Veer (Clayton Falls) (3 page)

Matt played with a beer lid, trying to make it spin.
“She’s working for me
this summer, remember
?
”

“And the fifteen minutes I spent with her were supposed to somehow enlighten me
about
what kind of
employee
she is?”
I couldn’t picture her working at the law office Matt shared with his father.

“I guess I’ll just have to wait until Monday and find out
for
myself.”

“I don’t buy it. You’re holding back on us.” Tom opened a beer.

“Oh come on. I gave the girl a ride
.
I have nothing more exciting to report.”
I really didn’t
,
unless they wanted to hear about our
argument
. I still didn’t understand how that happened. I’d just been trying to make conversation when it all spiraled out of control.

We started to play
,
but my
head
wasn’t in it. I still kept trying to wrap my mind around the girl.
She reminded me of
a song stuck in
my
head
.
I couldn’t stop thinking about her.

Tom
shuffled the cards
. “So you guys ready to lose again tonight
?
Kelly really appreciates the donations.”

Of course Tom had to rile us up bef
ore starting. We always played
winner-takes-all, and he rarely lost. The rest of us hardly cared unless he became too
cocky. It was usually only after his fifth beer that the rest of us had a chance
,
and luckily that didn’t take long.

I took a long swig from my beer.
“I
f you
recall
,
last
week
I took the winnings.”

“
Everyone gets
lucky somet
ime
s
. T
hat only puts
you
a couple hundred dollars in the hole over
the last few years.”

“Shut up and deal.” I was in no mood to listen to Tom’s ribbing.

Chapter Three

Becca

“I still can’t believe you’re actually here!” Molly said for the third time. We were curled up on her couch drinking hot coc
oa. Even though it was easily ninety-five
degrees out, we still drank hot
chocolate
. I
t was just our thing from college.
We’d spent more nights than I could count sitting up late with cocoa talking about every little detail of our lives—except the important parts. Those talks usually happened over a bottle of wine.

“Yup, I’m here.” I smiled.

She leaned over to hug me, almost spill
ing
my cocoa.

“Sorry.” She apologized, still grinning.

I was trying to get used to this bubbly version of Molly. We’d been friends since freshman year of college, and she’d never been the overly happy type. Even when she
’d
smiled, there was still the hint of sadness. That only got worse the last year she was in Boston with me. Her fiancé
’s
death practically destroyed her.
That’s why
,
as much as I missed having her
around
,
I knew she was better off where she was—with Ben.

“It’s
all right
. M
y super reflexes saved the day.”

“Haha, I’ve missed my superhuman best friend.”

Superhuman
. I
f only.

She must have noticed my frown. “How are you doing? You sounded so down
on the phone
the other day.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.
” For once
,
I let my façade of perpetual optimism fall. I’d been playing the part for so long, but with everything snowballing around me, I didn’t have the strength
to keep it up anymore.
“
I was just going through some stuff for my mom’s estate with the attorney. You’d think
,
since I was her only family
,
it would be easy, but
it’s
still so complicated.”
I ran my fingers over the snowflakes on my mug
.
W
e’d had similar ones at my house growing up.

My mom’s death hadn’t been unexpected
. S
he’d
fought
breast cancer for years,
but the loneliness I faced after losing my only family rocked me to the core.
My grades slipped, and that’s probably why I lost my coveted summer job. I preferred that reasoning to my bosses thinking I wasn’t good enough.

“I bet. I’m sorry you’ve had to go through all of that alone.”

I saw the guilt reflected in her blue eyes. That was the Molly I remembered.

“No, don’t go there. You’re
where you should be. I’m doing fine. It’s just nice to get away.”
There was no way I was bringing her down with me. If I went under
,
I was
going
alone.

“I think you’re going to like it here. The firm you’re working at is
ultra-casual
, nothing like the firms in Boston.
”

“I bet. I still can’t believe they hired me with just a phone interview
,
though.”

She set down her now empty cup. “They only did that interview to make you feel better.”

“My transcript and
recommendation letters
were enough?”
Sure
,
my letters were good, but not that good.

“You’re my friend. Mr.
Morgan
was my Dad’s good friend. It’s just how things work around here.”
It felt strange to get a job just
because of
connections, but I figured it didn’t matter as long as I worked hard and proved myself.

“Well, hopefully I won’t let them down.”

“You won’t
. Y
ou
’
r
e
superhuman, remember?”

“Uh huh.”

The front door opened, announcing Ben’s return from rehearsal. The night had flown by.

“Wow, I didn’t expect to find you girls still up.” He put down his guitar, leaning over to kiss Molly.

