Stepbrother Backstage (The Hawthorne Brothers Book 3) (19 page)

Chapter Thirteen

No one says much the next morning as we prepare for our
trip. Sophie and Luke are quiet as we all check out of our hotel and find Cash
and Maddie waiting in the parking lot. We’ve decided that the guys should take
Luke’s car and the girls should take Maddie’s. That way we can avoid raising
any eyebrows when we show up at the lake house. We have no idea who else will
be there, after all. And we’ve vowed not to let our parents know the real
reason we don’t want them to get married. They can’t know that any of us have
paired off—they would never take their children’s needs as reason enough to
change their plans.

I ride shotgun while Sophie stretches out in the backseat
and dozes off. Guess she didn’t get much sleep either, last night. Maddie is
all business as she steers us onto the highway that will lead us back to
Montana. I glance through the back windshield, making sure the boys are right
behind us in Luke’s car. Sure enough, three handsome faces shine through the
windshield. Given that all six of us paired off, it’s lucky there were no love
triangles to deal with. No, not lucky. Looking around at the lot of us, I don’t
think there’s any other way things could have panned out. Cash and Maddie need
each other’s assertiveness and pragmatism, respectively. Luke’s stability and
Sophie’s free spirit are a perfect balance.

And as for me and Finn? It’s hard to identify just one set of
qualities that make us good for each other. I wouldn’t say that we’re a case of
opposites attracting. I suppose our exteriors seem to contrast—the rocker and
the shy photographer—but we both know that underneath it all, we’re more
similar than any two people I’ve ever met. We’re of the same mind, the same
heart. We want, need, and wish for the same things. We were, I think, made for
each other.

Maybe we
all
were.

Our miniature caravan rolls up to the lake house just as the
sun begins to set. I peer out the passenger window, dread mounting inside of me
as I lay eyes on the house again. We all expected to find other guests and
well-wishers here. Surely our parents wouldn’t just have invited us for this
get-together—how could they have even been sure we’d come, after the blowup we
had? But as we park at the top of the long driveway, we can see that there’s no
one else here at the lake house.

No one else, that is, besides our parents.

I can feel my mother approaching before I see her. As my
sisters and I step out of the car, I hear her breathy voice floating across the
front lawn.

“My girls!”

The three of us look up to see Robin and John standing on
the front porch. John stands with his hands firmly in his pockets, watching as
Luke’s car stops behind Maddie’s and the guys all step out. And while John
merely nods at his sons, our mother has never been what you might call
“contained”. She comes racing across the lawn toward us, throwing her arms
around all three of our necks and pulling her daughters into a bear hug.

“I’m so-so-so-so glad you came back!” she gushes, her
flowing eggshell dress swirling around her.

We glance at each other over her head, perplexed and
bothered by her display of affection. It’s not the physical contact itself
that’s bothersome, it’s the way she completely revises history to erase any
conflict, any disagreement, any pain. That kind of denial is unhealthy at best.
And the stakes right now are too high to be playing fast and loose with the
facts.

“Well, you asked us to,” I say, shrugging out of her
embrace.

“What’s going on out here?” Sophie asks, doing the same.

“Oh, you know…” Mom trills, wiggling her diamond ring in our
faces.

The sight of it in person actually makes me ill. Even if
John were just some guy, rather than the father of the man I love, I’d still
think Mom getting married was a bad idea. She needs to deal with her trauma and
the pain of our father’s death, not ignore it by racing from one big
distraction to the next. But I can’t very well tell her that while she’s playing
the part of the giddy bride-to-be.

“Hey Dad,” Finn says, as the guys and John come up to where
we ladies have gathered.

“What, no congratulations?” John laughs gruffly.

“Why so serious, all of you?” Mom asks, looking around at
the six of us, “We’re celebrating, after all!”

“I guess we’re all still a bit raw from the last time we
were here,” Sophie says pointedly, crossing her arms.

“Oh, now…” Mom laughs, “No use getting into ancient
history.”

“…It was three weeks ago,” I tell her flatly.

“Your mother and I would rather put that whole nasty
incident behind us,” John says, stepping up to Robin’s side.

