Starless Nights (Hale Brothers Series Book 2) (29 page)

Mr. B. Hale.

I can’t help but gasp in shock. The woman freezes in front of me but I can’t take my eyes off of his name. Slowly, she reaches out and takes the folder from me. Heat fills my face as I let it go, and tears fill my eyes. How did he do this? Why did he do this?

“Is there any way to return the money?” I ask quietly. My throat is so tight, it hurts to speak.

“No dear.” She looks at me sympathetically. “I take it you know this person?”

“Yes. Is there any way to stop payment going forward?”

She flips through the papers again. “No, he’s paid in full.”

Of course he has. My hands are balled into fists. “Can I please have the credit card?” She picks it up off of the counter and hands it to me. “Thank you for your time.”

Without making eye contact, I turn around and walk out of the school, and head straight for the studio. Charlie was right. Clouds have moved in and the temperature has dropped drastically. Wrapping my scarf a little tighter around me, my eyes again fill with tears.

I don’t understand why he did this.

After I moved back to the island, Beau made it very clear that he hated me for years. Occasionally, I would catch him looking at me, but he always turned away. Mostly, he just pretended like I never even existed, and that hurt so much.

Racking my brain, I try to place when and where Beau would have even heard or known about my acceptance to Parson’s. I didn’t tell anyone, except for Chase, until after the money was secured. Chase wouldn’t have told him. They’ve always been friends but I can’t see them sitting down and talking about me. Chase was pissed as it was with the way things went down between him and me. He saw firsthand how heartbroken I was after the fire, before we moved. The thing is too, with all of this, Beau wasn’t even talking to me when he would have paid the tuition. We weren’t friends. Why would he do this? And where did he get the money?

The shock of him being behind this slowly wears off and anger seeps in. I am so frustrated I am shaking. He has been a part of every single major event in my life, one way or another. I was so proud that I did this on my own. I worked hard, got into the school of my dreams, and I made it all happen.
Me.
And now I’m faced with knowing that I didn’t. I’m devastated and furious at the same time.

He’s got some explaining to do.

Pulling out my cell phone, I fire off a text to him.

I’M JUST FINISHING up with Nate when Leila’s text comes in. She’s invited me to her studio and wants to know if and when I might drop by. Of course I’ll stop by. I’ve been trying to think up an excuse to see her today anyway. Her text surprises me a little bit, but after the last couple of weeks, maybe she wants to see me as much as I want to see her. I smile at the thought.

Taking a quick shower, I head out of the school. There’s a light dusting of snow on the ground and I’m surprised by how quickly the temperature has dropped and the weather’s changed. It’s only October. Isn’t that early for snow? Little flurries are swirling all around.

Instead of taking the train, I hop in a cab. It’ll take less time to get to her and I really want to see her.

The warehouse building isn’t too far from Parson’s. I make a mental note to myself that she really doesn’t have that far of a walk between work, school, the studio, and her apartment. Entering the building, I skip the elevator and take the stairs two at a time. She’s on the third floor.

I knock on the door and from behind it she hollers, “Come in.”

Walking into her studio, my heart smiles at how much the interior looks just like her. From the colors, the décor, the organization around her workstation, and even the chandelier. Another wave of pride swells in my chest for her. She’s worked so hard and done so well to get here.

She’s standing by the back wall, which is all windows, and looking down at the street. Long curls fall wildly down her back. She’s wearing tight jeans, an ivory long sleeve T-shirt, and little purple shoes. She’s so beautiful she leaves me stunned.

I close the door and she turns to face me. Her arms are folded across her chest and she’s radiating anger. Everything in me immediately goes on alert.

“What’s wrong?” I ask her walking toward her.

Time passes as she looks at me but doesn’t say anything. I can see the mixture of emotions storming around in her eyes and I feel like she is reaching into me looking to unfold all of my secrets. Knowing Leila like I do, I say nothing and just wait for her cue. Eventually, she holds up a credit card and glares at me with tears in her eyes.

She knows.

“Leila . . .”

“Don’t you Leila me! You had no right!” She flips the credit card and it slices through the air toward me. Blocking it with my hand, it falls to the ground.

I always knew there was a possibility that she would find out but I didn’t expect her to be this angry over it. She was accepted to the school, and needed tuition money, end of story.

“I had every right!” When did life become so impersonal and stale that doing something nice for someone is against the norm? “I wanted to help you! I wanted to help make your dreams come true.”

“But I wanted to do this on my own!”

I do understand this. Moving to New York was something that I too needed to do on my own. But what if the money for her never came through? She would have missed out on all of this over something that could have been avoided, was avoided.

“Leila, you did do this on your own and it’s really not a big deal!”

“Yes, it is! Where did you even get the money for this?”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s mine and I can spend it however I want.”

“But I don’t want you to spend it on me. I never asked for your help and I don't want your help! Especially you of all people.” She looks away from me, disinterested in my response.

The air freezes in my lungs and a sharp pain stabs me in the chest.
Especially you of all people
. She can’t mean that.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She doesn’t say anything and she still won’t look at me.

