Yours to Savor (51 page)

It had been two days since Sandra had found him in the alley. Since then, Brandon couldn’t eat. He couldn’t sleep. All he could do was think of Sandra.

She didn’t answer any of his calls. She didn’t reply to his texts. He
wanted
to go to her. He
wanted
to see her, but he told himself he had to give her time and space.

Brandon paced around the beach house kitchen, furious with himself. He should have known better than to lie to Sandra. He should have known to value her trust more. When he’d turned on her, white-hot rage searing in his eyes, it was the worst possible moment for her to see him—and absolutely the worst fucking time for her to recognize him from her nightmares. The kid he found—Josh—was her friend. He could imagine what had it looked like for her to discover them like that. A part of him was impressed by the way she fearlessly stood up for her friend… but an overwhelming part of him wished she had never had the courage to do so.

The only good thing to come out of that morning was the way he’d handled things with Josh. Of course, the threats of violence against him were empty. Brandon would never do something like that, or allow any of those who worked for him to. But the kid didn’t know that. Brandon thrived on stereotypes assigned to his character.

The rest of it had been just a terrible combination of events. Sandra seeing him in a rage; Sandra seeing him push her friend around; Sandra realizing that they’d met before.
All at the same fucking time
.

Brandon knew it was his fault. There was no room for self-delusion in the business he’d been in. But now, with the problem in Ocean Shores wrapped up, he was ready to move on with his life. Except, because of his stupidity, the most vital piece was missing.
Sandra
was missing.

Brandon roared, sweeping a pile of dishes off the counter, sending them crashing to the floor.
You fucking idiot! You promised her honesty!

His anger billowed up within him. His chest heaved. He threw open the cupboard door with enough force to break it from its hinges, and smashed it against the fridge. Again, and again, and again, until all he had left were splinters in his hands.

Sandra had to talk to Josh. She had to know what had happened between him and Brandon yesterday morning. When she got home from work, she picked up her phone and dialed Josh, ignoring the mass of missed calls and texts from Brandon.

“Hello?”

“Josh. It’s Sandra. Listen, I need to talk to you.”

Josh exhaled heavily. “I know. I thought you would have called yesterday. I was worried about you. Are you okay?”

“Yes—no. I don’t know. Look, can you come see me? I don’t want to do this over the phone.”

“Sure. Where?”

“My apartment?”

“Where is it?”

She gave him directions.

“I’ll be there in five.”

Sandra hung up and waited. Her room was too small to pace, so she sat on the bed and folded her hands, striving for
patience
.

Soon, she heard the noise of an engine outside. She looked out her window and spotted Josh riding up on a new motorcycle, a backpack slung over one shoulder. He didn’t see her as he parked and walked into the building.

Sandra opened the door when he knocked. “You bought the bike!”

“Yeah,” Josh smiled. “Just last week.”

“You didn’t tell me.”

“I didn’t have my license then. I got it this morning.” He grinned again. “I didn’t want to say anything before I could ride it.”

Sandra smiled, but it was hard to feel happy when there was so much weighing on her mind. She welcomed Josh in.

It was cramped enough for one person. With two, there was precious little space to move. Josh took in her accommodations without comment and sat on the edge of the bed where Sandra directed him.

He slung his backpack off his shoulder, and opened it to reach inside. “I’ve made some more money since then, too,” he said. “I wanted to give this to you.”

“Josh, no. I told you I don’t need—”

He gave her a hard look. “It’s not cash.” He pulled out a small blue box and handed it to her.

Sandra discovered her hand was shaking as she took it. “What is it?”

“Look inside.”

She opened it, and drew in a breath. Curled up on the soft fabric was a thin gold necklace, with a small locket in the middle. “It’s beautiful, Josh. But, why?”

He shrugged. “We’re both leaving Ocean Shores soon. I thought it could be a token of our friendship. Besides, it would look good on you.”

“Thank you.” She wrapped her arms around him in a hug. He put his arm around her, too, and for a second, Sandra imagined he was Brandon. Then, when she realized he was not, she felt herself tearing up. She couldn’t help it.

Josh noticed. “Hey, hey there,” he said softly. “Are you okay?”

“No,” Sandra admitted quietly. “No, not really. I need to know what happened yesterday morning. What I interrupted in the alley.”

Josh exhaled, stood up. “That was the man you’re dating, right?”

“The man I
was
dating.”

“I thought I recognized him. Do you know what he does for a living?”

“Of course. He does real estate development. I met his business partner.”

Josh gave her a sad smile, and shook his head. “Sandra, that’s not true at all.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s not a real estate developer. He’s a drug dealer.”

Sandra felt as if she had been kicked in the stomach. “
What
?”

