Left Behind: Left Behind Series #1 (20 page)

“Wait,”
Evan whispers and disappears from my side. I don’t turn to see what he’s doing,
but I hear him rustling in the toolbox of his truck. He returns, handing me a
cloth towel. “Use this.”

“Thank
you.”

“You’re
welcome,” he says, squatting down next to me.

Taking
my time, I wipe off the stone, paying special attention to the smoother,
polished parts. Why haven’t I ever thought to bring anything to clean it off
before? If I had come from home, I would have brought flowers for Gram. I’ll
have to make another trip back here sometime this week to get them to her.

“As
awful as this sounds, sometimes I think that they got the better end of the
deal. Right before the guilt settles in for even considering it, of course,”
Evan whispers from beside me. He reaches over and brushes off a piece of grass
I missed.

“I
think the same thing,” I admit, wiping my face on my arm since my hands are now
dirty. “They get to go and be with loved ones gone before them. Their suffering
ends. They’re free.” I remember watching Gram when she was so sick. There
wasn’t anything I wouldn’t have done to make her feel better. “The pain I felt
as Gram went through the surgeries, the chemo, all of it,” I cringe at the
memories. “It was nothing compared to how I felt when she was actually gone.
Trying to get out of bed every morning and going about daily life hurts so damn
bad. Being left behind is the worst kind of pain. It can’t be kissed better,
rubbed away, or bandaged. It’s always there, crushing any chance of relief.
It’s the kind that will never go away because the only person who can make it
better isn’t ever coming back.”       

Evan
stands up, bringing me with him. I lean into his chest and he holds me there
until I’m ready to go. Once he pulls out of the cemetery gates, relief falls
over me. “Thank you for coming with me.”

“Anytime,”
he tells me. “Is there anything else you want to do today?”

“Do
you want to come back to the house and hang out by the pool? Jade and Kyle will
be around. I’m sure she’ll be making dinner. She usually does on days that are
tough for me to get through. She thinks food makes me feel better,” I laugh.

“Sounds
good, but we have to make a quick stop.”

A
few miles down the road, Evan pulls into the parking lot of a small ice cream
stand. “Milkshake?” he asks.

“Is
that a real question?” The hot weather really needs to take a break soon. I’ll
need to run twice as much if he keeps getting me these damn things.

“One
strawberry milkshake and one chocolate, please,” he orders at the window.

“Chocolate?
What’s wrong with strawberry?”

“I
like strawberry. I just don’t want you to steal mine after you inhale yours,”
he informs me.

“I
do not inhale my milkshakes.”

He
raises his eyebrows. “Sweetheart, I’ve seen you drink them before. It’s like
you’re afraid someone is going to cut your arms off and take it from you.”

“Shut
up!” I snap, folding my arms over my chest. “You’re an ass.”

“Maybe
I am, but you still inhale milkshakes,” he mumbles, handing me the cup the young
girl just placed on the counter. He doesn’t notice her staring at him or how
she stutters when she tries to tell him the total. I’m not going to tell him,
either. No reason to make the jerk’s head any bigger than it already is.

After
a short stop at his condo for a change of clothes and his bathing suit, we
spend the rest of the afternoon in Jade’s backyard. By the time we get there,
she is already set up with music playing, a cooler full of drinks, and snacks.
Evan and Kyle play basketball with the floating net for a while. They act like
little kids, which causes laughter and a lot of eye rolling from us. It’s nice
to see Evan relaxing for a change. He always seems tense when he has to go to
the club. I wonder if he’ll be better once his uncle comes home. Maybe he’s
only like this because of the stress from being on his own.

Jake
finally comes out to join us a little before dinner. He looks horrible. We are
all in the pool when he plops into the chair under the umbrella, but I’m the
only one who gets out to check on him. To prevent any unwanted comments, I wrap
myself with a large towel. Walking by the cooler, I grab a Coke, open it, and
place it gently on the table. “You know, drinking isn’t for everyone.”

Without
moving his head, Jake reaches for the can. He nearly knocks it over, but
manages to get ahold of it. “Why do people do this to themselves?” he asks as I
try, unsuccessfully, not to laugh. “I’m serious. This fucking sucks.”

