Tangled Love on Pelican Point (Island County Series Book 3) (14 page)

This was his life. We weren’t dating, and I had absolutely no reason to be upset about these pictures, but I was livid.

I was only angry because he kept insisting on inserting himself into my life.

I didn’t need this kind of problem in my world. I already had my hands full, and I certainly didn’t need to be tied to someone who was this all over the place.

“Sophie.” Natalie snapped her fingers in front of my face, and I scowled at her.

“So this is what you were talking about?” I held up my phone and Mary whistled.

“You didn’t hear a word we said, did you?” Natty asked, not answering my question.

“It doesn’t matter. This just proves my point. His life is all about him. Even sending Mary over is just to suit his needs so I don’t back out on decorating his house.”

“It’s not like that,” Natalie objected. “There’s a lot you don’t know about the Hills.”

I rolled my eyes. “Let me get the violin out.”

“She’s right,” Mary said, taking a seat at the table. “The Hill boys had it rough.”

“How do you figure?” I asked, doubting any of the Hills ever had to rough much of anything, but something in the room changed. The air clung to a thick silence, and traded glances between Natty and Mary told me there was so much more to be said, but I knew neither of them planned on telling me a thing.

Promise me you won’t believe everything you read
.
The words he’d told me before he left bounced around my mind as I glanced back at the article, and I wondered if I was strong enough to handle another added complication.

“CJ, I can’t do this by myself. Having you come over on Sundays is certainly not asking too much. The fact that I’ve managed to get my friends to help more than my brother speaks volumes.”

My brother’s name was Charles Junior, but we all called him CJ for short.

“I have a family,” he said, breathing deeply into the phone.

“Yes, you do, and I’m sure Dad would love to see your wife and two kids for the next several Sundays. It would give him something to look forward to.”

“Sophie, I know the brunt of things has fallen on you, but it’s not your responsibility to solve the world’s problems.”

“I’m not trying to solve the world’s problems, just our dad’s.”

“If we sell his house, we can use the money for his care,” he said quietly.

“The money wouldn’t last more than a couple of years,” I protested. “And then what?”

“And then state money would kick in.”

“Do you realize what you’re even saying? He would wind up in a nursing home or worse.”

“Don’t you want a life? I’m trying to give you one,” CJ said, exasperated by what, in particular, I wasn’t sure—possibly being bothered at all.

“My life is perfectly fine. All I’m asking from you is one day a week until I can get a handle on things.”

“And how do you suppose you’re going to do that? Working extra shifts at Loxxy? You think that’s how you’ll get rich?”

“You’re such a creep.”

“I’ll be there on Sunday, but I can’t promise I’ll be back after that.”

“I’ll take what I can get.”

CJ ended the call, and I sat back on the couch.

Mary had taken my dad out on the back deck and was working on speech therapy with him. She would be here for another thirty minutes or so.

Even though I told her we couldn’t afford her services, she’d shown up for the last three days. I’d left several messages for Anthony and sent several texts, but he hadn’t answered a single one. As promised, he had sent over the information regarding his island home, but I hadn’t even had a chance to look at it.

It was early evening on Tuesday, and Natalie, Cole, Nick, and Jewels were coming over for dinner any second. I’d worked my day shift at the Loxxy and thankfully didn’t have to work at Island Bluff tonight, so I could treat my friends to a thank-you meal of baked spaghetti.

Even though it had only been three days since my stepmom left, I swore I saw an improvement in my dad. I set the phone down and walked over to the slider. Mary was laughing, and my dad wore a crooked smile as she held up flashcards and he attempted to enunciate each syllable. There was a sparkle in my dad’s eye as she pointed at the image. The careful movement of his lips warmed my heart, and I knew I needed to talk to Anthony. I needed to thank him.

These last few days had done wonders for my dad’s spirits. I couldn’t accept what Anthony wanted to give us, but seeing the changes in my dad made me feel selfish in the oddest way. Why would I turn down something that could make my dad’s life better?

Because there were strings attached. There had to be.

Not wanting to interrupt my dad’s progress, I went back over to the phone and dialed Anthony’s number. My call got directed to voicemail almost immediately. I left a voicemail thanking him again and asked him to return my call.

Again.

“I’m starving,” Natty said, tapping the front door while opening it. Jewels was right behind her. “I hope you don’t mind, but I also invited Tori and Mason. She had some great ideas about what we could do, but if I had to relay it all, things would definitely get lost in translation.”

“Wow. She doesn’t mind?” I asked, walking over to give Natty and Jewels a hug.

“Not at all. She’s a teacher. Helping is in her blood. Besides, your pasta is world famous.”

“Only to the people you brag to.” I chuckled.

Tori Aickens was one of the many who found their way back to the island. It didn’t hurt that she fell in love with the hot contractor helping to redo her family home, but she was a sweetheart, and so was her boyfriend, Mason Rhodes.

“How’s your dad doing?” Natalie asked, throwing her coat on the armchair. “Cole will be over later, by the way.”

“I don’t know if it’s my imagination, but I swear in these last few days he’s actually improved.” I smiled and pointed out on the deck.

“Mary certainly seems happy to help,” Natalie noticed.

“Well, Anthony won’t return my calls and she just keeps showing up.” I ushered them into the kitchen so I could finish the salad.

“About that.” Natalie looked at her sister and then brought her gaze slowly back to mine. “I’m sorry for getting you tangled up in things.”

“In what things?” I asked.

“I thought Anthony had kind of beaten back his demons, but he’s gone off the rails.”

“What do you mean?”

“This is going to make Cole sound like such an awful person.”

I reached for a bag of tomatoes and rinsed one off. “I doubt Cole could ever sound like a bad person.”

“I don’t know. This is kind of horrible,” Jewels agreed with her sister.

