The Almost Truth (19 page)

“I’m sorry that things didn’t turn out the way you wanted. It was important to you to be Ava, and I made fun of that.”

“Any rational person would have made fun of it. You were
right. I was all caught up in this fantasy where anything I wanted would come true.” I rolled my eyes. “I’m an idiot.”

“The thing is, I think you’re awesome. Just the way you are. I like you.” He looked over with a touch of a smirk. “Idiot bits and all.”

I punched him in the arm lightly.

“I got mad because it seemed like you wanted to get rid of the real you, that you wanted to be someone else. And . . . I didn’t want to lose you.” Brendan shrugged. “I wasn’t listening to what
you
wanted. I was thinking about what
I
wanted.”

I felt my throat tighten. “It’s okay.”

“Not really. The thing is, if you love someone, you should make their happiness more important than your own.”

My heart sped up. “You love me?”

Brendan laughed. “You’re just figuring that out now? Maybe the idiot part of you is bigger than I thought.”

My mouth opened and closed like a fish. I felt like there was something I should say, but the connection between my brain and my mouth wasn’t working. “What about all those other girls?”

“That was me being an idiot.” Brendan shrugged. “You’re my best friend; you’ve always been my friend, as long as I can remember. But you always made it so clear that we’re
just
friends. I’ve had a crush on you since seventh grade.”

“Seventh grade?” I tried to think back that far.

“I remember my folks took us over to the fair in Puyallup.
You were wearing this pink sweater. I was too scared to go on the rickety roller coaster, so I was standing there waiting for you. I was eating this giant tub of caramel corn. The coaster went swooping by and I saw this girl on it and thought,
Wow.
Then an instant later I realized it was you. That’s when I knew that what I felt for you wasn’t just friendship anymore.”

I tried to wrap my brain around that. “I had no idea.”

“I’ll admit I can be an idiot sometimes, but I wasn’t stupid enough to go and tell you that I was crazy for you. You always planned to get far away from here, and me, as soon as graduation happened. You were making escape plans back in elementary school. I went out with all those girls because I thought maybe you would see me with them and wonder what you were missing.” He shrugged. “Then we slept together, and I thought maybe something was different. It seemed like you felt something too. I know you want to leave, but I wanted you to want me to come too.”

I rubbed my head. It felt like my life was a snow globe that someone had come along and shaken. Everything looked different and I couldn’t find my bearings. “I was so sure I had everything all figured out.”

Brendan waved his hand dismissively. “Having things figured out is overrated. You don’t need to know everything, just what you want to do next. Don’t let anyone rush you into doing anything.”

“Were you always this wise?” I asked.

“Pretty much. There’s a reason all those girls always wanted to go out with me.”

“I thought it was because of your good looks and the cons you pulled on them.”

“Well, there was that, too. You can’t count on everyone appreciating you for your brains.” Brendan’s hand reached over and lightly touched my knee. “Are you willing to give us a chance?”

“What happened to not needing to figure everything out?” I asked.

“Totally different when we’re talking about me. You should feel free to rush into something where I’m concerned.”

I laughed. “You don’t give up easy, do you?”

He turned so we were facing each other. “Nope. Not about things that matter. I wouldn’t have given up, you know. I would have followed you to California, or halfway around the world.” He paused, giving me a moment to change things, but when I didn’t, he leaned over and kissed me. His mouth was warm and tasted like the cinnamon mints he was always chewing. It felt exciting and scary and good and . . . exactly like the right thing.

I pulled back and looked at him. “I’ve wasted so much time chasing after . . . I don’t even know what. A dream? Some kind of fantasy of what I thought my life should be.” I shook my head and looked around the yard. “I thought being Ava was so important, but it didn’t matter.”

“Don’t be ticked at yourself. Think how many people don’t get their act together until they’re like forty, and their lives are
half over. You’re ahead of the game. You figured things out and you’re only eighteen. At this rate, you could be president by twenty. If there was a role for world emperor, you’d have that in the bag by twenty-five.”

“I’m pretty sure that it would be advised that someone finish college before taking on the job of president. Besides, don’t you have to be at least thirty-five?”

