Page 148 of Slumming It
"But—"
"I borrowed something without permission.That'swhy I'm probably fired…well, that and going AWOL."
This didn't sound like Vivian at all."What exactly did you borrow?"
"Wait…make thattwothings if you count Slade's car."
What the heck?"Hold on. You borrowed Slade's Ferrari?"
"No, that would be crazy." But then she glanced away and murmured, "It was the Beamer, actually."
Oh, like that was so much better."But why?" I considered the time. Chicago was almost six hours away. The time now was just after four o'clock, which meant that Vivian had left Chicago sometime this morning – and on a work day, too. "Was Slade mean to you or something?"
"Forget Slade," she said. "I want to talk aboutyou. That's why I'm here. I just don't get whyyouare."
"But that doesn't make any sense." I searched her face for clues. "I mean, why come here to talk if you didn't expect to find me?"
"Oh, I knew I'd find you eventually, just not here in the trailer." Her mouth tightened. "I figured you'd still be withhim."
Him.What a loaded little word, filled with joy and sadness and a whole lot of confusion in-between. I let out a ragged little laugh. "Yeah, well not anymore."
Vivian eyed me with obvious concern. "If you want the truth, I'm actually kind of relieved." She glanced toward the house. "I was going to call you after I snagged something from Mom and Dad's place, but it's probably better that you're here while I search."
My eyes felt all swollen even though I hadn't been crying. "So you need to find something? What is it?"
"You'll see." She gave my hand another squeeze. "Wait here. I'll be back in a bit."
I had no idea what she was going to get, but Ididknow that I could use a few minutes to wash my face and brush my teeth – anything to feel less dirty after everything I'd just learned from Reese.
By the time Vivian returned, I was feeling more refreshed and just a little wary. I had the distinct impression that whatever she planned to show me, it would make my crappy day even crappier – as if that were even possible.
What Ididn'texpect was to see a much younger Reese Murdock staring up at me from the pages of my mom's photo album. And the way it looked, his name wasn't Reese at all.
Chapter 58
Emily
Standing at the trailer's kitchen table, I couldn’t stop staring. Right there, in the pages of my mom's old photo album was an image that had to be at least twenty years old. The photo had been taken beside the pool at our little hotel – long before it was our hotel at all.
In the photo, I saw my three brothers along with a fourth boy, painfully thin with hollow, hungry eyes and an uncertain smile. His hair was cut so short, it was practically stubble, and his faded black swimsuit looked several sizes too big, as if it belonged to somebody else.
My heart clenched at the sight.The boy was Reese Murdock.
If my sister hadn't pointed him out, I might've never recognized him. He looked so very different – so bony and neglected, as if he'd been living on scraps and sleeping God-knows-where.
But the longer I looked, the more I saw the resemblance – the same cheek bones, the same shape of his jaw, and the same dark eyes, guarded, but almost hopeful as he smiled at the camera.
More to myself than to Vivian, I murmured, "But he looks so different."
Next to me, she said, "I know, right?"
As far as I could tell, the photo had been taken during that summer that Vivian and I had spent at our aunt's place, when the rest of our family had stayed at the hotel.
Below the photo was a handwritten caption in my mom's distinctive handwriting. She'd written out four names. Dean, Trevor, and Grant – those were my brothers. But it was the fourth name that made me literally gasp.
I looked to my sister and said, "Buddy Reed – wasn't that the fake name he used when checking in?"
Vivian nodded. "The very same."
