Fate, page 8
And I still had the nightmares, but I kept that quiet. Nightmares didn’t hurt anyone, and I didn’t want my mother needlessly worrying.
Patty and I showered and went to breakfast.
“What did you do last night?” she asked after swallowing a big bite of scrambled eggs.
No bacon graced either of our plates. Boy, I missed bacon, but Patty promised some uncured, humanely raised bacon would arrive soon.
“After dinner? I went downstairs to the lounge for a while. No drinking, though. You?”
She smiled dreamily. “I had a great time with Sean.”
“Are you guys a thing now?”
“I’m not sure. He may just like fucking me.”
I tried not to wince at her words. They were crass, but they were also true. “Do you want more than that?”
“I think I might, but I’m not going to push it. We just met. Besides, this is college. We’re supposed to have fun, and I’m definitely having fun.”
I nodded, taking a sip of coffee.
“So what’s up with you and Brad? Or Ennis?”
“Nothing with Ennis. We’re just friends. Brad? I’m not sure, but we’re going out tonight.”
“Oh? Sean didn’t say anything about getting together with you guys.”
“Brad says he wants it to be just the two of us. He’s taking me to dinner downtown.”
“Really? What about the woman he—”
“It’s over, he says.”
“And you believe him?”
“I don’t know.” I sighed. “I want to.”
“Then you should, I guess. A dinner in Denver sounds wonderful.” Patty’s eyes gleamed. “What are you going to wear?”
My stomach dropped. What was I going to wear? I had a few dresses, but they seemed childish when I thought about them. One was a sundress with daisies on it, and the other was a hot-pink wraparound dress. I could wear basic black pants and a silk shirt. If I had a silk shirt, which I did not.
“I have no idea,” I replied.
“I’d let you borrow something, but you’re so much taller than I am. I know! Let’s blow off orientation and go shopping!”
“How? We don’t have a car.”
“The bus, silly. I have a schedule. This will be great.”
“But orientation… What if there’s stuff we need to know?”
“Big yawn,” she said. “It’s more of that team-building crap. We met everyone yesterday. We’ll be back in time for registration at two. Besides, tomorrow’s the big event. It’s first nighter.”
“First nighter?”
“Weren’t you listening yesterday? First nighter is when they line up all the freshman girls and all the freshman guys by height and pair them off for a dance. They give us roses and everything.”
“Just when did they mention that?”
“Yesterday morning. Plus, it’s on the schedule. I swear, Daph, sometimes I think you walk around in a daze.”
Sometimes I did. I forced myself to remember everything, but I hadn’t read the schedule, and if first nighter was mentioned yesterday morning, I was still a bit hungover.
I didn’t have anything to wear to any first nighter either. I didn’t have a lot of disposable income—read: none—but Patty’s shopping idea was looking better and better.
“You’ve convinced me. Shopping it is.”
Patty and I returned with new outfits for my dinner with Brad and for first nighter. For tonight’s dinner, I’d wear a basic black wrap dress that hugged my curves. I’d thought it a little much, but Patty convinced me it was perfect. I had to admit it seemed to be made for me.
I was willing to wear the same thing to first nighter tomorrow, but Patty said that would be tacky. I wasn’t sure why, since Brad wouldn’t be at first nighter, and only he would see me tonight, but whatever. So for first nighter, I got a burgundy dress that was slightly less revealing—but not much. I got some black strappy sandals that went perfectly with both. Though she tried, Patty did not talk me into another pair of shoes.
Patty had spent most of the several hours we spent shopping complaining about how nothing went with her red hair and green eyes. I disagreed and told her she could wear anything she wanted. She finally decided on an emerald prairie dress for first nighter, and she bought a very smart mahogany number for her big date with Sean—should it ever happen. She bought two new pairs of shoes.
Pig farming must pay.
Either that or she liked to spend money.
I was naturally frugal because my mother was. These new purchases put a serious dent in my bank account, but I figured I wouldn’t need to shop for anything besides shampoo for a while.
Registration went smoothly. We each got the classes we wanted, which supposedly almost never happened for freshmen, so we were ecstatic.
Then back to the room to prepare for my date with Brad.
And I froze.
Chapter Eighteen
Brad
My gut was full of fluttering moths. My mouth was dry. My skin felt tight.
These were new feelings. I was nervous.
Fucking nervous for this date with Daphne.
I’d never been nervous about a date in my life.
My black pants and white cotton shirt felt all wrong. I grew up on a ranch. I wore jeans and cowboy boots…and never, never a white shirt. White didn’t stay white for long on a ranch.
In the car was my sport coat. The temperature was too hot for it at the moment.
I took a swig from the bottle of Coke I’d brought with me. Why did my tongue feel like sandpaper? Man, this had to stop. No woman was worth this. Get a grip, Steel.
I pulled up in front of Daphne’s dorm at four forty-five.
Damn. Early.
I was never early.
This was insane.
I drove away from the dorm. I had fifteen minutes to kill.
My car phone rang. Yeah, I had a car phone. I was a Steel, after all.
