Saving Ever After (Ever After #4) (18 page)

“But you and
Sadie are really close.”

“Yeah, we
are and I think that worked because of the age gap. We weren’t going through
our teenage years together. I was still young when she left. With the twins, I
always felt like I was being compared to them, and they always left me out or
excluded me from things. And I know they resented Sadie sometimes for her
independence, for not living to please Mom even though they made their own
choices. They were treated differently. My mom favored them, and I hated that.
Growing up, Sadie and I were a team and Cait and Leila were a team, but it
shouldn’t have been like that. It shouldn’t have been sisters on different
sides. Even now, there’s this huge wall between me and them and things are
strained.”

“I’m sorry,
that sucks.”

“Yeah, it
does.”

“I get it
though, about the wall. That’s how it’s been between me and my mom since she
and my dad split.”

“How old
were you when they divorced?”

“Seven,” I
answered.

“Wow, so
pretty young. Has your relationship gotten better with your mom at all since
then?” I could swear I heard hopefulness in her voice, but I couldn’t tell her
what she wanted to hear.

“No, not
really. In some ways it has, but I think that’s just because I’ve gotten used
to it. Some relationships just can’t be healed if the other person never
changes.”

“Oh. Is it
okay if I ask why your parents got a divorce?”

“My mom
cheated. She found someone else, but didn’t have the guts to just tell my dad.
I think she wanted him to keep footing her bill as long as she could get away
with it, or until she had the other guy sufficiently wrapped around her finger.
I hated her for a long time for doing that to my dad, and leaving us, and that
messed with me. Having those feelings. I’d always been closer to my dad, but
she was still my mom, even if she hadn’t been acting like it for a while. There
was a time when she was a great mom, but it was like she just started caring too
much about other things, and not enough about actually being a family. So she
found someone with more money who could give her everything she wanted.”

“Money can
make people real assholes,” she muttered. “That might be a little hypocritical
of me, and I’m not saying everyone who has it is an asshole, but sometimes I
wonder if my parents didn’t have so much money, if our family would still have
so many problems.”

“I know what
you mean,” I told her. “My step dad is a real asshole. I used to play the ‘what
if’ game too. Like, what if I had been a better kid, would my mom still have
wanted to leave us? What if my dad had just bought the bigger house that she
wanted? Would she have been happier then? What if my parents had stayed in New
Hampshire instead of moving to Boston after Bas was born? There were so many of
them, but all that did was make me more disappointed and angry, and I was an
angry kid for so long.”

“How did you
deal with it? Did it ever feel like too much?”

“All the
time. It got a little better when Jax and her mom moved in a couple years
later. Patty was so nice, and she always invited me and Bas to do things with
her and Jax. She was the kind of mom that every kid should have, but sometimes
even that would make me angry. I would think it was just so unfair that my mom
couldn’t be like that, and that Jax didn’t have a dad. I would tell myself that
at least I still got to see my mom some weekends and on the nights my dad had
to work at the hospital, or would get called in, but mostly I just dreaded
having to see her or go to her new husband’s house. I acted out a lot, in
school and at home. It wasn’t until a high school band visited my junior high
that everything changed. I saw that drummer just wailing on his kit and I went
home that day and basically threw a fit until my mom caved and got me a drum
set.

“The first
time I held a pair of sticks in my hand I knew they belonged there, and then
when I actually started beating on the drums with them, it was perfect. Of
course I was terrible and had no rhythm, and it just sounded like chaos, but it
was like my angry soul found peace and purpose. My life had felt out of control
up to that point. Nothing I did could make the anger and bitterness go away,
but with the drums, I could let it all out. From that moment on, every time I
picked up my sticks I was in my own world. I was in control. In that place,
nothing could touch me, nothing could hurt me. I was free. It’s still like that
every time I play. Freedom. That’s what my music gives me.”

I felt her
eyes searching me, trying to really see me. Something made me think that she
did. She just sucked in a heavy breath and said, “I get it. I think I felt that
when I was messing around on your drums before. It was incredible, and just
like you said, nothing could touch me in that moment.”

