When I entered the small town, I saw that the Welcome to Summit, Alabama, sign was worn and in need of some new paint, but you could make out what it said well enough. I had let her get a good ten minutes ahead of me, because it was the only way to stay out of her sight. I pulled through the first traffic light. According to Google, this town had only three traffic lights. At the next one, I saw the cemetery sign and turned. The parking lot was empty except for Blaire’s truck and another truck. I didn’t park where she could see me; I made sure to park down the road a bit.
She had come to see her mother. And her sister. Had my heart ever truly broken for someone else like this? I had hated how Nan was neglected, but had I ever felt this kind of emotion for her pain? The idea of Blaire dealing with this alone was too much. She had to listen to me.
When I saw her blue truck move, I waited until I was sure it had pulled back onto the road before following at a safe distance. She turned right at the first traffic light and then parked at a motel. I was sure it was the only motel for miles and miles. As much as I hated the idea of her staying here, I was glad I wouldn’t have to do this at some stranger’s house. We had privacy here.
While she was inside getting a room, I parked my car and got out and waited. I wasn’t sure what I was going to say or if I was just going to beg. But I had to do something. Blaire stepped back out of the office, and her eyes locked with mine. Her step faltered, and then she sighed. She hadn’t expected me to follow her. Again, did she not understand how fucking crazy I was about her?
A car door slammed just as she started walking toward me, and she turned her head and frowned at the guy who had just climbed out of the truck, the same one I’d just seen at the cemetery. I knew without an introduction that the guy was Cain. The possessive way he watched her told me that he’d once had a claim on her. He just needed to know that the claim was no longer valid.
“I’m hoping like hell you know this guy, ’cause he followed you here from the cemetery. I noticed him on the side of the road watching us a ways back, but I didn’t say anything,” Cain said as he sauntered over to stand in front of Blaire.
“I know him,” Blaire said without pause.
“He the reason you came running home?” Cain asked.
“No,” she said, then looked back at me. “Why are you here?” she asked me, without coming any closer.
“You’re here,” I replied simply.
“I can’t do this, Rush.”
Yes, she could. I had to get her to see that. I took a step toward her. “Talk to me. Please, Blaire. There is so much I need to explain.”
She shook her head and backed up. “No. I can’t.”
I wanted to bash in Cain’s head. “Could you give us a minute?” I asked him.
He crossed his arms over his chest and stepped completely in front of her. “I don’t think so. It doesn’t seem like she wants to talk to you. Can’t say I’m gonna make her. And neither are you.”
I had started to move toward him when Blaire moved out from behind him. “It’s OK, Cain. This is my stepbrother, Rush Finlay. He already knows who you are. He wants to talk. So we are going to talk. You can leave. I’ll be fine,” she said over her shoulder, before unlocking room 4A.
She had just called me her stepbrother. What the fuck?
“Stepbrother? Wait . . . Rush Finlay? As in Dean Finlay’s only child? Shit, B, you’re related to a rock celebrity,” Cain said, his mouth going slack as he stared at me.
Just what I needed, a big enough Slacker Demon fan to know Dean’s son’s name.
“Go, Cain,” she said sternly, then stepped inside the room.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Blaire walked into the room and went to the farthest corner before turning around. “Talk. Hurry. I want you gone,” she said in a tight voice. you.” I should have told her already. I should have told her yesterday. I should have fucking told her the moment I realized it, but I hadn’t.
She started shaking her head. She wasn’t going to listen to me. I was going to have to fucking beg. I would fight enough for both of us.
“I know my actions don’t appear to back that up, but if you’d just let me explain. God, baby, I can’t stand seeing you in so much pain,” I said, pleading.
“Nothing you can say will fix this. She was my mother, Rush. The one memory that holds anything good in my life. She is the center of every happy childhood moment I had. And you . . .” She paused and closed her eyes. “And you, and . . . and them. Y’all disgraced her. The ugly lies that you spoke as if they were the truth.”
I hated myself. I hated the lies. I hated my mother and Abe.
“I’m so sorry you found out this way. I wanted to tell you. At first, you were just a problem that would hurt Nan. I thought you’d cause her more pain. The trouble was that you fascinated me. I’ll admit I was immediately drawn to you because you’re gorgeous. Breathtaking. I hated you because of it. I didn’t want to be attracted to you. But I was. I wanted you badly that very first night. Just to be near you. God, I made up reasons to find you. Then . . . then I got to know you. I was hypnotized by your laugh. It was the most amazing sound I’d ever heard. You were so honest and determined. You didn’t whine or complain. You took what life handed you and worked with it. I wasn’t used to that. Every time I watched you, every time I was near you, I fell a little more.”
I took a step toward her, and she held up her hands as if to keep me back. I had to keep talking. I needed her to believe me.
“Then that night at the honky-tonk. You owned me after that. You may not have realized it, but I was hooked. There was no going back for me. I had so much to make up for. I’d put you through hell since you’d arrived, and I hated myself for it. I wanted to give you the world. But I knew . . . I knew who you were. When I let myself remember exactly who you were, I would pull back. How could I be so completely wrapped up in the girl who represented my sister’s pain?”
Blaire covered her ears. “No. I won’t listen to this. Leave, Rush. Leave now!” she yelled.
“The day Mom came home from the hospital with her, I was three. I remember it, though. She was so small, and I remember worrying that something would happen to her. My mom cried a lot. So did Nan. I grew up fast. By the time Nan was three, I was doing everything from fixing her breakfast to tucking her in at night. Our mom had married, and now we had Grant. There was never any stability. I actually looked forward to the times my dad would come get me, because I wouldn’t be responsible for Nan for a few days. I’d get a break. Then she began asking why I had a daddy and she didn’t.” I needed Blaire to understand why I did what I did. It had been wrong, but she had to understand.
“Stop!” she yelled, moving back farther against the wall.
“Blaire, I need you to hear me. This is the only way you’ll understand,” I begged. The sob in my throat caused my voice to crack, but I wasn’t stopping. She had to listen to me. “Mom would tell her she didn’t have one because she was special. That didn’t work for very long. I demanded that Mom tell me who Nan’s dad was. I wanted it to be mine. I knew my dad would take her places. Mom told me that Nan’s dad had another family. He had two little girls he loved more than Nan. He wanted those girls, but he didn’t want Nan. I couldn’t understand how anyone couldn’t want Nan. She was my little sister. Sure, at times I wanted to kill her, but I loved her fiercely. Then came the day Mom took her to see the family her father had chosen. Nan cried for months afterward.”