“Oh.” Nate’s eyebrows furrowed together. His eyes skated between Mason and me. “What are you guys doing?”
Mason glanced at me. “We don’t know. We haven’t talked about it. You?”
“Technically, you could go,” Nate said.
One of Mason’s eyebrows rose. “Meaning you want to go back?”
“Well…”
So he did.
Nate spread his hands over the table, his palms up. “There’s no real reason to be here anymore. We came for your internship, but that’s over now. And the wedding’s done, too. So…” He smiled, coaxing us. “Matteo’s back there already for football training. There’s no reason to stay.”
“Except my stepbrother is here.” I leaned forward, propping my elbows on the table. “Oh.” I snapped my fingers at him. “So is my best friend, and my stepmother and David.”
“You’ve had all summer to hang out with them, and you have. You’ve seen Heather a ton. Plus, Malinda and David were at the wedding last night, too. I mean, come on, guys. Let’s go back. There are parties back there. We can chill for an entire month before classes start. Your internship ended early. You could start football on time. I don’t understand why we’re not going back.”
“So go.”
Nate looked at Mason. “What?”
“Go.” He gestured to me. “Maybe we’ll stay an extra day.”
Nate slowly sat back in his chair and tipped it on its rear legs. “You’re okay with that?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know. Caldron, for one. You won’t want backup?”
“Caldron’s the least of our problems now. He’s going to be charged in the assault against us, and also for attempted battery against Sam.”
“Quinn then.”
“I can’t know for sure…” Mason’s eyes flickered to mine briefly. “But I have a feeling Quinn’s got his own troubles going right now.” Nate didn’t know Becky had broken it off with Adam.
“All the more reason for you to come with us.” Nate stood up. “Come on, Mason. Let’s all go back to Cain. We had problems one year, but we don’t get into trouble there anymore. Our biggest problem is Taylor’s friends now, and those guys are tame compared to what we usually deal with.”
“A crime boss was tame?”
“That was a one-time thing. You know it.” Nate switched to me. “Sam, what are you thinking? You have to want to head back to Cain, too. Analise is just down the road, and she won’t have a wedding to plan any more. She’s going to have a lot of free time now.”
“Actually,” I cleared my throat, looking at Mason, “she’s doing what you suggested.”
“Really?”
“What?” Nate looked between the two of us. “What’s going on?”
“Analise is letting me go.”
“So you did talk to her.”
“I never said I didn’t,” I noted, quietly.
He didn’t call me out. “What else did she say?”
“She and your dad are going to move. We can have the house.”
Nate’s eyes widened. “What? For real?” A grin spread over his face. “Man, all those memories from that house.” He turned to Mason. “Let’s stay for a week and throw a massive party next weekend. One more big bash before we all head back. Logan would be down for that.”
“Down for what?” Logan and Taylor joined us, leaving their bags in the living room.
“Sam just said your parents are moving. We get the house,” Nate announced. “One last big rager. How about it?”
Taylor’s eyes widened, and she seemed to pull into herself.
“Oh. Can you stay till then?” Nate asked.
“Well…” She looked at Logan. “I have to go back now. Do you—”
He shook his head. “No. I’m going where you go. If you can stay, I’ll stay. If you want to go back, I’ll go there, too. It’s your call.”
She bit her lip, obviously torn as she looked around the kitchen. “I’m sorry, guys. I really need to go back. Jason was hurt bad. I don’t want him to—”
Mason stood up, cutting her off with a wave. “Then you go. It’s decided.”
“I’m really sorry.”
Logan reached for her hand and pulled her against his side. “You have nothing to be sorry about.”
“I know, but I’m pulling you away from your family.”
Nate laughed, pointing to Mason and me. “Uh, do you not know us? We’re all family. If something affects you, it affects all of us.”
Taylor still looked torn, but Logan lifted his arm to her shoulder. “She knows, and she’ll get over her guilt. So…” He nodded to the rest of us. “Party at the house this weekend? The one in Cain?”
Mason nodded, then gestured to Nate. “Do me a favor, Logan?”
“Anything.”
“Take him with you.”