Josh nodded. “Yeah. That’s how the problem started yesterday.”

Sandra didn’t
want
to believe Josh. She didn’t
want
to know that Brandon had lied to her about so many things. But something in the back of her mind told her what Josh said made sense. All of Brandon’s money, all his free time, his expensive car and yacht and clothes…

How could I have been so blind
? Brandon had always been vague about what he did. What other type of job demanded such secrecy? What other occupation could have given him so much at his age?
He led me on without once admitting the truth for a month.

Sandra hated drugs with a passion after what they had done to her sister. They’d cost Chloe her life. And now, to know that Brandon was directly involved with them? It was too much to handle. Brandon had told her too many lies and not enough truths. She was exhausted from little sleep last night. Reliving the nightmares again had her emotions wound tight.

Worst of all, she was still in love with Brandon. Love wasn’t like a faucet. You couldn’t just turn it off with a flick of the wrist. Even knowing what Brandon did, even knowing how much he’d lied to her, Sandra couldn’t help still being in love with him.

Well, she would have to learn to suppress the feeling until it went away. She had lots of experience doing that.

“So then, are you involved with him?” Sandra asked.

“God, no!” Josh quickly answered. “I’d never do anything like that.”

“So what was going on yesterday?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Tell me.”

Josh sighed. “Last weekend,” he began, pushing off the bed to stand and talk, “some of my friends—I mean, they’re not even my friends, more like acquaintances from school—decided to organize a big party for the end of the year. We’re all graduating soon, right? They wanted to have one last hurrah for everybody at school.”

Sandra waited for him to continue. “Anyway, these guys, they don’t go to class much. They’d rather spend their time smoking dope. I don’t usually hang out with them, like I said, but last weekend we just sort of ran into each other at the mall. And they told me about the party they were planning, and I thought it was a great idea. I told them that. So we hung out a bit that day. They said they were meeting some guy to get supplies for the party, and asked me if I wanted to come. I didn’t have anything else to do, so I agreed. I thought they meant alcohol or something, but…”

“But what?”

“It wasn’t alcohol they were after. They said they were looking for
high roller
goods so that everyone could really have a blast at the party.”

“Like what?”

“Cocaine, I think. Anyway, it turned out they called their dealer earlier in the day to see if he could hook them up, and he said they had to meet someone else. That’s where we went. When we got there, it turned out the guy their dealer sent them to was your friend.”

“Brandon,” Sandra breathed.

“Yeah. I was with them, so I had to tag along, although I was starting to wish I hadn’t.
Brandon
—” the way Josh said his name made it clear to Sandra he didn’t like him, “—met them and sold them the drugs. He charged a lot, but assured them they were getting the highest-grade stuff. He said they were paying for quality. Anyway, these guys brought enough cash to afford it. They finished the transaction without a hitch. I stayed near the back the whole time, though, trying not to participate.

“Then yesterday morning, I was walking to work, minding my own business, when I heard somebody call after me. I looked over, and saw Brandon coming toward me, looking angry as hell. He remembered that I was there when he made the deal with my classmates. He was mad because he said they skimped on the money.

“Before I knew it, I was being dragged into the back alley. He ambushed me! I wasn’t even involved in the transaction. He pushed me up against the wall, and threatened me with a knife if I didn’t pay up.”

“A
knife
?”

“Yeah. He had it on him.” Josh made a motion with one hand to his waist. “On his belt.”

“I never saw that.”

Josh blinked, a disconcerted look flashing across his face. “He must have kept it hidden from you, somehow,” he stumbled. “But anyway, Brandon said that if I didn’t pay by the end of the day, he would hurt me.”

“He
threatened
you?”

“Yeah. But it’s okay now, I think. I told the guys I was with, and they talked to him and sorted things out.” Josh exhaled. “I don’t think I have anything to worry about.”

“Wow,” Sandra breathed. “This is a lot to take in.”

“I’m really sorry I had to be the one to tell you. But you needed to know the type of man you were involved with.”

Sandra nodded. “You’re right. He is the type I
was
involved with. But not anymore.”

Sandra thought she saw a glimmer of delight in Josh’s eye, but it was replaced almost instantly by sympathy. He sighed. “I know you two had a good thing going for a while. It sucks that you had to learn the truth like this. Maybe I shouldn’t have come and told you—”

“No,” she interrupted, standing up to look him in the eye. “You definitely should have. Thank you.”

“Sure.” Josh stuck his hands in his pockets, looked down at his feet. “Can you promise me one thing, though?”

“What?”

“That you won’t tell Brandon I said anything? It all got sorted out. But, I’m scared that if he finds out I talked to you, he won’t be happy with me.”

“I swear, I won’t say a word.”