“Yeah?” I said into the phone.
“Brad? I need you. Come quickly. I’m at your place.”
Shit. Seriously? “Wendy? I can’t. I’m busy.”
“Please, Brad. It’s an emergency. I’m in trouble.”
“Fuck,” I said under my breath. I hung up the phone and drove the five minutes back to my condo.
Wendy was indeed there. Her car was parked in front and she had let herself in. Time to change the locks again.
I parked and walked in.
And she attacked.
She was on me like a rabid dog.
She pressed her lips to mine and then spread kisses around my jawline to my ear, where she bit the lobe. Hard.
“I know about your little slut, Brad,” she whispered.
I pushed her away. “You said this was an emergency.”
“It is. If you don’t get rid of the slut, you’ll see what an emergency it will be.”
“Don’t threaten her.”
“The only reason I haven’t already gotten rid of her myself is because she’s Larry’s half sister.”
“Since when are you and Larry so close?”
“Loyalty, Brad. There’s this little thing called loyalty. I have it. You, obviously, do not.”
“Loyalty? Really?”
“I promised Larry I wouldn’t harm his sister.”
“Since when are you okay with harming anyone, Wendy?”
“You’re the one who taught me how to shoot a gun. If I harm anyone, you hold some responsibility.”
I had, when we were in high school. I was a good shot, and she’d wanted to learn, so I taught her. We couldn’t go to the range together without an adult, so we practiced on the ranch during the weekends. She took to it like a pig to slop.
Now, with the crazed look in her eyes, I vowed I’d never teach another person to shoot a gun.
“What the hell has happened to you?” I demanded.
“You know me, Brad. I get very testy when I don’t get my way.”
“No one gets his way all the time, Wendy. You know that.”
“Not me. I always get my way.” Her eyes misted. “Except for once.”
Our child. She was talking about our child. She and I were horny teenagers, and we’d failed to use birth control once.
Only once.
Of course, once was all it took.
She got pregnant but miscarried. A blessing in disguise. Neither of us was ready to be a parent in high school.
Still, she found a way to use it against me any time she could.
I remained calm. She wasn’t going to trip me up this time.
“Get out of here,” I said, “or I’ll have you arrested for trespassing.”
“No, you won’t.”
“You want to try me? I’m not Tom or Larry. I’m not your lackey.”
“Tom and Larry aren’t my lackeys. They’re my friends. They’re loyal. They’re better men than you’ll ever be.”
“Fine. They can be better men than I am. I don’t rightfully give a fuck.”
“Get rid of her,” she said angrily, “or I will.”
Rage welled in me. “You stay away from her.”
“I won’t hurt her. I promised Larry. But…sometimes accidents happen.”
“You fucking bitch.” I clenched my teeth. “If she so much loses a hair on her head, I’ll have you arrested.”
“For harming a hair on her head? Fuck you, Brad. What about the promises we made to each other?”
“We were kids. We’ve been through this.”
“You’ve been through this. We have never been through anything. We belong together. You know it as well as I do.”
Damn. It was five o’clock now. I was late. I hadn’t planned on dealing with Wendy today.
But today, it seemed, was the day. I didn’t have a choice.
“Sit down,” I commanded. “Now.”
She sat.
She always sat.
All I needed was my commanding tone, and Wendy would do anything I asked. In the bedroom, at least. Outside the bedroom? That was always up in the air, but I could get her to obey me about seventy-five percent of the time.
This appeared to be one of those times, thank goodness.
“Listen to me, and listen good,” I said. “We’re over, Wendy. There’s nothing more between us.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not lying.”
“You’re really dumping me for an eighteen-year-old girl?”
“I’m not dumping you for anyone. I’m simply dumping you.”
“You’re not.”
“Oh, I am.”
“I’ll ruin you.”
I couldn’t help a laugh at that one. “You’ll ruin me? I don’t care how much money you and the guys make doing God knows what. I’ll always be able to buy and sell you.”
“Doesn’t matter. You can’t hide the truth, Brad. No amount of money can hide the truth. I’m top in my class. I’m going to be the best investigative journalist in the world, and I’m going to find every single thing the Steels are hiding.”
“Go ahead. Look all you want. You won’t find anything.”
I hoped I sounded more confident than I felt. The Steels did have things to hide—a few things.
She stood and drove into me, hammering her fists into my chest. “You bastard! You fucking bastard!”
Yeah, Wendy wasn’t above getting physical. Never in my life had I struck a woman—our bedroom antics notwithstanding—and I wasn’t going to begin now, no matter how tempted I was.
“Let it go,” I said. “Let us go.”
“Never. I’ll never let you go, Brad Steel. You and I will always be bound for life.” She backed away.
“If it helps you to think that, go ahead. I’m done caring.”
“You’ll never be done caring. I’ll see to that. I always get what I want. Always.”
Her words sent chills rippling down my spine.
I wasn’t sure why.
Chapter Nineteen
Daphne
“Daph? Are you okay?”
