. “How about we meet back up at your house after you and Ray get out of school? We can go over everything. All the facts. Something is going on, and we need to get to the bottom of it.” He took the two steps toward Sloan quickly. When he grabbed her hands, her first instinct was to pull away. Looking into his eyes, she couldn’t. She wanted to be mad at him for thinking she’d sent the flowers to herself. She wanted to blame him for everything and focus on that instead of the facts. The facts were her credit card had been used and it was still in her purse.

She couldn’t pull away from him, though. No matter what, she needed him. She needed him to hold her and tell her the truth. Aaron never sugarcoated things with her. Honest to a fault at times, which was odd since he was supposed to be the bad-boy brother.

Aaron bent down so his eyes were level with hers. “We’ll figure this out, Sloan. I promise. We’ll take care of you.” He bent over and kissed her cheek.

For a few brief seconds, she felt like everything was going to be okay. The few seconds didn’t last long.