“Why are you so mad at me?”

Her eyes snap back to mine, “Because Beau . . . I waited for you!”

Waited for me? What is she talking about?

“When? When did you wait for me?”

The expression on her face switches to one of pain and then the walls slam down.

“It doesn’t matter. Now I owe you, which you can be certain that I will pay you back every penny.”

“It does matter. I want to know what you are talking about and I didn’t do this so you would feel an obligation to repay me.”

“Did you do it because you think you can sleep with me now? That you’ll have some claim over me?”

I stumble back, shooting her a rather shocked glare. “What?!”

“I am not a whore.”

I stiffen, shocked as yet another string of cold and ugly words fall from her mouth. I really shouldn’t be. “What are you talking about? I have never done or said anything that should make you feel that way. And trust me, if I wanted to sleep with you, there have been plenty of opportunities over the last couple of weeks that I could have—and you know it.”

“That’s funny, I seem to remember feeling that way when I woke up on the beach alone. You took exactly what you wanted from me and then left me there like what we did and who I was, was nothing of importance to you.”

“That’s what you think happened? That’s how you’ve felt all this time?”

“I
know
that’s what happened. I was there.”

I don’t know what to say to this. Never did I consider that she would think I had used her. She was the one who invited me to the beach.

Running my hand through my hair, I let out a deep sigh. “Leila, I don’t know what to say. I’m sorry if you walked away that morning feeling that way. I can assure you, that night on the beach, what you gave me, means more to me than you will ever know.”

She doesn't say anything. She just continues to glare at me.

Letting out a deep sigh, I walk closer to her. She stiffens her back and watches me warily.

“You weren’t supposed to find out about the tuition money. I’m not sorry I paid it though. I really just wanted to do something nice for you.”

She grits her teeth and pulls her arms across her chest even tighter.

“Nice with a price doesn’t sit well with me.”

“There is no price! Are you even listening to me? You weren’t supposed to find out!” I am to the point of completely pulling my hair now, in exasperation.

“It doesn’t matter, Beau! I did find out and now I feel as if this entire experience for me has been tainted! It’s not mine anymore. I didn’t earn it on my own. I didn’t get here because of me! I feel cheated of this and sad. Now I have to share it with you.”

My mind sticks on the words she’s yelling at me and my heart sticks on the fact that we are never going to be any better than we are right now. This is it. The moment of truth.

“Nice with a price . . . wow. I didn’t realize sharing something with me would be so bad. You know what? You're right. This is such a classic moment between the two of us. I don't know why it is that after all these years, I still see you through rose colored glasses. The truth is you've never been appreciative or grateful for me. God, I could have saved myself years of torture if I had figured out sooner how much of a bitch you are.”

I heard the slap before I felt it. Leila gasps and throws her hands over her mouth. Slowly, the fire and the burn set in and I’m not talking about just my face. I can feel the heat radiating off of me as a swirl of emotions stampede through me.

She hit me.

When her hand struck my face, I didn’t even flinch. I’ve been trained not too. Showing a reaction means more will come. Physically I am frozen. Emotionally I am breaking.

I suppose that a girl slapping a guy is somewhat a natural reaction after being called a bitch. After all, you see it in the movies and on T.V. all the time. However, knowing me like she does and the things that I’ve been through in my past, I can’t believe that she just hit me. Leila of all people.

“Beau . . .” Leila takes a step toward me. Fear shoots through me and I take a step back. My cheek and the side of my mouth are now pulsing from the impact.

I know this is an irrational feeling. Leila would never intentionally harm me, but it’s as if that slap and watching her come closer, has triggered flashback emotions.

I blink my eyes and a vision of him, my father, is standing before me. I can see the hunger to punish me in his eyes. He gets satisfaction knowing that he is hurting me. I blink again, and Leila is standing before me in complete horror of what she’s done. Tears are streaming down her face and she’s shaking her head ‘no.’

Blink. Blink. The images flip back and forth and my heart rate takes off. I’m lost in this moment and I’m desperately trying to pull myself out of the imaginary scene and back into the real one.

Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight.

“Beau . . .” Leila says my name again and she comes into focus.

My lips are pursed together and my nostrils flare out as I try to breathe in to catch my breath. My heart is pounding against my ribcage and it feels like everything is cracking. I have loved this girl almost my whole life and now, in just one moment, she’s become just like him.

My eyes are hard and fierce as they bore into her, “You win, Leila. You’ve wanted to be rid of me for so long, well you just got your wish.”

I continue to stare at her but my words have dried up. I’m shaking, my eyes have filled with tears, and a lump has formed in the back of my throat. I know the minute I walk away from her, the tears will fall. She just broke my heart.

“Please, Beau . . . I’m so sorry.” She lets out in a sob and takes another step toward me. Tears are now pouring down her face and her arms wrap around her stomach.

“It doesn’t matter Leila. I never did.” With that, I push past her, grab my bag, walk out the door, down the stairs, and into the snow.