Page 59 of Forever & Always You
“Dad never judged him. He wasniceto him. He wanted the best for him.” My eyes travel to Austin further down the beach, and I know I’m not to repeat the secret he shared with me, but I can’t sit on it by myself. Maybe if Zach knew just how much Dad cared for Austin, he might cut him some slack. “I’m going to tell you something, but I need you to promise me that you willnotrepeat this to Mom.”
“Spit it out.”
“Promise me,” I demand, and Zach nods. “Okay. I don’t know how to say this, so I’ll say it quick: Dad left some money behind for Austin. It was in a secret trust in the will. Dad was a great judge of character, so shouldn’t you trust and value his opinion of Austin?”
Zach’s eyes bulge as his features twist with confusion, then bubbling rage. “What the fuck? You mean Dad was handing out charity favors? That money wasours,Gabby! How much?”
Panic sends my heart racing. This is why I shouldn’t make split-second decisions, because I think I may have just pulled the pin on a grenade, and oh, how I wish I could shove that information right back into my mouth.
“I don’t know,” I choke out as my vision blurs, the beach spinning around me. Austin told me about that secret trust in confidence, and only when he felt he had no other choice. I reach out and lock my hand around Zach’s arm. “We are doing just fine. We don’t miss whatever amount that was, and it was Dad’s wish. It’s what he wanted and we have to respect that, Zach.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Austin approaching with concern and my chest squeezes so tight, it makes me feel faint.
“Is everything okay?” he asks.
Zach yanks his arm free of my death grip and turns to Austin. “How much was it then?”
“Huh?”
“How much of our father’s money did you manage to get your scruffy hands on?” There’s a storm raging in his eyes and he bites his lower lip so hard I’m amazed he doesn’t shed blood.
Austin glances at me, the betrayal clear as day in those ocean blue eyes. I squeeze mine shut, pressing my hands over my face as the regret twists its way around my chest, my stomach, my heart. I can’t bear this.
“Zach, listen. I didn’t ask for a handout,” Austin starts, his voice displaying only the slightest hint of a tremor that no one else but me would know him enough to even notice. “Your dad was hugely influential to me. I really looked up to him growing up and I guess I must have left a lasting impression on him. If it means anything, that money was put to good use. I’d never waste it. It was what he wanted, so if you’re going to be pissed at anyone, be pissed at him.”
And that’s too much for Zach, because he swings a fist through the air and clocks Austin square in the jaw.
“Zach!” I scream, stunned.
Austin, who back in high school endured the football team taking shots at him every now and again without ever saying a word to defend himself, throws a punch straight back. My mouth hangs open in disbelief and all hell breaks loose—Zach dives into Austin and the pair of them clatter to the ground, scrapping in the sand, fists flying.
“What’s going on?!” Claire screams in horror as she bounds over with Lily bundled protectively in her arms.
“Zach! Stop!Boys!” I yell, but my pathetic mediation attempts are unsurprisingly futile. It seems I have no choice but to physically pull them apart, and it’s right about now thatI regret giving up on the gym after that time I flew off the treadmill.
Sucking in a breath, I force myself in between the pair of them, locking my shoulders as I get rocked around in the fight. I’m on the ground now with them, sand in my mouth as I try to grab hold of either of their arms, but I should have known better than to get involved in a fight between two grown men. I’m no match for either of them, and I’m thrown to the side when Zach accidentally backhands me. The squeak that leaves my mouth halts the fight right there and then.
“Fuck, Gabby,” Zach pants, suddenly on his knees by my side as I clutch my cheek in shock. “You know I didn’t mean that.”
“Let me see,” Austin says, breathless as he settles on my other side. He reaches for my hand and gently moves it aside to examine my cheek. It stings like hell. “You’re okay. Needs some ice.”
“You’re a fucking idiot,” I snap at Zach, shoving him away from me as I unsteadily get to my feet. I brush off the sand from my body, though I feel my scalp itch and know it’s going to take one hell of a shower to wash it all from my hair. “Stupid, stupid idiot.”
“You hit her,” Austin growls, straightening up next to me and towering over Zach, gearing up for round two. I stretch a rigid arm out in front of his chest to hold him back.
“Leave it, Austin,” I warn. “Let’s just go.”
“It was clearly an accident,” Zach mutters, shaking his head furiously as Claire tugs on his shirt, pulling him away from us. As the distance increases, he yells over, “No wonder he forgives you, Gabs. Probably wants his hands onyourtrust fund now.”
Austin takes a sharp step forward, but I lock my hand around his bicep and haul him back with all of my might. “Ignore him,” I hiss.
In a rage-fueled daze, we gather our stuff and head back tothe car before collapsing silently inside. Austin’s shirt is torn open and there’s a small cut on the bridge of his nose. He stares out over the parking lot, blinking slowly as though he’s processing the past five minutes. I sit there and watch him, waiting.
Finally, he looks at me and says, “Thisis why that money was left in a secret trust.”
“I know,” I say, guiltily dipping my head. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I guess I just thought .?.?. Well, I thought maybe if Zach knew how much Dad respected you, he’d respect you a bit more, too.”
“I don’t need your brother to respect me, Gabby. What I do need”—he rubs his jaw, massaging away an ache, before the tone of his voice hardens—“is for you to stop breaking my trust over and over again. You just can’t help yourself, can you?”
