Right Where I Belong (16 page)

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Spencer waved his hand. “She was just worked up about the party. Whenever we have one, she goes into Nazi mode. But then it’s over and she gets back to normal.”

Natalia wished things were that simple with Maureen.
They’d been back for over a month, and Maureen’s depression had only worsened.

“How about if I take you out for ice cream after school?” He leaned toward Natalia. “To cheer you up?”

“Thanks, Spencer.” She smiled. “I have to work on that history paper, though.”

“I could help you.” His brown eyes locked on Natalia’s.

“I had better work on it by myself. I typically don’t study well with others.”

“That’s because you’ve never studied with me.” Spencer’s perfect smile seemed genuine. But Natalia knew she would be needed at home.

The bell rang, signaling the end of their lunch period. “I need to get to speech class. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

As Natalia made her way back to class, she saw Karen sitting with a group of friends. Some were girls from Spencer’s party, girls who had made her feel very welcome. Those same girls were now looking at her like she had the plague. She understood. Their friend was hurt
. By my stepmother.

The walk to class seemed to take forever.
Maybe I should go. School hasn’t even started in Spain. I could fly back this weekend and still make it in time for the first day of school. Carmen would be thrilled.

The more she thought about it, the more right the whole idea seemed. She had come here and helped Maureen make the initial transition. There was nothing more Natalia could do. She obviously wasn’t really helping her stepmother. And that was the whole reason she had come.

If I’m not needed either place, I would much rather not be needed back home. Spain, here I come.

Chapter 25

T
hank you, Brian.” Victor placed the hard hat on his head and grabbed a hammer from the toolbox. “This job is very fun. I like to tear down buildings.”

Mr. King had offered Brian weekend work gutting an office building in St. Petersburg. With James back at school, Mr. King needed another worker. Victor was still looking for a job, and Brian was glad to put his name in as James’s replacement.

“I’m happy to help.” Brian pulled a nail from the drywall. “We have to get all of these out, then we get to do the fun stuff.”

Victor stood beside Brian and worked quietly. For about a minute. “Natalia, she look very sad last night.”

Brian had been trying to get that girl out of his head all day.
Thanks for ruining that, man.
“Her stepmother is having a hard time. Natalia is the kind of person who wants to solve everyone’s problems. I think she’s frustrated she can’t make Mrs. Lopez feel better.”

“You think about her a lot?” Victor smiled at Brian.

“Why would you say that?” Brian didn’t think he was that obvious.

“You like her.” Victor tapped his head. “Victor knows. I was a young man once. Long ago. Pretty girls, they get stuck in your head.”

“Natalia is just a friend.”

“A pretty friend you like to think about.” Victor wrenched a nail from the wall.

Brian shook his head. “She’s not interested in me.” Brian thought back to yesterday, when Spencer followed Natalia out to the picnic table. Brian had stood to do the same, but he was too late. The pair sat there until the bell rang. Natalia was probably pouring her heart out to Spencer. She didn’t need Brian.

“She look at you.” Victor turned his brown eyes toward Brian. “I see it. When you don’t look, she does.”

Brian pulled harder than necessary and fell backward, the nail flying across the room. He landed on the hard concrete with a thud.

“You okay?” Victor held out a hand to help Brian up.

“Got a little carried away.”

“Thinking about Natalia.” Victor winked.

“All right, men.” Mr. King returned from his midmorning coffee run. Brian was sure the man downed a gallon of the black stuff every day. Brian, on the other hand, had given up on it the first day. “Looking good in here. Let’s see if we can’t get this drywall down by nightfall, huh?”

Brian glanced around the room. There was a lot of work ahead of them. The three worked steadily until lunch, when Mr. King treated them to sub sandwiches and chips. Brian
was putting the last bite in his mouth when a familiar voice drifted in.

“Diversify your portfolio. That’s the key to wealth management, son.” Mr. Adams waddled in, Spencer behind him. Both men were dressed in jeans and button-down shirts.

“Mr. Adams.” Mr. King stood, wiped his hands on his pants, and held it out to the elder Mr. Adams. “I didn’t expect you here today.”

Brian exchanged a tight-lipped smile with Spencer. “I didn’t know this building was yours.”
Or I might not have agreed to work here.

“I’m having it renovated as an investment property,” Mr. Adams said. “We’ll fix it up and rent it out. Great location. I’m sure we won’t have a hard time finding a renter.”

“Of course.”

Spencer walked up to Brian. “Nice hat.”

Brian patted the hard hat. “What’s under here is priceless. Gotta protect it.”

“Priceless. Right. And how’d you do on that English test yesterday?” Spencer knew Brian had gotten a C.

“We don’t want to take up too much of your time.” Mr. Adams walked around the room. The effort caused him to break out in a sweat. “I just wanted to show my boy here. Got to get him ready to go into business, know the ropes. I’m trying to hook him up with the new girl at school so he can get an internship with her dad’s company.”

Spencer’s face turned red. “Dad, I told you I don’t want to do that to her.”

Brian’s stomach clenched at the plea in Spencer’s voice.
He really likes her.

“It’s a great opportunity.” Mr. Adams shrugged. “For you and for him. I can bring him a lot of business. I’ve tried to contact him, but his secretary says he’s out of town for an extended vacation.”

Brian had never talked to Natalia about her parents. What were they like? What kind of childhood did she have? Did she miss her parents? He felt guilty for not thinking of these things sooner. All he could think about when he was around her was how pretty she was.
But she needs a friend, not another guy drooling over her.

“Spencer, see if you can get Natalia to give you her dad’s cell number.”

Spencer’s eyes closed.

“He’ll thank you.” Mr. Adams put an arm around his son. “She may too.”

“Dad.” Spencer sighed.