Brendan blew off my answer. “Never mind the Constitution. You could fix that up next year, while you’re nineteen.”

“While your world domination plan has some appeal, I don’t think I see myself as wanting to take on all that responsibility.” I paused as if I was giving the situation a great deal of thought. “I might like to focus on having some fun for a bit.”

“What luck! I think I can help you with that. I don’t want to brag, but I’ve got the fun thing figured out.”

“Why do you think I picked you?”

Brendan leaned in and kissed me. “I will do everything I can to make you as happy as you look right now.” He kissed me again. We kissed until a loud boom of rolling thunder startled us. Brendan looked around. The sky had filled in with thick gray clouds. “Sounds like a big storm is blowing in.”

My nose twitched. I could almost smell the rain and the electrical charge of lightning in the air. “Should we go inside?”

Brendan pulled back and put a hand to his chest. “Oh my, are you inviting yourself into my boudoir? Things are moving awfully fast.” He fanned his face as if he were overcome.

“I meant to get out of the rain, not so I can put the moves on you.”

“Well, that’s disappointing.” Brendan stood up. “I should try to finish the lawn before it starts coming down. If you want to hang out for a while, we can do something after, maybe catch a movie?”

“Do you mind if I crash for a few hours? I was up all night.”

“Sure.”

“Later we could do something. Tonight’s the big McKenna family event at the hotel,” I reminded him.

Brendan shoved his hands in his pockets. “Nancy Goodall checked in today, by herself. No TV crew with her.” He glanced over at me. “I called to check. I didn’t speak to her. I just wanted to know if she was here, in case you wanted to go forward with things.”

“I wondered if she’d come.”

“Do you want to go through with it? We still could. She’ll pay to keep her lie from coming out.”

I thought about it, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “No.”

“It means you won’t have the money for school.”

“I know.” I wondered what my future roommate, Cheryl, would think when she found out that neither me nor my matching bedspread would be there in the fall. A big part of why I’d wanted to go to Berkeley was to get far away, but I also really did want to go. “I’ll see what I can arrange for this
year with one of the community colleges. Then I’ll apply someplace else. University of Washington is supposed to have a good architecture program. In-state tuition is a lot lower.”

He smiled.

“What makes you so happy?” I poked him in the stomach.

“You design houses, you’ll need someone to build them.”

“I suppose you think you’re the man for the job?”

Brendan flexed his arm. “Well, I am pretty handy.”

“You’re also pretty smart when you’re not being a smart-ass. You should go to college too.”

He smiled. “If you insist.”

There was another crack of thunder. I bit my lip. “I don’t need the money for school, but I still want to meet up with Nancy Goodall. Would you come with me?”

“Sure.”

“Don’t you want to know why I want to see her?”

“Nah.” He grinned, gunning up his mower again. “It’s enough that you want me there.”

T
ickets to the McKenna Family Missing Children Foundation event cost over five hundred bucks a pop. They weren’t going to make it easy for the average person to slip in and join the party. Lucky for us, we weren’t average. I practically grew up in the Keppler and knew the place inside and out. If there was a way to sneak up on Nanny Goodall at the party of the year, I could find it. I tapped my foot, waiting for Brendan to join me in the lobby. It was dumping rain, so he’d dropped me at the door while he parked his truck. I took a deep breath when I saw him dash in the front door holding the sports section of the newspaper over his head. He shook off and stuffed the now soaked paper into a trash can. I stood as he came closer. We’d dressed up in an effort to blend in with the crowd, but I was willing to bet we still would stick out. Both of us were lacking in the formal
wear department. Brendan kept pulling on the sleeves of his suit jacket, and I was hoping my dress looked vintage and not just secondhand. I could tell Brendan wasn’t completely comfortable in a suit, but he looked amazing.

“Take a seat,” Brendan said, plopping himself down into one of the overstuffed chairs by the fire.

I shifted back and forth in front of him. “We should get going,” I said. My goal was simple and impossible all at the same time. I didn’t want to con Nancy Goodall out of her money; I simply wanted to convince her to do the right thing after all these years. She needed to come clean about what had really happened. It might not accomplish much, but it also might give the police a new clue that could lead them to Ava. I felt like I owed it to the McKenna family to at least try. I wasn’t their long-lost daughter, but thinking I was had changed my life.