“Most
people don’t set out to feel like shit the following day. It has more to do
with feeling good at the time. Did you take anything?”

“Yeah.
Multiple times. Does this really help?” He’s pointing at the soda.

“It’s
always helped me, especially with my stomach,” I confirm. “Do you want me to
get you anything else?” Why is there guilt piling on my shoulders? Even if I
did have sex with Evan, I wouldn’t have done anything wrong and, more
importantly, it’s none of Jake’s business. Damn Jade for putting this shit in
my head.

“No.
Thank you, though.”

“Jade
made a salad, and we’re throwing chicken on the grill in a little bit. Do you
want that or would you rather have something else?”

“Not
sure,” he moans.

“Man,
you look like shit,” Evan says. I turn to see they all are out of the pool and
are drying off. It must be time to make dinner.

“Aw,
big brother. Do you feel any better?”

“A
little,” Jake answers. She kisses his head.

“I’m
going to run home to change. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” I announce. Evan
comes with me and I think to myself how we better hurry up or else Jake might start
drinking again.

Everyone
has a good time preparing and eating dinner. Jake perked up after drinking the
Coke. That shit works miracles! The guys talk about cars while watching the
baseball game on TV. Jade washes the dishes and I dry. She talks about having
off of work on Thursday and Friday so we make plans to go shopping Thursday
morning, since we are both in dire need of summer clothes, and to grab lunch
afterwards. We haven’t spent much time together so I’m looking forward to it.

The
leftover food is put away and everything is cleaned up. I make my way over to
the sofa where Evan is sitting and curl up next to him. “Hey, beautiful,” he
whispers.

Before
I can respond, Jade brings out dessert. She bought a chocolate cake with
chocolate icing in honor of my grandfather’s birthday. It was his favorite. She
places the cake on the coffee table in front of me. There is a lone candle in
the center of it, just the way Gram would have done it. “Happy Birthday,
Grandpop,” I whisper before blowing it out. “Thanks, Jade.” She winks at me and
hands me the knife. Gram has done this so many times that it feels wrong doing
it myself. I slice five pieces of cake and pass them around the room.

“Okay,
now it’s time we talk about
your
birthday. What do you want to do?” Jade
asks me.

“When’s
your birthday?” Evan blurts out.

“A
week from Wednesday,” I say, glaring at Jade.

“That’s
the fifth?” he asks.

“Yeah.”

“How
come you didn’t tell me?”

“Because
it’s no big deal, and I’m not celebrating it this year,” I say, looking around
the room.

“Bullshit!”
Jade speaks out. “We haven’t really celebrated your birthday the last few years
because you were a thousand miles away. You better fucking believe we’re partying
this year!”

“You
came to visit me last year. We partied for three days when I turned twenty-one!
I thought I was going to die from alcohol poisoning,” I remind her.

Jake
starts chuckling. “You guys thought I looked bad earlier? You should have seen
these two by that Sunday night. We even had to postpone our flight back because
Jade wouldn’t have made it to the airport.”

“That’s
only because of the cheap booze Kacie’s friends brought over before we went out
the night before,” Jade defends herself. “I should’ve known better than to
drink that crap!”

“Oh,
I guess it had nothing to do with the outrageous number of shots you had,” Jake
comments.

“Can
I help it if guys were buying us shots all damn night? It would have been rude
to say no!” Jade says.

“It
would have been
smart
to say no,” Jake says, sighing.

“Anyway,
so what do you want to do?” she asks, remembering her original question.

“Really,
Jade. It’s been a rough few months and I’m not up to celebrating yet.” Evan is
rubbing my back. “I’m going to head home. I’ll see you guys later.”

“Fine.
We’ll discuss it later, but this conversation is not over.” Jade can be very
stubborn when she doesn’t get what she wants.

I
grab Evan’s hand and we leave by the back door. Instead of going inside of
Gram’s house, he sits in one of the lounge chairs. He drapes his long legs over
the sides of the chair and pats it for me to sit with him. “You want to sit
outside?”