“Well, our memories haven’t started to go in our old age
just yet,” Cash says, “Guess that’s because we’re not senior citizens like the
two of—”

“Why don’t we just get settled and then we can talk some
more?” Maddie cuts him off with a sharp glance.

“Just leave your things for now,” Mom urges us excitedly,
“There’s still some good daylight left. And John and I have a surprise for all
of you.”

“
Another
one?” I blurt out. If she says she’s
pregnant, I swear to god…

“That’s right,” Mom smiles, grabbing John’s hand and setting
off around the house, “Follow us!”

Reluctantly, the six of us fall into step behind Mom and
John. I want so badly to grab hold of Finn’s hand, but I know that I can’t.
After three weeks of getting to just be ourselves, it’s hard to try and squeeze
back into this “total strangers” routine. But it’ll all be worth it, if we can
just derail this ridiculous marriage. None of us say a word as we follow our
parents into the back yard of the lake house and down toward the long dock.

Mom is practically walking on air as she steps onto the
dock, tugging John along behind her. I stop short in my tracks as I spot
someone standing at the end of the dock, someone I’ve never seen before. He
stands with his back to the lake, looking expectant as our party of eight
approaches. It isn’t until Mom and John come to a halt in front of this
stranger, facing each other, that it hits me. Their “surprise” is…

“No,” I breathe, digging my heels into the ground.

“Oh, fuck me…” Finn murmurs, staring up at our parents as
they beam at each other at the end of the dock.

“Ta-da!” Mom cries, as the six of us kids stand rooted to
the ground, “John and I decided that there was no reason to wait. We’re getting
married today!”

“Pleased to meet you all,” the man says from over our
parents’ shoulders, “My name is Ethan, I’m a justice of the peace. Your parents
called me into officiate—”

“You’ve got to be shitting me!” Sophie exclaims in horror,
looking back and forth between our parents.

“What—Why—How can you—?” Luke splutters, eyes wide.

“Robin and I figured it would be easier to get you all here
if you thought it was just a get together,” John says, smiling at Mom, “Sorry
we had to trick you, but—”

“This is insane,” Maddie says, shaking her head, “You just
got engaged. You can’t just go and get—”

“We’ve both been married before,” Mom laughs, beckoning us
forward, “We don’t need any big fancy parties. All John and I wanted was to
have all our kids here to celebrate with us, and to tie the knot as soon as
possible. So, what do you all say? Shall we do this thing?”

The six of us stare helplessly at our parents, at a total
loss for words. This was not how things were supposed to go down. We were
supposed to team up and convince our parents not to get married, find a way to
come between them and shut this wedding down. But now, our options just got
bulldozed down to zero. We promised not to tell our parents that any of us had
paired off, and they’ve sprung a surprise wedding on us with no notice at all.
What the hell are we supposed to do now?

“Will you all join us?” Ethan asks, smiling around at our
assembled faces, “Your parents would like to have the ceremony before the sun
goes down.”

“We…We can’t,” Cash mutters, taking a step away.

“And why the hell not?” John snaps at his oldest son.

“It’s a long story,” Finn puts in, trying to stall.

“Really?” John scoffs, “Because it seems pretty simple to
me. You boys have never been grateful for anything I’ve done for you. You can’t
even give me this one—”

“It’s not just them,” I cut him off, “Us girls feel the same
way.”

“Excuse me?” Robin asks, her voice going suddenly icy.

“Should I…come back another time?” Ethan asks anxiously.

“No,” Mom and John say together, glaring menacingly at the
justice of the peace.

My heart races as tensions come to a boil out on the dock.
How are we going to keep this ceremony at bay if we don’t tell our parents
what’s actually going on? And even if we do tell the truth, what’s to keep them
from going ahead with it anyway?

“Is someone going to tell us what this is all about?” Mom
demands.

“It’s…It’s just…” Sophie stammers, trying to improvise, “You
said that you never wanted to get married again, after Dad died.”

“You said the same thing,” Luke says to his father, jumping
on board. “Since Mom left, you promised you’d never—”

“Things change,” John says gruffly.

“But Mom, it’s only been a few years since Dad passed away,”
Maddie urges, “You need more time to heal. To mourn.”