“Anthony’s got a bad boy image to uphold,” Natalie began.

I rolled my eyes but stayed cautious in an effort to not slice off a finger.

“As you know, Cole is a PR master and reps Anthony and Crimson Strings.”

“Yeah. So?”

“Cole lined up several appearances for Anthony, tipped off the paparazzi, and tried to drum up some press coverage. What Cole didn’t count on was Anthony getting out of control and having those images be the ones that got shopped around.”

“What do you mean, out of control? It looked like a typical night for Anthony.” I tossed the tomatoes into the salad bowl and glanced over at her.

“You remember how Anthony broke his leg?” Natalie asked as Jewels set the table.

“Yeah. I remember. Mary and her daughter took care of him off and on while it healed.”

“He broke it because he’d been drinking too much and fell off a ladder.”

“Ouch,” Jewels whispered.

“Well, hopefully he’s learned that heights and booze don’t mix.” I walked the salad over to the table and looked outside to see Mary and my dad laughing. It had been a long time since I’d seen my dad smile, let alone laugh. I wasn’t even sure he was capable of it since the stroke.

“He learned booze doesn’t mix with a lot of things,” Natalie continued.

“What are you getting at?” I asked, turning back around.

“Anthony had cut back on his drinking until Friday night, and now we don’t know where he is. Cole feels responsible because he put him up to the club appearances, and now he can’t even track him down.”

“How hard can it be to track him down? He has a house. Send someone over there.” The oven dinged, and I grabbed a potholder to remove both trays of the spaghetti. They were too hot to eat and needed to cool down.

“Cole already did that, and Anthony wasn’t at his house. He’s checked several hotels around LA that Anthony liked to hang out at.”

A funny feeling crept over me, but I refused to let my imagination run wild. Anthony was fine. If he hadn’t been okay, one of the many tabloid magazines would’ve already sniffed Anthony out and hung him out to dry.

“Maybe he just wants to be left alone.” The doorbell rang, and I gladly exited the room to answer it. I didn’t need to feel even guiltier for accepting Mary’s help, but I couldn’t exactly chase her away. Nick was standing on the front porch with Cole. Both were laughing as I gestured for them to come inside. Cole didn’t look too worried about his brother.

“Food ready yet?” Nick asked, handing me a bottle of wine and giving me a quick hug.

“Almost. Need to let it cool.”

“Cooling is for sissies. I’m hungry now.”

I shook my head and let out a grunt, warning him to keep his hands off.

Mason pulled into the driveway as Cole and Nick wandered into the kitchen. I kept the door open as Tori and Mason climbed out of their car. She gave me a quick wave and I smiled. Seeing so many smiling faces did wonders for my mood, and something told me dad would get a kick out of it too.

Tori made her way up the steps while Mason dug around in the trunk of the car, finally reappearing with a box.

“I made tiramisu.”

“No way,” I said, giving Tori a hug. “I’ve never attempted that.”

“Me either, so if it’s inedible, I totally understand.” She laughed, moving into the living room as Mason came inside after her. I looked in the box and saw the dusted cocoa powder over the dessert and suddenly wanted to skip dinner and head straight for the sweets.

“The house smells amazing,” Mason said, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek.

I closed the door behind him and watched as my friends congregated in the kitchen while my mind wandered to Anthony. It was hard to imagine that he’d stop taking his brother’s calls altogether, but if he saw the picture of himself on the sidewalk, I doubt it thrilled him about his choices, press invention or not.

Whatever. He wasn’t my problem, and Cole would eventually find him and life would turn out just fine for him. Hopefully by then, I’d be able to figure out what else I needed to take care of my dad and get my sales up at my Etsy store.

Mary opened the slider, and her smile deepened when she saw the group of people in the kitchen. My dad was making his way to the door with the walker, and she waved for my attention.

I made my way through my laughing bunch of friends as Natalie attempted to fend Nick away from the entrée.

“What is your schedule for tomorrow?” Mary asked. “My daughter will be the one working with your father on his occupational therapy.”

“I’m here in the day, but I work at Island Bluff in the evening. Jewels will be here to help out. Honestly, I think we’re set.”

Mary shook her head. “Until I hear something different from Anthony, my daughter will be here tomorrow at four.”

She helped my dad into the crowded kitchen, sat him at the head of the table, and walked over to the fridge, to pull out his meal replacement shake. I scooted between Natalie and Jewels as they swatted at Nick’s hand, which was attempting to pinch some of the baked cheese off the spaghetti.

“Behave, you three,” I teased, reaching Mary as she readied my dad’s dinner. “So you haven’t heard from Anthony either?”

She shrugged. “I don’t really expect to until something changes on his end. Why?”

“Natalie seems to think he’s missing.”

“And you don’t?”

I shook my head. “I think he just doesn’t want to be found.”

“I think you’re probably right.” She winked.

“Would you like to stay for dinner? We have plenty.”

She shook her head. “I need to get back home, but maybe another day.”

Mary wandered over to my dad and helped him with his shake, but I watched him slowly reach up for her wrist as she tried to leave. He didn’t want her to go. It only took a point of his index finger and Mary gently sat next to him.

“Guess I’ll be staying after all,” Mary said, glancing in my direction.

“Guess so.” I brought over the first tray of baked spaghetti and Cole helped with the other one.

“About time,” Nick grumbled, taking a seat on the other side of my dad. He slowly reached for Nick’s shoulder and attempted to squeeze it.

“Good cook,” my dad said, and I couldn’t help but smile. There was something changing in this household, and I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I was grateful.

“She is,” Nick agreed. “She is good at a lot of things.”

My dad’s eyes connected with mine, and my smile grew, realizing that even when the impossible presented itself, maybe it really was just a U-turn, pointing me in the right direction.