I knew she
did get it. She got me. Right now she was telling me that, and it scared the
shit out of me. She’d spent all of twenty minutes, or however long, in my seat
that day, and I felt like she understood me and was seeing me better than
anyone maybe ever had.

I needed to
steer this conversation in a new direction, and quickly, before I did something
stupid. Like kiss her.

Bringing up
the video game was the only tactic I could think of. It worked perfectly in that
the intense moment passed, but I don’t know that I wanted to kiss her any less
when I saw her eyes grow huge and excited as she made me relive and share every
second of testing out that game. How is any guy supposed to resist a girl who
claps her hands and squeals like a maniac while having some sort of panic
attack/epileptic fit over a video game she’s excited about?

It was
really damn hard.

Mia

I almost fell out of bed
trying to detangle myself from the sheets to get to my ringing phone across the
room. Whoever was calling at five in the morning had better have a damn good
reason. I didn’t have class until ten on Thursdays, so there was no reason for
me to be up before nine.

I saw Sadie’s picture on
the screen, but it didn’t lessen my irritation. I didn’t care if she was my favorite
sister, she still better have a damn good reason for waking me up this early.

“Hello?” I croaked, not
bothering to mask the sleep still heavy in my voice. I wanted her to know she’d
disturbed my precious beauty rest.

“Two questions for you,
how fast can you pack a bag and would it kill you to miss your classes the rest
of this week and on Monday, and maybe Tuesday?”

That woke me up. If
Sadie was asking me to pack a bag, it meant . . .

“Are you inviting me to
Australia with you guys?” I’d been insanely jealous when I heard that Sadie was
going down under for the weekend. The guys had shows and Sadie and Jax weren’t
about to be left home this time. They’d been talking about it at lunch last
week and Chris had also mentioned that he was looking forward to it during our
adventures in babysitting, which both babies had survived, unscathed.

“Yes, if you can manage
it with your classes.”

“Screw classes, I’ll
make it work.” I could email my instructors for the reading and any assignments
and get the notes from someone in class. I’d already had to do that the few
times I’d missed classes.

“Okay, awesome. I feel
bad that I didn’t invite you sooner, I just didn’t think with school . . . well
it was actually Chris’ idea. He suggested you could help Jax with Abel to make
it easier on her and Ky. They’ll pay for all of your expenses if you will.”

“Hell yeah. I don’t mind
watching him, especially not if I’m getting a free trip to Australia out of
it.” And more chances to spend time with Chris. This was his idea. That had me
smiling even more, even if he had only suggested me as a babysitter.

“Then pack your
swimsuit. Plane leaves in three hours. We’ll pick you up at six-thirty.”

I hung up with her and
immediately dug my luggage out of my closet and started throwing stuff in. It
had to be spring or almost summer time there right now, so I filled my bag with
shorts and dresses and every cute, flirty outfit I had. I tossed in a bunch of
sandals.

I was going to
Australia! With a famous rock band! I squealed a little and started jumping up
and down. The excitement was a little too much. I couldn’t even think clearly
enough to make a list of what else I needed to pack.

I grabbed my cell and
pulled up Kris’ number and hit call.

“What the fuck Mia? It’s
not even five-damn-thirty in the morning. I don’t have to be up for another two
hours.”

“I’m going to
Australia!” I yelled into the phone.

“Good for you, and this
couldn’t wait until this afternoon?”

“No, I mean like I’m
going right now, well not right now, but in a couple hours. I’ll be on a plane
this afternoon, and guess who I’m going with?”

“I don’t know, Channing
Tatum,” he said sarcastically. “It better be someone good to have you this
fucking excited this early in the morning.”

“No, even better than
Channing!”

“Must be my drummer
alter ego.”

“Yes!”

“Well shit, how did that
happen? I thought he was dating someone.”

“Well, technically I’m
not going
with
him. It’s the whole band, and my sister and Jax and Abel,
but it was Chris’ idea to invite me. I don’t think his girlfriend is going.
Sadie didn’t say she was going. No, I don’t think she’ll be there.”