“Why
not? The view looks amazing from here.” I look up to see the stars lighting up
the sky. Evan helps me onto the chair. My knees bend up to my chest and my arms
surround them. It’s not cold out by any means, but it’s comforting. “Did you
really think you’d get away without telling me about your birthday?” he
whispers.

“Honestly,
I haven’t even thought about it. I’m sure it would have come up in the next few
days.” I relax back into him. He really is nice to snuggle with.

“If
it’s okay with you, I’ll try to get someone to cover for me at the club and
we’ll do something. Even if it’s something low key. I’d just like to spend your
birthday with you.” He squirms a bit as he digs his phone out of his pocket.

“Okay,”
I whisper. I can tolerate something low key.

“You
decide what you want to do,” he says, fidgeting with his phone, “and I’ll make
it happen.” When he’s satisfied with whatever he is doing, he sets it down on
the small table next to us. He pulls me in closer to him and holds me tight.
Music begins playing and I recognize the song immediately. It’s one of my
favorites.

“You
like this?” I ask, curiously.

“As
of recently,” he kisses my cheek, “it’s probably my favorite song ever.” We sit
there for a long time, not saying anything to each other, looking up at the
stars and listening to “You and Me” by Lifehouse over and over again.

Kacie

All
day yesterday, I felt like I was recovering from a week long drinking binge.
It’s probably because of not sleeping well and being on the go for the last few
days. Evan stayed over Monday night after hanging out at Jade’s house. We woke
up a little before noon and made breakfast together, but he had to leave
shortly after we ate. He was nervous about being away from the club for over
forty-eight hours. Apparently, that hasn’t happened since his uncle went on
vacation. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening lounging around,
watching movies. Everyone needs a lazy day once in a while, right?

Shit
is starting to get a little more intense between Evan and me. We aren’t able to
keep our hands off of each other. It’s only simple caresses or a few kisses
here and there…simple caresses or kisses that have me longing for much, much
more. Frankly, I hate when he’s close by and we aren’t touching in some way. I
know it would be best to take a step or two back from the situation, but it’s
getting harder to do that, especially now that he wants to sleep in my bed.
While he was at work last night, I could only fall asleep after lying on the
pillow he had used.

Today,
I woke up later than I had planned, but decided to head out for my run anyway.
I figured if it got too hot, there were enough places along my route to take a
break. Actually, that’s exactly what ended up happening. About three-quarters
of the way through, the heat was getting to me. I stopped next to a lake and
sat down on a large rock. Looking out over the water, I thought only of Evan.
Mostly, I tried to convince myself that if I told him how my parents are
threatening to take the house and the rest of the nonsense they’re putting me
through, he’d still want to be with me. But, the truth is, he wouldn’t. Who
really wants to be around someone with crazy parents who are constantly causing
trouble? And what about how he mentioned nothing having to change with us? Did
he mean it? Is that his way of saying he’s not interested in anything more? Who
the fuck knows? It will only make me nuts trying to analyze this shit. Needless
to say, I didn’t sit there very long.

Making
my way up the driveway, I notice two cars parked behind mine. One I’ve never
seen before and the other, I wish I’d never see again. The latter is currently
occupied by an older gentleman who I’ve known my whole life. When I get closer,
he emerges from the driver’s seat of the air conditioned, idling Lincoln Town
Car. As always, he’s dressed in a black three-piece suit, complete with a black
tie and black shoes. He appears to have aged a bit since the last time I saw
him, which wasn’t that long ago. It was at Gram’s funeral.

“Robert,”
I greet him, smiling. It takes the combination of me raising up on the tips of
my toes and him bending over for me to plant a kiss on his cheek. “It’s so nice
to see you.”

“Likewise,
Sweet Pea,” he replies. He had given me that nickname the day he drove me home
from the hospital almost twenty-two years ago. I don’t think he’s ever called
me by any other name. Robert and I spent a lot of time together. He drove me
back and forth to school, to every birthday party I attended as a kid, and
anywhere else I wanted to go until I got my driver’s license. In a way, he was
my very first best friend.