“We’ve had a lot to catch up on.” Molly beamed up at him.

“So
,
Jake’s officially out
. T
he pool house is ready.” Ben took a seat on the arm of the sofa
beside
Molly.
He definitely had those boy next door good looks, and considering his tanned skin, he probably loved the sun just as much as Molly.

She smiled.
“Oh
,
great.”

“Pool house?”
I
sat
up straighter.

“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you
.
I found you a place to stay. I know you didn’t want to stay in my old bedroom all summer.” Molly and Ben had bought her childhood home
and were fixing it up in stages
.
Currently
,
her bedroom looked the way she’d left it senior year of high school
—stuffed animals
and all
.

“So where’s this pool house exactly?” I didn’t want to play the
unwelcome house guest
, but I also didn’t want to stay at some random
person’s
home
. This was all stuff I probably should have figured out before leaving Boston, but Molly
had
assured me she’d take care of it all. I
’d
needed a break from worrying and listened.

“It’s at my parents
’
house. My brother finally moved o
ut
,
so it’s yours for the summer
.
”
Ben slid down off the arm of the couch, pushing Molly over for a minute before pulling her into his lap. I tried not to
feel uncomfortable at
the intimate gesture.

“Are you sure? Don’t your parents care?”
There had to be a catch. People didn’t just let perfect strangers stay in their homes—or pool houses. It sounded so funny. I hadn’t realized Ben was wealthy enough to have
such a nice place
. But then again, Molly had told me real estate was really cheap
in Clayton Falls
.

“Not at all. They’re thrilled. First
,
it gave them an excuse to kick Jake out, plus Mom is excited to have a gi
rl around. She complains to me constantly
that Molly isn’t over
enough
.”

“I can pay something,
”
I offered quickly. I didn’t have much, but surely I could contribute
a little
.

“There’s no way my parents are going to take your money. Really
,
it’s not a problem.”

I decided to drop it. It would be pointless to argue so much that I annoyed my host. “All right
. W
ell
,
thanks.”

“It’s our pleasure
. Y
ou
’
r
e
family
,
Becca.” Molly reached over and patted
my leg.

Family.
A word I wasn’t sure I’d eve
r
say again.
It only reminded me that Mom was gone.
She’d gotten her breast cancer diagnosis years before, but after treatments and a few remissions
,
I’d almost forgotten
that
dying was even a possibility. All of that changed when she had the seizure, and we realized her cancer had
spread
to her brain.
Although the radiation treatments stopped the seizures, she was never the same.
The terror of watching someone you love become a different person was something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.

“I think I’m going to turn in.” I stood up, picking up both the
cocoa
mugs
to bring them into the kitchen.

Molly nodded.
“All right, we’ll move you over tomorrow. Then we’ll go by the garage and check on your car.”

“Sounds good.” I leaned over to hug Molly goodnight.

“If you need anything, just ask.”

“Thanks
.
I’m so tired I’ll probably just collapse.”

“I bet. Sleep well.”

I walked upstairs
and got washed up in the small hall bathroom. It felt funny to be in the house
where
Molly grew u
p. As close as Molly and I were in college
, this was a piece of her I didn’t know
much about
.
She was always a little closed up
about her childhood
.

I pulled on my
favorite summer PJs
, avoiding looking
directly
at
my
scars out of habit. There was no reason to upset myself before bed. I’d resisted the urge to check Molly’s front door, but I decided to lock her bedroom door just in case. Satisfied no one could barge in without me knowing,
I curled up under the covers of her old twin bed and tried to sleep.

It was too dark. Weren’t the
re any street lights
? I was used to the constant glow of the city
.
At home, if
I left my blinds up even a smidge
,
I had a readymade night lig
ht. I thought about turning on the
lamp, but I decided to wait until Molly went to bed so she wouldn’t notice the light
shining
from under my
door. I tried to keep my mind occupied, silently singing the lyrics to a song I’d heard on the radio at least a dozen times on my drive down.

I heard Molly’s giggles as she came upstairs with Ben awhile later.
I waited until I heard their door close before getting out of bed to turn on the lamp.
It was only then,
when the darkness had been extinguished and I lay awake
in the privacy
of the illuminated bed
room
,
that I let myself feel
the jealous
y that had been under the surfac
e all evening. I was happy for Molly
, I really was—but I knew our friendship as I knew it was over. She had Ben now
. S
he didn’t need me the way she used to. And because of that, I wasn’t allowed to need her. I’d never felt that way when she’d been with Adam, her college boyfriend and fiancé, but then again
,
I don’t think he ever really completed her. I tried to push my selfish thoughts from my head and eventually drifted off to sleep.