“I’ve done plenty of mourning, thank you very much,” Mom
sniffs, “Now, I want to do something that’s going to make me happy.”

“But…Can’t you guys just wait a little while longer?” I
plead, “Get to know each other?”

“We’ve known each other since high school,” Mom laughs
coldly, “I think that’s plenty of time, don’t you?”

“Enough of this,” John says, taking my mother’s hand, “We’re
losing the light here. Now, Robin and I have decided to get married today. We
wanted you all to be here for it. So we’re going to go ahead and get this thing
done. If you don’t like it, well…I’d tell you not to let the door hit you if we
weren’t already outside.”

“So then…Are we ready to proceed?” Ethan asks cautiously.

“Yes,” Mom says, turning away from us. “Yes, go on.”

Having used up every argument in our arsenal, us kids fall
into desperate silence.

“There’s nothing we can do,” Maddie whispers tearfully,
staring straight ahead.

“This can’t be happening,” Cash growls.

“But it is,” Sophie says mournfully, taking a step closer to
Luke but stopping just short of touching him. As if she’s already trying to
wean herself off of him.

I look up at Finn, standing stoically beside me. The rest of
the world fades away around us as we lock eyes. The past month flashes before
my mind’s eye as we hold each other’s gazes. The sudden intensity of our lust
for each other upon meeting, the inevitable consummation of our feelings, the
eventual giving over to love, and now…the end? That can’t be possible. I won’t
let it go down like this. Finn and I have suffered through enough heartache in
our lives, we all have. And if speaking out now is the only thing that can save
us all from catastrophe, then so be it.

“Dearly beloved,” the justice of the peace begins, “We are
gathered—”

“
Wait!
” I shout, stepping away from the pack of
siblings, “I have an objection.”

“We haven’t gotten to that part yet,” Ethan replies, his
brow furrowing as Mom and John shoot daggers at me with their furious eyes.

“I know,” I tell him, moving toward the trio at the end of
the dock, “I know, but I can’t let you on. I just can’t.”

“Annabel,” Mom hisses, tears of frustration rising in her
eyes, “Why are you doing this?”

“Because, Mom…” I begin, glancing over my shoulder at the
mortified faces of my sisters and the Hawthorne boys, “There’s something you
don’t know.”

“Anna, don’t,” Luke says warningly.

“We said we wouldn’t,” Sophie pleads.

“I know,” I reply, taking a breath to steady myself, “I know
what we said, but I can’t keep swallowing down my truth. There are too many
secrets keeping this family—these families—miserable. I can’t let this one
stand.”

“What are you talking about, Anna?” John asks gruffly, “What
secret?”

I pause to look back at Finn, feeling my confidence waver. I
know that if I see the slightest hint of trepidation in his eyes, I’ll lose my
nerve completely. But as I gaze into those deep, brown eyes, I see nothing but
confidence, and pride, and determination. He wants to be free of this secret as
much as I do. I may the youngest one here, but I have to be the bravest now as
well. No one else will step up to tell the truth.

“You two aren’t the only Porter and Hawthorne who have
gotten close since we all came to the lake house,” I tell Robin and John,
lifting my chin defiantly. “Finn and I have been seeing each other. Living
together, actually. We’ve been in a relationship since we first met here at the
lake house all those weeks ago.”

Whatever Mom and John were expecting to hear, I can see at
once that it wasn’t that. Their shocked silence gives me plenty of room to
continue.

“And it isn’t just us,” I barrel on, hoping my sisters will
forgive me, “Luke and Sophie met at Sheridan and struck up a relationship after
meeting here. And Maddie and Cash met the night before they came here, and have
been together ever since. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. I guess it
says something for the Porter women’s similar taste in men…”

“Or the Hawthornes’ taste in women,” Finn adds, stepping up
and taking my hand in his. I look up at him with elated gratitude, thrilled to
have him by my side.

“What is this, some kind of joke?” John asks, his voice
rasping.

“It’s not a joke, Dad,” Luke tells him, slipping his arm
around Sophie’s waist, “As unlikely as it is, it’s real.”

“We didn’t want to tell you. For obvious reasons,” Sophie
adds, “And we wanted to find a more delicate way of bringing it up than this,
once we knew you were engaged.”