 “In that case, I can
practically hear the wedding bells,” he said dryly. “Make sure you send me an
invite, and a post card, and tell Nemo hi for me if you find him.”

“Shut up. You’re an ass.
You should be excited for me.”

“Maybe I would be if you
hadn’t woken me up, or if you were calling to invite me to fucking Australia.”

“Boohoo, you couldn’t go
anyway, you have hockey,” I reminded him.

“Whatever. I’m going
back to bed. Call me when you land safely and have fun.” He hung up before I
could say anything else.

The call had calmed me
down enough that I was able to write out a list of what I still needed to pack.
I didn’t think I had forgotten anything as I checked things off. Shower stuff,
camera, extra memory card and the charger pack, a non school related book, (no
way was I studying on this trip) two bikinis, sunscreen, my passport,
sunglasses and my laptop and charger.

Seeing that I still had some
time left, I decided to run down to the bookstore and grab some snacks for the
plane. Sadie hadn’t said whether we’d be flying commercial or private, and no
way could I survive that long of a flight without quality junk food. Kris would
have smacked me if he had seen me collecting bags of chips and candy and
cookies. He thought that just because he was on a healthy diet for hockey that
it meant I should be too. I worked out with him, that was enough for me. It
just meant that I hid my junk food stockpile when he came over. If he ever saw
it, I knew he would make me run extra.

Thinking about being on
a beach in a bikini had me wanting to thank him though. My body was the most
toned it had ever been thanks to his workouts the past month.
I’d always been small, but now I actually had some muscle
definition.

Just a few
minutes before six-thirty, there was a knock on my door.

“Hey,” Chris
smiled when I opened it and my heart did this annoying little pitter-patter
thing. He had a hat pulled low and sunglasses on, probably to keep from being
recognized. Not that very many people were up at this still awful hour. “You
ready to go?”

“Yeah,” I
let him in and he helped me grab my bags and carry them down to the elevators.
When we stepped outside, I saw the waiting car and a huge grin split my face.
“That’s what we’re riding in?” It had to be the nicest, luxury SUV limo I’d
ever seen. All sleek and black with dark, tinted windows and big enough for at
least ten or fifteen people.

He laughed,
but continued toward the car. “Oh yeah. The label’s all about style.”

“I guess,” I
muttered under my breath and followed after him.

It wasn’t my
first time in a limo, but it was by far the fanciest limo I’d ever been in. Everything
on the interior was just as black and sleek as the exterior. There was one
long, curving bench that wrapped around from the back down one side. On the
opposite side was a bar and flat screen TV. It looked like most of the guys had
helped themselves to the bar.

I took a
seat next to Sadie, and after Chris tossed my bags in the back, he climbed in
and dropped into the empty space on my other side. Even with seven of us and a
baby, there was still plenty of room. It made the drive through Boston to the
airport comfortable and relaxing. If I thought that was nice though, it was
nothing compared to the private jet. Talk about style, and the seats were big,
plush recliners that I knew I would have no trouble falling asleep in.

Almost as
soon as we were in the air, I kicked back and slept through the entire flight
to LA, that’s how comfortable the seats were. After our quick stop, we were
back in the air and passed most of the remaining fifteen hours of flight time
playing games and watching movies, until slowly everyone started turning in to
catch up on some sleep before we landed.

It was just
after five in the morning in Brisbane when we touched down. There was another
fancy limo waiting to drive us to our resort right on the Gold Coast where we
would spend one day before moving on down the coast to Sydney and then
Melbourne. This was my first trip to Australia, so I spent most of the hour
drive with my nose plastered to the window, getting more and more excited the
closer we got to the beach.

Our hotel
was an impressive structure, towering seventy-seven stories high, right on the
beach. The views provided by the floor to ceiling windows in the suite I was
sharing with Ace and Sadie, were spectacular and I decided right then that I
never wanted to leave Australia. I couldn’t imagine that just three full days
here would be even close to enough time.

