Page 48 of All of You

“You okay?” Mad taps my side with his elbow.

“Yeah.” I don’t want to get into any of my mess with him. “How’s racing? I saw that last race.” I cringe and bite my tongue.

Why did I bring up a race where he crashed and burned?

Mad runs a hand through his dark hair and releases a dry laugh. “Yeah, fuck, what a nightmare. I’m actually, ah…” He glances around Main Street and I get the feeling he’ll look anywhere but at me. “I’m thinking of sticking around…permanently.”

“No shit? But what about racing?”

“I dunno.” He shrugs yet there’s nothing relaxed or nonchalant about it. “So tell me, what’s new with you? Tell me you finally ditched Dot and went after Wren. You know, if not, if you’re still too dumb to make a move, maybe I will. Is she single?”

I shudder at his teasing laugh. Although he’s joking, only trying to get a rise out of me by mentioning Wren, I don’t like it. Not one bit.

Wren would be better off with the likes of Jett, Mad, and any number of men. Guys that don’t have a wildly intense ex-girlfriend trying to destroy both our lives.

“Shut up.” I turn the corner and exhale a sigh of relief at seeing the garage and, more importantly, Eddie’s car in the lot. I need to talk to him.

Once Maddox has talked with my brother a bit and taken the loaner car, it’s just Eddie and me.

“Hey, you got a sec?” I follow Eddie into his office where he deposits the stack of keys he just went through to find the right ones for Maddox.

“Uh-huh. What’s up?”

“While you were away, I tried to nudge Dot, get her to sign the papers giving me ownership of the Nest.”

He puts down the papers he was looking at, eyes now on me. “And? Did it work?”

“No. She threw down another threat. One that kinda threw me for a loop.” I perch on his desk, the words like rocks in my mouth, sharp and troublesome.

“What the hell did she do now?”

“She basically told me she has me where she wants me because she’s got evidence, or I should say, Bill Malone does, about our father taking town funds for his own use.”

Eddie scowls, studying me intently, and I bite out, “Aren’t you going to say anything? Or did you already fucking know?”

He nods and mashes his lips together, nostrils flaring. “Yeah, I tried to tell you in not so many words.”

Like a bullet, I shoot to my feet. “You should’ve fucking tried harder. Like just tell me. Why would you keep this from me?”

“Hey, you’re my little brother. For all of your life, you’ve worshipped a man who didn’t deserve your adoration or your love. I didn’t want to be the one to crush you.”

Some of the heat under my collar dissipates at Eddie’s admission, but his omission still stings.

“How did you find out?” I cross my arms over my chest.

“I didn’t know he was dipping into the town funds; that’s news to me. Although it doesn’t surprise me. Sounds about right for that bastard. I knew he was a cheating asshole who threw away money on women, booze, and gambling. He was nowhere close to all the things he claimed to be and expected us to be.” He clenches his jaw, eyes narrowing on a far-off point as if he’s in the past, maybe even face-to-face with our father. “My mother loved him, but she cried all the time. They’d have fights about his affairs, the prostitutes. When she died, while it killed me and I missed her, I was glad he couldn’t hurt her anymore. Then out of nowhere, he got engaged to Diana.”

Eddie looks at me now with a turbulent gaze, almost as if warring with himself about how much, if anything, he should tell me about my mother and her marriage to our father.

“Go on, Eddie. I need to know. All of it.”

“That’s when things changed for me. I confronted him and told him I’d tell Diana who he really was. She was new in town, hadn’t heard the rumors—you see, while Dot’s threatening you, back then, some people knew and others speculated.”

I get to my feet, a realization dawning. “Is that when he kicked you out?”

Eddie nods. “Yeah and cut me off. He said Diana wouldn’t believe me anyway. He tried to taint me in her eyes, but your mother didn’t go along with his lies. She knew who he was, and in some ways, she tamed him. Not fully, and maybe since he was getting up there in age, he didn’t wander or party like he once did.” He looks me in the eye with an admiration that fills my chest. “Your mother was good to me.”

“Yeah, Mom loved you like a son even if she wasn’t that much older than you.”

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