“You
should come inside to cool off and get something to drink. It’s way too hot to
be wearing heavy clothes like that.” I indicate the ridiculous number of layers
he is sporting on this extremely hot day. He can hear the concern in my voice.

He
grins. “Please tell me you aren’t still worrying about a grumpy, old man like
me.”

“I
will always worry about the people I love, Robert. You know that.”

“Your
heart of gold is one of your most beautiful qualities. Always has been.”

“Really.
Please come in. I’m sure there’s even something I could make you for lunch that
doesn’t actually require my poor cooking skills.” One bad thing about knowing
someone for so long is they know all the things you suck at.

“I’m
fine out here. Thank you for the more than generous offer,” he declines
politely. I knew he would. He probably looks at this as a break from his pain
in the ass employer.

I
turn to look over at the front door. “How long has she been here?”
More
importantly,
I ask
myself
, how the hell did she get in
?
Has
she had a key this whole time
?

“About
fifteen minutes,” he answers sadly. “I am sorry for bringing her here, Sweet
Pea. If I had any other choice…”

“No
worries,” I tell him. It’s not like he has the option of where to drive her.
For a very hefty paycheck, he goes where the queen says. “I suppose I should
get in there and get whatever she has planned for me over with.”

He
nods. “I’m glad I was able to see you today. I’ve missed you.”

“Same
here. Please take care of yourself.” He gives me another kiss and promises to
do just that.

Taking
a deep breath, I walk through the front door and stand in the foyer to see if I
can hear where my unwanted guests are. The footsteps above my head divulge
their location as at least two people begin to descend the stairs. “As of right
now, we won’t worry about the upstairs. The main problem is this repulsive
coral wall. What my mother-in-law was thinking when she had it installed is
beyond me. I want it gone,” my mother is telling someone. “Ah, there you are
Kacie.” She scowls at me when she notices my appearance. “Where the hell have
you been? You look disgusting.”

“Not
all of us have surgery to look our best, Mother,” I retort. “Some of us do this
crazy thing called exercise.”

“There
are no acceptable circumstances for you to ever look like that in public,” she
dismisses me.

“What
are you doing here?” I disregard her bitchiness.

“If
you would pick up your phone when I call…” I won’t lie. I’ve been neglecting
her calls since the night of Noah’s party. “…you would have known that I was
bringing Catherine by to go through the house.” She holds her hand out to the
woman, who is typing something into her phone, standing behind her. Catherine
looks up to give me an irritated smile, then her attention is back to the
screen in her hand. “I need the key to the master suite.”

“Who
is she?”

“My
interior decorator. I was able to convince your father to move in here rather
than put it up for sale,” she announces proudly. “We’re planning on moving in
after our family vacation in July, and I want it ready before we get back. Now,
give me the key so I can show Catherine how horrible it looks in there and all
the work she has to do.”

“Get
the hell out of my house!” I demand. Anger has begun to boil in my veins. I
know it’s not really my house, but I don’t give a shit. It’s more mine than
hers. My mother has crossed the line again. She has no right to walk in here
and take over.

“Please
excuse my daughter’s rudeness, Catherine. She was raised better than that but,
obviously, has forgotten her manners. Unfortunately, she is still grieving over
the recent loss of her grandmother. A loss that she needs to accept and from
which she has to move on.” The cold, hard stare of the almighty Sophia Foster
has been known to make people essentially bow down to her, but not me. Not
anymore.

“If
you don’t get out of my home in the next five seconds, I will have you both
arrested for trespassing,” I tell them through clenched teeth.

Embarrassment
must have overtaken her. The frostiness of her face breaks and she motions for
Catherine to head to the front door. “We’ll come back another time,” she tells
the woman as if she was a servant. Catherine promptly stomps over to the door
and exits the house. “If you ever speak to me that way in front of someone else
again, I will make sure you live on the street for the rest of your life.”

“Now,
we both know that would never happen. Just think of what people would say if
your daughter was seen living on the street!” I bark.

“You
only have yourself to blame for losing the house. All you had to do was date
the handsome doctor we picked out for you and your life would have been set.
Instead, you are acting like the pitiful child your grandmother encouraged you
to be.” The bitch walks toward the door, but stops right before opening it.
“You will be at my house tonight promptly at seven o’clock for dinner. Your
father will want to discuss this with you. So you’re not late, Robert will be
here to pick you up at six-thirty.”

