Page 104 of Rosie and the Beast Next Door

So Dadhadallowed himself to be paid off. And then he’d taken even more by selling our story to Hot Goss Magazine. Hehadto be the one who’d taken those pictures. He’d been around both days. Had he planned on selling us out all along, or was it just an idea he’d brewed up on his way out of town?

“I know you’re going to be angry,” Bennett said. He leaned toward me, his hands clasped together in front of him. “And you totally deserve to be. Just make sure you’re angry at the right person.”

The door opened, and Haydn and Jules strolled in with a gust of fresh forest air. Grocery bags and duffels hung from their arms as they closed the door and toed off their shoes in the entryway.

“So you all knew,” I said quietly. But loud enough for my brothers to pause. Bennett said something to them with his eyes, and they seemed to understand it.

“That’s why we were down at the boat this morning,” Jules said. “We’d come to make sure he’d left and found you there instead.”

I nodded. They must have thought I was so dumb, so incrediblystupidfor believing that Dad might love me. For giving him so much money and my boat to live in and hoping with my whole soul that if I was enough, I could have my dad back again.

Haydn dropped onto the couch on one side of me, and Jules on the other. “You wear your expressions all over your face, sis,” Haydn said.

“So what? We all know I’m an idiot now. Fantastic,” I said bitterly.

“For what?” Bennett asked. “For loving Dad?”

“You all told me he was trouble, but I didn’t listen. I thought maybe you were just bitter, and I could make a difference.” I stared at my hands.

“I told her about Jules and Dad,” Bennett said quietly.

“Dad’s charming—except when he’s not,” Haydn said. “I probably remember him the best, since I’m the oldest, but Mom always forgave him. She’d be so upset when he left us high and dry, but then he’d blow back into town with his charm and his apologies, and it wouldn’t be long until we were repeating the same cycle once again.”

“He called me a sour lemon, once. I remember that.”

Jules frowned. “I hate that he said that to you. It’s not true.” He was using his lawyer voice, the one that demanded you listen to him and take note.

“You make our lives brighter, Rosie,” Haydn said, and the other two nodded in agreement.

“You have Mom’s big, generous heart.” Haydn tightened his arm around my shoulders. “And don’t even try to deny it. Youlove to tease us and give us a hard time, but in the end, you would do anything for the people you love.”

I let Haydn’s words sink in, and for once, my brothers allowed the four of us to sit in silence. It had always been the four of us against the world, and it always would be. Even when we added new partners and families and spread out across the world, we were family. Through and through.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Haydn asked.

“I didn’t want you to keep me from seeing him.” I covered my face. “I’ve been keeping so many secrets.”

“You don’t have to keep secrets from us, Rosie,” Bennett said seriously.

“You guys don’t think I’m responsible or that I know how to live my own life. And who can blame you, especially after this week?”

“We don’t think that at all,” Jules said vehemently. “Rosie, you have your own successful business in your twenties. Making art. How many people can actually say that?”

I sniffled. “It’s not that successful. I have to have a second job and rent out the apartment to make ends meet. And you don’t even know the half of it.”

“So tell us,” Haydn said softly.

And since I didn’t have anything to lose, I did. I told them about my mural wall and how I wanted to be taken seriously but also wanted to paint animals in costumes and other whimsical things. I told them about how Dad hadn’t asked me for money right away, and that we’d had good moments too. I talked for ten minutes straight, unloading all the things I’d been holding back, and ending with my final confession as I stared into my lukewarm mug of hot chocolate. “I just want you guys to be proud of me.”

“We are.” Haydn kissed the side of my head. “None of us could imagine life without you.”

“It would be boring and colorless,” Bennett said.

“I wouldn’t have met Lia without you,” Haydn said, emotion thick in his voice.

“You’re the best of us,” Jules said simply. “And we’ll do better. I know we jump in to try to fix your problems, and it’s because we love you, not because we don’t think you can’t handle them.”

“And paint whatever you want to paint,” Bennett said. “We’ll love it because you did it.”

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