The Day He Came Back

I needed to drown my sorrows, get so fucked up that none of it mattered. Otherwise, I’d be up all night analyzing, when the reality was this: it was a mistake.

I’d gotten caught up in old feelings.

Nothing happened.

Nothing happened.

But I wanted her. That was undeniable. Wasn’t that just as bad?

Tomorrow I would see things clearly, return to my senses. But tonight, I needed a little help.

I chose the pool area for my pity party of one. It was dark, except for the lights illuminating the water. The windy night air rustled the palm trees around me.

When I looked down at my phone, I realized I’d missed a text from Paige earlier this evening.Paige: Just heading to bed now. Wanted to let you know I’m thinking of you. I love you and can’t wait for you to come home. Counting the hours now!Taking a long sip straight out of the bottle, I looked up at the night sky. The vodka burned as it made its way down my throat.

A little while later, Weldon appeared in the shadows, coming from the pool house. Now I knew why I couldn’t find him half the time. He’d been hiding out in there.

“Well, well, well...hoarding the good stuff, brother? And here I was thinking you had your shit together.”

I closed the bottle. “Lay off. Unlike you, this is not a daily occurrence.”

He slapped me on the shoulder. “What the fuck’s gotten into you tonight?”

The smell of alcohol laced his breath.

Apparently, we’re drunk and drunker.

Weldon had actually given me the impression he was off the sauce as of late. I hadn’t seen him this drunk since he’d arrived. I’d thought he was making a concerted effort to do better. Guess I was wrong.

“I meant to tell you. I’m thinking of staying in Florida a little while longer.”

“What? Why?”

“I don’t have any reason to leave yet.”

No way I wanted my brother here while I was back in London and couldn’t keep an eye on him. I didn’t want him anywhere near my father—or Raven, for that matter—in his current state. He needed to go back to California and get help. Staying in Florida would only delay that.

“You’re not staying here.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. You’re not fucking staying here. The staff is not paid to take care of you. And I don’t want to worry about what you’re doing in this house.”

“What I’m doing or who I’m doing?” His eyes seared into mine. “Come on. You don’t think I know what this is really about? You don’t trust me with Raven. You actually think I’d fuck you over like that?”

“I don’t think you’d fuck me over sober. But you have no control over yourself when you’re drunk.”

“Look who’s talking, as you sit there with your bottle of vodka. That was Mother’s favorite kind, by the way.”

“Leave our mother out of this.”

“Okay, you don’t want to talk about Mother. Let’s get back to the fact that you seem to think you have a right to tell me I can’t stay in my own house.”

“I do have the right. I have power of attorney, remember? I make the decisions where our father and this house are concerned, and if I say you can’t stay, you have no choice but to listen.”

I should’ve known better than to bring up that subject. Weldon was bitter that my father had signed power of attorney over to me without a second thought. Even though it had made the most sense at the time, it had only solidified Weldon’s belief that my father always favored me. Bringing it up now, I’d gone too far.

“Now you’re threatening me? You think you’re so fucking smart. You don’t know shit, not even about the worst thing that’s ever happened to you.”

The worst thing that’s ever happened to me? “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Right under your nose, and you had no fucking clue.”

If there was one thing I hated, it was being manipulated by my own family. I’d had just enough vodka to not give a fuck about the consequences when I took him by the collar and dragged him over to the wall of the pool house.

“You’d better tell me what you’re talking about, or I swear to God, I’ll choke you.”

He struggled to speak. “Let go of me.”

I wouldn’t. Instead, I twisted his collar tighter as he remained pinned against the wall. “Tell me what you’re talking about.”

He coughed out, “Raven…”

My blood pressure rose. I gripped him tighter. “What about Raven?”

Under my nose.

Had he touched her?

Had something happened between them?

“It was Mother…”

I let his words register.

My heart sank.

“What about Mother?” When he didn’t answer, I urged him to speak. “Weldon…”

“Oh fuck,” he said under his breath, as if he’d made a huge mistake.

It was too late.

I gritted my teeth. “Weldon…what about Mother, and what does this have to do with Raven?”