My mind was mud. Sludge and mud. Someone was calling my name.
“Daph? He’s going to be here any minute!”
I jerked back to reality. Patty was sitting on my bed, waving her hands in my face.
“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you dressed for your date with Brad?”
Oh, God. My date with Brad. What must I look like? I was going to shower, do my hair and makeup… What happened?
Why didn’t I remember?
No. No, no, no. I was not losing time again.
I stood quickly. “I’m fine. I must have dozed off.”
“Daph, your eyes were open.”
“Sometimes I sleep like that.” I hated lying. I really hated lying.
She pulled my dress out of the shopping bag. “He’s going to be here any minute. Come on. I’ll help. Thank goodness this doesn’t wrinkle much.” She eyed me. “Your legs look good. You can get away without shaving. We’ll brush out your hair and then rebraid it. Luckily you don’t need a lot of makeup. We can do this, Daph.”
I nodded, letting her take the reins. My mind was still a little fuzzy.
By five fifteen, I was ready, and I looked pretty darn good, all things considered.
I breathed a sigh of relief until something occurred to me.
It was five fifteen, and Brad wasn’t here.
He was late.
Or maybe he wouldn’t show up at all.
“Guys are late all the time, Daph,” Patty said. “Don’t worry about that. Be glad you had the extra time.”
Indeed, I was glad. Patty clearly knew much more about men than I did. Maybe they were always late. I had no idea.
“I’ve got to run,” Patty said.
“Plans with Sean?”
“Actually, no. Just some of the girls down the hall. I might meet up with Sean later, though. He said he might call.”
She didn’t sound overly upset about not having any solid plans with the guy she was sleeping with. If she was okay with it, I was okay with it. “Okay. See you later, I guess.”
“I won’t wait up!” She winked and dashed out the door.
Her comment made the skin on my arms tingle like electricity was shooting through my veins. I wouldn’t be sleeping with Brad Steel. Not tonight, and not anytime soon.
I didn’t particularly want to stand around, but I resisted sitting back down on my bed.
Fear edged its way into me.
I’d been about to get ready…
And then…nothing. I’d ended up on my bed with Patty waving her hands like a maniac in front of my face. What had caused me to freeze? I walked slowly around the room, looking for something, anything, that seemed out of place.
I found nothing.
I breathed in. Out. In again.
Relaxation exercises. Where had I learned them? Junior year, of course. I knew that much. I just didn’t recall the actual learning.
So I stood.
Waiting.
Five thirty came around.
Five forty-five.
Six o’clock.
Finally, I allowed myself to sit.
He wasn’t coming.
Brad Steel had stood me up. Given me the rabbit, as they said in France, according to my French teacher.
Tears formed in my eyes, but I sniffed them back. No reason to cry. I hardly knew the guy. Didn’t matter how sincere he’d seemed last night. How sweetly he’d held me. How he’d given me my first real kiss.
I’d spent fifty dollars I didn’t have on this dress, and then another thirty-five on the burgundy one for tomorrow.
First nighter.
Maybe there I’d meet the man of my dreams. At least he’d be tall enough.
Brad Steel was tall enough.
But Brad Steel was not—
Frantic pounding on my door.
I opened it.
There stood beautiful Brad Steel, looking flustered. Beads of perspiration dripped from his forehead, pasting his dark hair to the sides of his neck and face. He wore a white button-down shirt, no tie, and a few black chest hairs peeked out. Black pants and black shoes.
“I’m so sorry, Daphne. God, you look beautiful.”
I warmed, fuzzy feelings rushing through me, along with a sense of panic.
And I realized why I’d frozen earlier. I was nervous for this date—this first real date. Here was my chance to end it with Brad once and for all. I wasn’t falling for this. He as good as stood me up.
I forced myself to calm down. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to pick you up. We’ll have to skip drinks at the Four Seasons, but we can still make our reservation.”
“Really? Enjoy yourself, then.”
“Daphne, I’m sorry. Something came up.”
“Interesting. I don’t recall getting a phone call, and I’ve been right here.”
“I know. I just wanted to get here. I just wanted to get to you.”
“You got here. It’s too late.”
“No.” He walked into my room and closed the door. “It’s not too late. It can’t be.”
“What kind of person do you think I am? I’m not a doormat.” Something I’d learned junior year, though I didn’t recall when or why.
“Of course you’re not. Please, Daphne. Please.” He touched my cheek.
Sparks shot through me.
The last shred of panic dissolved, and I knew, in that instant, I’d do anything for this man.
Absolutely anything.
Chapter Twenty
Brad
“Please,” I said again.
Shivers quaked through me. What would I do if she said no? She couldn’t. She just couldn’t.
If she did, things would never be the same. I’d blown it, all because Wendy had shown up.
“All right,” she finally said.
An anvil crashed down off my shoulders. Thank God. Thank God.
What the hell was happening to me? Why did she matter so much in so little time? It was crazy. Completely crazy.
“I’ll make this up to you.” I stroked her soft cheek. “I promise.”