“So what’s
first?” I asked Sadie once we had settled into our room. As sleepy as I was,
more than anything, I just wanted to get out there and start exploring.

“We’re going
to meet everyone downstairs and find somewhere to grab breakfast and we’ll go
from there. I know Jax has some ideas from when she and Ky were here on their
honeymoon, so we’ll make a plan while we eat.”

I changed
out of my flight clothes, opting for a pair of linen capris, a lacy tank and a
soft, lightweight sweater that would be perfect to guard against the ocean
breeze. Thankfully my hair had survived the flight without going too flat, so
after a quick brushing and shaking out, I was ready.

We met
everyone down in the lobby and then found a popular café right off the beach
that was just opening up. While we ate, we came up with a plan for the rest of
the day.

“The guys
have to be back in Brisbane by five thirty, so that gives us roughly eight
hours to sight see or shop before the car will be here to drive us back into the
city. I was thinking that once the car drops them off at the venue, us girls
can grab dinner before the concert,” Jax suggested.

We nodded
our approval.

“So then, we
just have to figure out how much we can fit into today before then. I was
thinking they would really like the Treetop place,” Jax turned to Ky, who was
preoccupied with Abel, but looked up when he realized she was waiting for his
opinion. He agreed that they’d had a lot of fun doing it on their honeymoon,
and then explained that it was a high ropes course through the rainforest at
Mount Tamborine. It sounded like fun to me, and everyone else agreed
enthusiastically, except for Chris. He didn’t object, but he seemed less
excited than everyone else.

“After that,
we should have a little time left to come back here and everyone can do their
own thing, if anyone wants to try surfing, or do any shopping or just lie on
the beach.” Jax looked at the rest of us for our approval, and everyone nodded.
We had our game plan, and I for one was freakin’ excited.

Ky called
for another car to take us inland to Mount Tamborine. It was lush and
beautiful, but so different from the rainforest back in Washington. The
different courses spanned through nine acres of the forest. I was bouncing on
my toes animatedly when we were out of the car and looking up at the wires and
ropes running above our heads.

As we were
harnessed up, we listened to the instructors describe the challenges we would
be guided through, from ladder climbing, to hanging from trees, traversing wire
and ropes courses, as well as suspended bridges and whizzing through the trees
on ziplines that they called flying foxes. There were over a hundred different
tree-top challenges for all levels and the courses were go at your own pace,
but I could see why Ky said we shouldn’t wait for later in the day to do this.
The guy helping me into my harness said that it would take about three hours if
we wanted to complete all six courses.

I was
totally up for taking on that challenge and the rest of the group seemed to
have a ‘bring it on’ attitude as well. Except for Chris again. He was oddly
quiet while everyone else chattered excitedly.

Once we were
making our first climb up into the trees, it didn’t take long to see why. They
lined us up to go through the course one at a time. Ky was taking the lead
since he’d been through before and I was bringing up the rear, with Jaxyn on
the ground, baby Able strapped to her back and her camera dangling from her
neck so that she could walk along below us and take pictures. Chris was
directly in front of me and I watched the way his hands tightly clenched the
rungs as he made his slow ascension.

The higher
we moved, the slower he was going, and when he finally reached the top of the
platform, he maintained a very firm hold on the trunk. When I climbed up next
to him, I laughed.

“You’re
afraid of heights?” I asked disbelievingly.

“I’m not
afraid of heights,” he shot back. “I’m just not the biggest fan of them, and
this is really fucking high.”

“Whatever,
you’re afraid of heights.”

“Watch it,
or I’ll throw you over the side and see how you like heights then.”

“You’d have
to quit hugging that tree first,” I smirked, earning myself a glare from him.
The guy wearing a blue shirt, marking him as one of the safety guides, was
sending everyone out onto the first challenge, one by one. Ky had already made
it across the first one, which consisted of several short log type bridges
suspended by ropes that swung a little with each step you took. He was onto the
next, a simple double tightrope. That one had a thick cable for your feet and a
second at head level for your hands to hang onto.