“Unlike
you, I’m perfectly capable of driving myself.” I should be telling her to shove
dinner up her ass, but there’s no doubt in my mind that having me at her house
tonight was on her agenda all along.

“You
will
not
park that piece of garbage you are currently driving anywhere
near my house. Seriously, Kacie. You move out of state for a few years and your
standards go out the window. Clearly, this is why your father and I still need
to make decisions for you.” She opens the door and before closing it behind
her, she adds, “Don’t be one second late.”

I
waste no time rushing to the door to lock it up tight. Then, my back crashes
into it as I slide down to the floor. With my hands in my hair, my breathing
becomes short and uneven as panic takes control of me. What the hell do I do
now? My parents want to move into my grandmother’s house? That’s even worse
than selling it to a stranger. My entire body begins to tremble at the thought
of my mother changing anything in here. I can’t let that happen. I
won’t
let that happen. Will there ever be a time when she doesn’t affect me?

Gathering
myself takes a little more effort than it should, but eventually, I’m back on
my feet. My phone is strapped to my arm from when I was running. Still standing
in the foyer, I remove the Velcro strap and call the first person on my mental
list. He answers on the first ring. “To what do I owe the pleasure of hearing
from my best friend on this beautiful day?” I can hear music playing in the
background. I’m glad to hear he’s already in his truck.

“Jake,
I need your help.”

“What’s
wrong?” He instantly becomes alert by the tone of my voice and lowers the
stereo.

“Could
you please come and change all of the exterior locks on the house?”

“I’m
on my way,” he answers without needing a full explanation. Jake became the
owner of Quinn Homes, a new home construction company, when his father decided
he’d rather destroy his liver in dive bars than run the company his grandfather
started many years ago. Most likely, Jake already has what he needs in his
truck. “Do you want to tell me why?”

“My
mom was here when I got back from my run. She let herself in, along with an
interior decorator. Apparently, my parents think they are taking the house for
themselves.”

“No,
they are fucking not!”

“That’s
my thought exactly.”

“It
will take me about forty minutes to get there. I was on my way to a job site.
Will you be okay until then?”

“You
can do this later. I’m not planning on going anywhere for a few hours.”

“Kacie,
you aren’t going to feel safe until it’s done. I’m on my way. Will you be okay
or should I call Jade to come sit with you?”

“I’ll
be fine. I’m sure my mother has no desire to come back here today.”

“Did
you have the security alarm set?”

“I
did. I guess she had a code. Maybe from when Gram was sick. I’m not sure, but
I’m calling them next. Thank you so much, Jake. I’m really sorry for calling
you when you have so much work to do. I know how busy you are.”

“Don’t
apologize and work can wait. I have guys on site that can take care of stuff
for me. I’ll be there soon.”

Next,
I call the security system company. Aside from Gram, her nurse, Jade, and
myself, my parents and my brother have access codes. I had all of the codes
deleted except for mine, Jade’s, and Gram’s, and added one for Jake, just in
case. The lady who took my call was very helpful. I explained what happened and
for added safety, she noted on the account that if any of the deleted codes
were punched in, the police would be notified to come immediately. Between that
and the new locks Jake is coming to install, leaving the house or sleeping
won’t be as much of an issue as I was beginning to fear it would be. I was
surprised to learn, however, that Gram had changed me to the primary account
holder back in September. Why would she do that?

The
third call I make is to Jade. If she hears about this from her brother and not
me, she’ll be pissed. “Spencer and Spencer,” she answers the law firm’s main
line.

“Hi,
Jade. It’s me.”

“Hey,
Kacie. What’s up?” She almost sounds bored, which is ironic considering I’m
about to completely upset her day.

“I
just wanted to let you know that Jake is on his way over here to change the
locks on the house. I’ll make sure he gives you the new keys.”

“Why
is he doing that?” she asks, guardedly.

“My
mom was here today. She got in when I wasn’t home.”