Page 21 of Doubling Down

Jude squeezes my thigh. “And no, he’s not coming here. This is our prototype. We built a second model for Whitewood that’s locked in a room at the club now. Chloe was our initial investor. She plans to charge a premium to let people use it, but no one’s allowed in the room unless we’re there. We’ll need to train a couple more staff as operators. They can then train any Doms who want to use it.”

“How many other people will be there?” I ask, suddenly uncertain about going through with this, even though I want to help.

“Just him. Unless you want a bigger audience.”

I let out a breath. “Good. No. I just thought because of how Casey described what she does that watching was, you know, how things are done there.”

“Oh, right. You haven’t actually been upstairs yet, have you?” Simon says. “Well, that’s definitely something we’ll need to remedy. We’ll head over early so you can see the place with fewer members present. Let’s head upstairs and get cleaned up for now.” He stands and reaches out to pull me to my feet.

“I should actually head home for a bit first. I need to face the parents at some point,” I say as I follow them both up the back staircase into their apartment.

“Do you want us with you?” Simon asks.

“Yeah, we’re totally there if you need us,” Jude adds.

Their eagerness to have my back makes me smile, but I shake my head. “No. At least not today. Let me ease them into the idea first. Maybe before I go back to California, you can come over for dinner or something, though.”

I gather my things and bid them both farewell, a fresh surge of anxiety filling me as I back out of the driveway. It’s not about them, though, or the favor I agreed to do for them tonight. This time, it’s all about facing my parents about the twins.

It’s a normal lazy Saturday at the Nolan house. My sisters are still parked in front of the TV in the den, watching cartoons, when I walk in. They greet me with chirpy hellos. I wave back.

“Sarah, is that you?” Mom calls from the kitchen.

“Yep!” I wander in, toss my things onto one of the barstools, and sit on another. She’s up to her elbows in bread dough while Dad sits at the kitchen table in the sunny nook, staring at his laptop.

“How was your night out with Casey?” She gives me a cautious look, making me wonder why she doesn’t mention the twins. My text to my folks last night was pretty clear about where I would be.

“It was… good. Better than I expected, to be honest.” I briefly contemplate spilling every detail, including where we went, but decide now isn’t the time to tell my parents about the kinky sex club. It’s unlikely there will ever be a good time for that. But there is one detail I need to make sure is out in the open, since she’s obviously not going to bring it up.

“That’s wonderful. I’m so glad you two reconnected. I never quite understood what happened between you.”

“It’s complicated. A lot happened that summer after we graduated.”

Mom pauses her kneading and looks up at me. A stray curl of her graying brown hair flutters across her face, and she blows it off. She studies me for a second, then nods and looks down at her hands.

“I think about that summer a lot, you know. Sometimes I wonder if we overreacted. But you were so young. And you know behavior like that can risk our foster care license.”

“I was eighteen, and the twins still needed a home. We could have worked it out.”

Mom winces and glances at Dad, who closes his laptop and props his arms on the table, looking at us both. “The twins left without a goodbye, Sarah—you know that as well as I do. But if it makes you feel better, they didn’t go far. Rick Bennett took them in—” He trails off when I lift an eyebrow at him, then chuckles. “But you probably figured that out already.”

Still, the fact that Dad chose to tell me this takes me a moment to process. “You knew where they were all this time?”

He presses his lips into a tight line and lets a long breath out through his nose. “I think a lot of bad decisions were made that summer. I’m not blameless, either. And for the record, I don’t think what you and the twins did was one of them… as long as you were safe, that is, and the fact that I’m not a grandfather is enough proof of that. But emotions were high at the time. I didn’t really cool off until you left for college. By that time, I just thought it was better to leave things alone. You were moving on—all three of you. If it was meant to be, well… I don’t blame you for wanting a reunion. I just hope it lived up to your expectations.”

“Dad…” I’m speechless as I stare at him, stunned at the completely unexpected confession. After a moment, I manage to gather my thoughts and clear my throat. “Actually, it was pretty amazing. Better than I could have expected. They’re doing well, and I’m hoping to spend a lot more time with them while I’m here. So fair warning, but I probably won’t be around much.”

Mom makes an odd sound, and my dad chuckles. I look at Mom, who rolls her eyes. “You couldn’t just pick one, could you? You had to have them both.”

Before I can answer, Dad rises and moves to her side, pulling her against him. “We could never choose just one kid, Sheen. We fell in love with just about every wayward child we fostered. I was growing to love the twins too. They’re good boys. The way I figure, Sarah’s love just evolved at a time in her life when other things were evolving too.”

My eyes burn with tears, and I reach for a tissue from the box at the end of the counter. “You guys are literally the best parents. I’m so sorry I haven’t been home all this time.”

“Oh, honey,” Mom says, reaching across the bar to caress my cheek with a floury hand. “We knew you’d come home when you were ready. And please tell Jude and Simon that they can come home too.”

Part III

All In

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