Brendan raised an eyebrow at my impatience. “Clearly you don’t get to very many of these swank events. It’s not even nine; this party will go on for hours. They didn’t pay that much money to crawl into bed by ten and get a good night’s sleep. We don’t need to rush.”

“Is there a reason we’re waiting?”

“This is why you should stick to five-dollar cons,” Brendan said, settling into his chair. “No patience.”

“I keep telling you I’m giving up the con business.” I continued before he could contradict me. “Yes, this technically counts as a con as I’m trying to con her out of information, but after this
one I’m giving it up. If I need money for U of Wash, then I’ll get it the old-fashioned way. I’ll earn it.”

“Old-fashioned, slow. Call it what you want. Either way, this is a con, and smart con artists make sure they know exactly what the situation is that they’re dealing with before they go in.” Brendan paused and pressed his hand to his chest. “I can’t speak for you, but I’m smart.”

“Fine.” I dropped into the seat and looked around. “Are we casing the joint for anything in particular?”

“Watch and learn,” Brendan said. He settled deeper into his chair, looking relaxed and comfortable.

I managed to dig up enough patience to last at least twenty minutes before asking him anything. Or maybe ten. Ten for sure. “So, have you gained any valuable knowledge?”

“As a matter of fact, I have.” Brendan motioned to the front desk, where two of the maintenance workers were talking to the desk manager. “Given the storm, and the fact that there is such a high-profile event, I’m willing to bet the manager called them up to make sure the generator kicks on in case the power goes out.”

“It would be a shame if the rich and powerful were in the dark.”

“Indeed. It also means if we cut the power to the room for any reason, we shouldn’t count on having a cover of darkness for very long.”

I looked over at Brendan. “Cover of darkness? I wasn’t aware we’d gone from talking to the nanny to engaging in a
Mission: Impossible
type situation. Are you planning to lower me on wires above her?”

“I wasn’t planning on it, but I like to know my options.” Brendan motioned to the elevator bank, where I could see one of the room service staff waiting with a food cart. “Looks like they closed the main dining room. The café is open, but if somebody wants anything fancier than burgers and sandwiches, they’re going to need either to be invited to tonight’s event or to call room service.”

I nodded. I couldn’t see how this would be remotely helpful, but I hoped if I agreed, it would move things along so we could get started.

“The other thing I noticed is that there aren’t any lights under Riker’s door.”

I glanced over. Next to the front desk was the office for Susan Riker, the night manager. Her door was shut and there wasn’t any light sneaking out from under it. “That’s weird,” I commented. “Maybe she’s sick.”

“My guess is that Stanbury’s working instead,” Brendan said.

“He hates working nights,” I pointed out.

“He also hates missing out on a chance to hobnob with the rich and famous. I’m guessing he didn’t want to pay for a ticket to this thing so he made sure he was working so he could still go to the party. We’re going to want to keep an eye out for him. He can’t stand me, and you’ll be on his hit list for being in the hotel when you’re not working. Riker would give us a pass if she saw
us, but he won’t. The last thing you want is him busting in on you when you’re trying to talk to Goodall.”

“Is this where you want me to admit you were right about us taking the time to figure this part out?” I asked.

Brendan winked. “I knew it was right, but I like hearing you say it.” He pulled out a pay-as-you-go phone. “Okay, I’m going to give her a call.”

“Should we meet her in the ballroom?” I wiped my hands on the seat.

“Too many people and too loud. Plus, there’s the chance someone would interrupt. I’m thinking we meet on the landing by the main staircase. They’ve got chairs up there, and it gives us the option that if we need to leave we can either use the main stairs, blend into the crowd of the ballroom, or take the back stairs. I don’t think she’ll do anything, but you never know how she’ll react to being told we know she’s a liar. My money is still on the fact that she lied to cover up meeting a boyfriend or just being stupid, but you never know how far she’ll go to keep things under wraps.”