Nate twisted back around. “What? Mason—”
“I don’t want to hear it. You’re going. Sam and I will be behind you.” His gaze came to me. “I’d like to spend some alone time with my girlfriend.”
“Then it’s all planned. Nate and I will go back with Taylor. We’ll take care of the fuckers who fucked with Taylor’s friend, and then we’ll all celebrate this weekend. Your training starts next Monday. I’m sure all the guys will want to let loose this weekend anyway.”
And with that, the plan was set in motion.
Logan, Nate, and Taylor left that day.
Mason and I spent the rest of the evening in bed, holding each other and enjoying our first alone time all summer.
We stayed a few more days and the rest of the week passed quickly. I went to the carnival to thank Petey and Keifer for sharing the surveillance video. Both told me not to hesitate to reach out again, and Petey reminded me with a wink not to sell carnies short. I tucked that information away and gave each of them a hug. I didn’t know when I’d be seeing them again.
After that I spent my days with Malinda, Mark, or Heather. I tried to get as much time in as I could with each of them. David, too. He’d been around all summer, but we hadn’t spent a lot of one-on-one time.
I knew he was busy planning for football, and on our last night in Fallen Crest, I realized I’d taken him for granted. I expressed that to him on the porch, after we’d just finished a family dinner.
“No, Sam.” He shook his head, relaxing beside me on the bench. “I’m always here. You know that. You never have to worry about putting in your time with me. If you want to see me, I’m here. If you’ve got other people to see, I’m still here.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“No problem. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
Malinda came out to the porch then, her face flooded with tears, and I rose. Her goodbye seemed to last longer than normal, and we were only going back to college. We weren’t moving across the country. I knew Malinda would be up for parents’ weekend, too. She came every year.
“I’m just going to miss you two so much.” She hugged me, then Mason. “And you. It’s your last year. I can’t believe it. You guys are growing up too fast.” Mark stepped through the door behind them, and she added, “You, too. Stop growing up. I don’t like it.”
“I’ll get right on that, Mom. No problem.”
“Oh, and Sam, too.” She turned to me, the dam breaking and tears wetting her entire face again.
More hugs. More goodbyes. More laughter until finally, Mason took my hand and began walking across the yard.
Mark waved, then we heard, “Mom, you know you can’t stop them from going, right?” They headed back inside.
The screen door closed, but we could hear Malinda say, “I can try. I’m going to do the same with you, so don’t get any ideas. You know long, drawn-out goodbyes are essential with me.”
Mark groaned, but David waved, a kind and loving smile on his face as he saw me looking back, and then he closed the inside door.
Mason tightened his hold on my hand. “Come on. I want
to take you somewhere.”
“What?”
We crossed the street to Helen’s house and went inside. “Dress in something warm,” he told me. “It could get cold tonight.”
Tonight?
It was nearing dark. But we were going to be outside somewhere. “What do you have planned?”
He grinned, and my heart skipped a beat. “Just get dressed, okay?”
I melted, like I always did with him.
“Okay.”
It had grown nearly dark as we made the trek up the hill, and there were a few spots where I worried Mason’s Escalade wouldn’t fit. The driving path kept getting narrower and narrower, but as he took the last curve, I saw where we were. Mason had taken me high up in the hills, back to the spot where he’d come to get me after I’d been running.
“Mason?” I just sat there, holding his hand. I could just barely see the path I’d come from that day, and I remembered that his vehicle had been parked right here.
“Stay here a minute,” he told me.
He got out of the Escalade and disappeared behind it for a moment. I turned around, but I couldn’t see what he was doing. Then a little light started to appear, and it grew until the entire forest and path were illuminated against the night,
My door opened, and Mason stood there.
My heart leaped against my chest.
With the fading light of the valley behind him and the new light shining against his side, I swear I fell in love with him just a little bit more than I already was. This wasn’t the usual Mason standing in front of me. This wasn’t the man who gazed at me so fiercely when we made love, or stood confidently, knowing whoever came at us, he could protect us. This wasn’t the brother who raised Logan, or even the one who cussed out their father for not being a real dad. This Mason seemed gentle and maybe a little uncertain even.