“We’ll talk about it over dinner, all right?” Mr. Adams guided Spencer to the entrance. “Gary’s Steakhouse?”

Brian looked at the door as the pair exited. Gary’s Steakhouse was one of the most expensive restaurants in town.
And they go there like it’s no big deal. We go once a year—maybe.
Natalia’s life had to be like that. She had no idea what Brian’s world was like.
What makes me think she’d even really want to be friends? Maybe Spencer is better for her all around.

Brian was glad to be able to start pulling down the drywall. He surprised even Mr. King with the force with which he tore into it.

Unfortunately no amount of external destruction could calm his internal turmoil.

Chapter 26

N
atalia stared at the computer screen.

The computer screen. Her father didn’t even bother to return her phone call.

Natalia,

   My daughter does not give up. Your stepmother needs you. And you need this year. It is good for your résumé. It is much easier to get into an American university when you have a degree from an American high school. Think about your future. Victoria and I are going to spend another week in Australia, then we will come back and we will start our new life at home. She needs some time to adjust to that. I’m coming to New York on business in a couple of months. You can come up and join me. If you still want to come home, we can talk about it then.

Papa

Natalia slammed her laptop shut. She couldn’t even go home. Her father didn’t want her. Her mother had been
offered a more lucrative position at a new television station in Barcelona. She had written to say that since Natalia had moved away, she decided she would too. But Natalia could visit when she came home.

Right. Because Barcelona is right around the corner from Madrid.

Carmen’s family would let Natalia stay with them. But where? They had a spacious apartment, but no one left a room open so a friend whose parents had no time for her could live with them.

Natalia threw herself down on the bed and cried. Her parents were too busy for her. Her stepmother was too depressed to notice her. Her friends were moving on. Even Carmen’s e-mails and phone calls were slowing down. Her life went on without Natalia in it. And her friends here . . . Addy and Lexi were great, but they already had such a close bond. Natalia felt like she was interfering in their friendship. They were just being nice, letting Natalia hang out with them.

Her phone rang and she wiped her eyes. Brian’s name scrolled across the phone’s face.

“Hello?”

“Natalia?” Brian’s voice sounded unsure. “I’m sorry to bother you. But my dad insisted I call and invite you over to lunch after church tomorrow. I understand if you’re busy, but—”

“No, I’m not busy.” Natalia tried to convince herself that she was excited simply because she would get to ask the pastor some questions. “I’d love to have lunch with your family.”

“Really?” Natalia could picture Brian’s smile. “I’ll meet you after the service. Maureen can come too, of course.”

Natalia swallowed past the lump in her throat before speaking. “I don’t think she wants to be seen right now.”

“Why?”

“Were you in the cafeteria on Thursday?”

“Oh, that.”

“She refused to go back to school Friday, refused to answer Mr. Lawrence’s phone calls. She is sure he’s going to fire her.”

“He’s not going to fire her.” Brian’s tone didn’t match his words.

“What are you not telling me?”

Brian’s sigh punctuated the silence. “Karen Jordan’s parents are the type who get angry if someone looks at their daughter the wrong way.”

Natalia recalled the way Maureen screamed at Karen, humiliating the tenth grader in front of the entire high school. “So they are pretty upset, then?”

“That’s a nice way to say it. But we all understand Maureen just made a mistake. My dad and Mr. Lawrence are on her side.”

“But?”

“But she’ll probably get an earful from the Jordans.”

“Great.” That was the last thing her stepmother needed.

“Maureen really should come tomorrow. We’re a lot of fun. She can get her mind off all this. She doesn’t need to sit around and feel sorry for herself.”

Natalia wanted to tell him that’s all Maureen did. But she didn’t want to burden him with her sad stories.

“Just ask her.” Brian cleared his throat. “So what did you do today?”

“Nothing, really.”

“Nothing? On a Saturday. That’s terrible.”

“I don’t have the most active social life, you know,” Natalia said. “Addy is visiting her friend Kara, and Lexi went on a weekend trip with her dad.”

“You need to do something fun so you have something to tell them on Monday.”

“I do have something fun. I’m having dinner with the pastor and his family tomorrow.”

“Dinner with my family cannot be the highlight of your weekend.” Brian paused before continuing. “Tell you what, how about I pick you up and take you someplace?”

“But it’s almost eight o’clock.” Natalia looked at her alarm clock. “That’s late for you Americans.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” He didn’t bother to disguise the mocking tone in his voice.

“The malls close at nine. There’s nothing to do here at night.”

“You live here a month and think you know everything. Just get dressed. Put on some jeans and lots of bug spray. I’ll pick you up in fifteen minutes.”

Natalia loved the idea of getting out of the house. But she worried about getting out with Brian. Would he get the wrong idea? Would she?

“And I know what you’re thinking,” Brian interrupted Natalia’s thoughts. “But it’s not a date. So no funny business, all right? I’m hard to resist, I know. But it’s for your own good.”

Natalia did not want Brian to know how close to the truth he was, so she played along with his joke. “Very well, sir. If you insist.”

Natalia hung up the phone and skipped to her closet.
What to wear for a night out on a nondate with a guy she was far too attracted to for her own good? She rifled through her jeans, trying to find the baggiest pair. Then she pulled out a plain blue shirt. No frills, nothing that could be considered attractive.

“Maureen?” Natalia knocked on her stepmother’s door. She had barely come out for the past two days. “I’m going out for a little bit. Is that all right?”

“Sure.” Maureen’s voice was soft. Tired.

Natalia wished Maureen would at least ask where she was going and with whom.
Sure, she trusts me.
But Maureen’s lack of concern went beyond trust. If something didn’t change soon, Natalia would have to call for help. Maureen couldn’t go on like this.