Jed’s mood deflates faster than a carnival blow-up toy when you get it home. “The space next door?”
“Mrs. Harrison willed it to Clara and her sister,” Xavier says.
My head falls back and Jed’s fist slams on the bar top.
“What kind of mother does this?” Clara asks.
Xavier holds up his finger to us, whispering in her ear.
She shoves him. “I don’t care. Isn’t there bartender-client confidentiality?” she asks Molly. “You can’t tell Nikki.”
Molly shrugs and nods. Clara doesn’t hold back, clearly the two shots already in her bloodstream.
“The mystery blonde? My sister. Half-sister, you think?” Clara shakes her head. “Did my mom get pregnant by some guy when she was a teenager?” Clara shakes her head again. “Did my dad have an affair?” Clara shakes her head. “She’s my full sister. Half my mom. Half my dad. My full outright sister.” She pushes her glass to Molly.
Molly looks at us and Jed shakes his head.
“I mean, what kind of mother wouldn’t tell me that?”
Xavier whispers something else in Clara’s ear and her arms flail as if he’s a fly she can’t swat. He says to us, “They either run the store together, or one of them can buy the other out, or they can sell it altogether.”
That explains why I’ve seen Presley in front of the window twice. And also why she looks so familiar. I realize now that she’s basically Clara’s twin but with dyed blonde hair, and a few years older. How the hell didn’t I put two and two together before this?
“Wait,” I say to Xavier, a memory sparking of ten years ago when Clara’s grandma died. “Remember when her grandma died, and I told you I thought I saw Clara at the cemetery when I went to see mom? But I called her name, and she just ignored me…”
“It was her!” Xavier snaps his fingers and points.
They looked the same, and I thought it was Clara, but it was her—Presley.
“Damn, it must have been her.” Xavier shakes his head. “Crazy. This is like something from a TV show. Who keeps a child a secret?”
I think he’d be surprised by how many skeletons people have in their closets. Being a pro-athlete, you’d think he’d know, since most of their dark secrets come out during their playing years. People want to pull celebrities down from their pedestals.
“And now ten years later, you’re going on a date with her,” Jed says.
“I’m not sure I can now. Seems unfair to Clara until this whole thing is cleared up.”
Not to mention, I don’t want Presley to find out I want the building too. She’ll think the worst of me and where would that get us? Plus, she’s obviously from way out of town, which means she’s not staying in Sunrise Bay long-term unless she decides to do something with the building.
“How do I face her tomorrow?” Clara cries. “‘Hey, I’m the daughter they kept. Want to braid each other’s hair?’”
Clara’s voice grows louder, so I tell Molly to give her one more. She deserves it.
When I get back to my house after getting the screen fixed on my phone, I debate whether I should go on the date with Presley. Terra and Mare had no reservation available anyway, but we could eat at the restaurant in Glacier Point. But I can’t help but think it’s weird now that I know who she is.
Sitting on the couch, I stare at my phone as though I’m waiting for a call, but really I’m trying to force myself to make one.
Jed walks in and stops in his tracks. “Stop being a dumbass. You know she’s not going to stay in town.”
“And if she does?”
“Then you can continue seeing her if you want.” His footsteps barrel up the stairs.
We live in the house I grew up in—me, Jed, Fisher, and now Adam since he and Lucy split. The girls share a house closer to our parents. Nikki was staying with us when she first moved back from college but said she didn’t like being by herself in the apartment and she didn’t want to move into the house with all us guys.
I sink back into the couch, pissed that after all these years, I find a woman I want to date and she turns out to be Sunrise Bay’s secret love child. The gossip brigade will eat this up. If she dates me, it would only make it worse for her.
I hammer out a text before I change my mind.
Me: So sorry, something came up. Rain check?
The three dots appear immediately.
Presley: Sure. Not sure how long I’ll be in town but let me know when you’re available.
Me: Definitely. I’ll message you tomorrow.
That gives me twenty-four hours. She might be gone by tomorrow evening anyway. Xavier said she and Clara are meeting in the morning.
Jed comes trudging back down the stairs. “God, I’m so pissed. That building was ours. I could see perfectly what we could do in there. I think we might have to look at relocating or opening up a second location.” He sits down and places his remote for the Xbox in his lap, holding the one sitting on the coffee table out to me. The guy hides his remote because he thinks it’s bad luck if any of the rest of us use it.
I blow out a breath, but what else do I have tonight now that I canceled my date?
“Could’ve gotten laid and now your sorry ass has to play video games with your brother.” He clucks his tongue.
“I don’t know about a second location. That’s a huge expense. So is relocating.”
He turns on the game console, and we wait for the game to load. “Then we have to convince that girl to give the building to Clara so that she’ll give it to us.”
I disregard him, knowing he’s talking out of his ass like usual. My mind shifts to Presley while the game logo displays on the screen. “Can you imagine finding out your parents put you up for adoption and they kept their second born? Talk about fucking you up in the head.”
Jed elbows me. “And you thought we had it bad.”
Headlights light up the driveway, and Jed and I look at one another. Standing, we see who it is. I consider flipping the locks, but my dad will just remind us how it’s still his house and we pay him rent to live here.
My dad, Hank, opens the front door and comes walking in with my ten-year-old half brother, Rylan.
“Hey, Ryguy,” Jed says.
Rylan comes over and sits on the couch.
Marla walks in a few seconds later, a stack of our mail in her hands. “Come on, boys.” She drops it on the table.
“To what do we owe this honor?” I ask since Rylan took over my remote for the game.
“Your brother wanted to spend the night.” My dad tosses Rylan’s soccer bag in the corner. “Can you take him to soccer in the morning?”
“And you two?” I ask, not really wanting to know.
“We’re going on a date night.” My dad slaps Marla’s ass, and I gag. “Grow up.” He shakes his head at me. “I heard you guys aren’t getting Denise’s shop after all, huh?”
I shake my head. “How’d you hear that?”
Marla walks around the living room, picking up things, then disappears into the kitchen. I swear it’s Adam who’s leaving the mess, but if I tell that to Marla or Dad, they’ll tell us we should be doing everything we can for him, that he’s going through a hard time.