He held out his hand for me, and as I placed mine in his, this sweet Mason dipped his head. He was feeling unsure about something. When I stepped out, he held me a moment there. His lips grazed my forehead, so softly and gently.
I looked up, feeling my heart climb its way to my throat. “What’s going on?”
His fingers laced with mine. “Come on.”
He led me behind the Escalade and down a small path that headed off from the main driving lane. We didn’t go far, just through a clump of trees to a clearing next to the edge of the cliff. The sun still hadn’t completely disappeared, and we had a perfect view of the forest, the rest of the sunset, and over Fallen Crest. It was beautiful, and so was what he’d done.
Mason jars were everywhere, with tea lights inside and a large comforter spread among them.
“Mason, what’s going on?”
His hand loosened, but two of his fingers remained holding mine, and he led me to the comforter. I stood there as he looked at me, his eyes suddenly forlorn.
“Mason?” I couldn’t talk anymore.
My other hand started to tremble so I tucked it behind my back. I willed the one he was holding to be still. Be calm.
“I didn’t start thinking about marriage until this summer.”
Oh…
“The whole thing’s kind of a sham,” he continued. “I used to think that way, but it hit me when my dad was marrying Analise, at the wedding ceremony: I want to marry you, Sam. I wasn’t planning on asking. I assumed we would talk about it at some point, but it hasn’t come up, and when I was standing there and your mom was coming down the aisle, I got mad at first. It wasn’t supposed to be her in that dress. It was supposed to be you.”
My…
He knelt down, holding my hand. He looked up as the sun finally disappeared over the horizon. It was just Mason, me, and a bunch of tea lights that cast a romantic glow over this spot for us.
“Samantha—”
…God!
I knew what he was going to do. I just didn’t know what my response would be. I started to reach for him. “I—”
His phone rang. But he only reached inside his pocket and shut it off. The silence was so damned loud afterward. This was on me. I knew what was coming.
My mom cheated. His dad cheated. I knew David didn’t. I hoped Malinda never did. And other parent figures raced through my mind. Mason was waiting for me, but Garrett flashed in my head. He was a cheater. He’d cheated with my mom. I didn’t know about Sharon, if she’d ever cheated on him, but…
I couldn’t think.
A feeling of doom settled deep in my chest. It was the same sensation as when I knew I was going to backstab Becky.
I was the bad guy here.
I had become the villain somehow.
“Mason.” I stopped, wetting my lips. What was I going to do?
His phone rang again.
He cursed and shut it off a second time.
Mine started ringing right after that.
Our eyes caught and held, and I frowned.
“Fucking hell.” He stood back up, reaching for my phone. Seeing who it was, he pushed the button to answer. “This better be a damned emergency.” He was silent, then fell absolutely still. “Are you sure?” he asked. Fear, stark fear, showed in his eyes a moment before he blanketed it. His jaw clenched. “Okay. Thanks for letting me know.” He ended the call, handing the phone back to me.
I took it, not thinking as I put it into my pocket. I felt tension growing in my chest. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
His voice was so faint. “That was Logan. He talked to Taylor’s dad when he got home.” His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, and he half-turned away.
I reached for him, grabbing hold of his hand before those last two fingers slipped away. I pulled him back. “Hey. What happened?”
“Quinn sent that video to Cain University’s coaching staff.”
Fighting wasn’t tolerated. At all. It was their policy.
My stomach grew uneasy. I knew what that meant.
Mason finished, “I’ve been suspended pending a personal investigation.”
“Mason, it’ll be fine.”
“No.” He sat down on the comforter, resting his hands over his knees. He watched as I sat next to him. “The fighting’s on my record. They’ll get ahold of the case we have against Caldron. Then they’ll start looking into the past. I was fucked before I even started.”
“Mason.” I reached for his hand. I needed to say more, but that seemed to be all I could get out. I didn’t want to hear what he was going to say next…
“The NFL has a strict policy on scandals, and this whole shitstorm over the summer? They’ll see it as one giant scandal. It’s over for the NFL.”
“Mason.” I closed my eyes, just holding onto his hand.
Then the question came. I wasn’t expecting it, though I should’ve been.
His voice sounded raw.
“Sam, will you marry me?”