Bait(29)

Her voice is a hiss right back at me. “He’s my brother, Leo. Where the fuck else have I got to invite him to? Did you know he sleeps in his fucking truck nine nights out of ten? The heating in his place packed in a few months back, the place is a shithole from what I hear. He won’t let me come to him.”

I shake my head as she talks. “And this is supposed to make me feel guilty, is it?”

She groans. “I’m just telling you the truth of it. I’m here all the time, with you and Cam. You never go anywhere. You’ve never been anywhere! I used the opportunity to see my other brother, is that such a big fucking deal?”

I don’t believe her that it’s not a big deal. Her eyes drop too quickly from mine.

“What did he have to say then, your brother?”

“Stop,” she says, but I don’t.

“I don’t suppose he had any wisdom to impart seeing as he’s holding back a whole fucking jigsaw puzzle of fucking answers from me?”

“He doesn’t remember…”

“Bullshit,” I hiss. “That’s fucking bullshit.”

“The night of the fire is repressed…” she begins, but I hold up a hand.

“He remembers enough to fucking hate me for pulling him out first. He remembers enough to blame me for her being there in the fucking first place. The rest is what? Mysteriously forgotten?”

Her lip trembles and it’s enough to knock me off my axis. She gestures toward the kitchen with tears in her eyes.

“So it’s okay for little Cam to play mute for twelve months straight? It’s okay for little Cam to play baby while we all tread on eggshells? It’s okay for everyone else to struggle with all of this, but Jake is a liar? Nothing but a liar? No trauma for Jake? No? None at all?”

I suck in breath, reeling as she keeps on rolling.

“It’s not as if he loved her or anything, is it, Leo? Not as if he was crazy about her? Not as though you fucking knew it?”

“Shut your mouth,” I hiss, but she shakes her head.

“You’re in denial and you can’t even see it!” A tear rolls down her cheek, and I hate it. I hate seeing her cry.

“He wants to sell the old premises,” I snap. “He’s the one who hates my fucking guts, Serena. He’s the one who’s threatening to sell his shares to anyone paying.”

“And why do you want to keep them? Why do you want to keep any of it?!”

I shake my head. Smile at the ridiculousness. It’s ridiculous. This whole thing is ridiculous. I hate that sack of shit even more for addling her fucking mind the first opportunity he gets.

“I’m refurbishing the premises,” I say, even though I’m not sure I am. “It’s a better size than the unit in town. We can expand.”

“Expand?!” Her eyes widen. “Leo, the business is on its fucking knees. The insurance isn’t going to cover it and you know it, even if you won’t say it. You’re not even sure it was an accident, and you think they’re gonna toe the line? You’re driving yourself into the ground after her, all because you won’t just stop and face the obvious.”

But she’s wrong. She’s fucking wrong. The business isn’t on its fucking knees, not anymore. Not after twelve months of blood, sweat and pain. So much fucking pain.

And it was an accident. It has to have been a fucking accident.

My soul can’t fucking take it. Not any fucking more of it.

“What’s the obvious?” I ask her, even though I don’t want to. My voice is weak. Hell, I feel fucking weak.

“The obvious is that you aren’t over any of it, Leo. Not even close. The obvious is that you’re using all these problems as a crutch to stop you facing your own grief. The business… Cam… me...”

There’s a lump in my throat that I struggle to choke back down. “Cam needs me to be this way. He’s been through too much…”

Tears track down her face. She shakes her head. And I don’t want to hear whatever she’s about to tell me, but I can’t walk away.

“He can talk,” she whispers. “I hear him when he’s alone. I hear him through the door when he thinks I’m not listening…”

“It must be the TV…” I interrupt, but her head is still shaking.

“It’s him, Leo. You think I’d make this up? You think I’d have any doubt before I said this aloud? He can speak, I swear.”

“No–” I protest, but she cuts me off.

“Yes,” she says. “I’m sorry, Leo, but yes…”

“But the speech therapists…” I argue. “Why would he?” But I know it. I know it too. It sucker punches me, right in the fucking pit of me. I don’t know how I keep my footing. I force some tiny scrap of composure. “Why bring this up now? Why didn’t you say something earlier?”