I flinched.  Couldn’t help it.  I supported every bit of a woman’s choice but the thought of Lake never existing rocked me to my core.

“Anyway, I’m sure you can imagine it,” she murmured, setting her empty champagne flute on the stair below and gazing into it.  “She was unemployed, on drugs.  A complete mess if there wasn’t a man in her life or at least her bed that week.  It’s weird – I feel like I can’t recall a single image of her eating.”  She laughed but I was sure she found nothing funny.  “It was like – bottle or needle, bottle or needle.  That was what she subsisted on.  I thought maybe that was the secret to not being hungry so I was like, four years old, for God’s sake, when I tried drinking what I’m pretty sure was whisky.  Spit it all out.  She smacked me right across the face for wasting her shit.”

My insides burned hot.  I hated this Trish with everything inside me but I continued bottling it all up so Lake could have the peace with which to keep talking.  When she looked up at me, I leaned in and pressed my lips to her forehead.  She closed her eyes.

“She asked me to send her money to get away from her new husband.”

When I pulled back, she was looking into my eyes with shame.  I figured it out before she said it and suddenly, it made so much sense I wondered why I never thought of it on my own.  It was for Trish that Lake used to steal from us.

“Your mom gave me a credit card to use for emergencies.  You had one, too.”

“Yeah.”

“Except you actually only used yours for emergencies, which you basically never had,” she smirked, shaking her head at herself.  “Even before Trish started messaging me, I took that thing and got myself mani-pedis with Isabel so many times.  I was such a little asshole.  But your mom was like, ‘Who says nice nails aren’t an emergency?’”

I laughed.  “That sounds about right.”

“Anyway.”  The slit in Lake’s dress fell wide open as she hugged her knees to her chest.  “Trish said she needed money, so I started buying things with the card that Theo was gonna buy anyway.  He’d just give me the cash for it and your mom would just think I was buying him a lot of presents.  And that seemed to work.  She thought we were cute.  But then I went too far and she finally had a talk with me.  And even though I knew I was always pushing her to her limits, the second she got mad at me for anything, I turned into this… depressed, kicked puppy.”  Lake snorted at herself.  “I said to myself after that – no.  Never again with the credit card.  I can’t handle when Caroline’s mad at me so I’m going to find another way.  I felt like I had to.  Trish always said she couldn’t wait for the day that she’d see my graduation photos but at some point, she started talking crazy, like she was afraid she wouldn’t make it to see that day.”

“Because of her husband?”

“Dean.  He was a vet and she said he had really bad PTSD.  She sent me this article from this assault charge he got.  They lived in this trailer park and he was the manager of it and the article said he…” she trailed off and suddenly looked with guilt at me.  “Sent someone to the hospital with a baseball bat.  But it was different from you.  That guy ended up brain-dead.”

Christ.

“Am I scaring you yet?” she asked, her voice small.

“No.”  I gave her some sort of look to lighten the mood.  “You don’t scare me.”

“You’re not mad that I took so much shit from you and your mom and sold it to give to my horrible family?”

“That wasn’t your family.  We were your family.”

“Exactly,” she murmured, shaking her head.  “So why did I do it? I don’t know why I ever let her talk to me.  I should’ve known she was poison.  Real…. hateful… bloodsucking poison.”

I took one look at Lake’s fast-falling expression and pulled her tight.  “Come here.”  I buried a kiss in her hair.  “That was a complicated situation.  You were young and she was blood.  Anyone would’ve felt at least some obligation.”

“She was horrible though.  She was nice at first but then she got so mean and I still let her into my life.  Why was I such a stupid teenager?”

“Because that’s redundant.  Every teenager is stupid.”

“You never were.”  Lake’s lips grazed mine as she lifted her head at me.  “You were always so smart and even and logical.  You were mature beyond your years because I was crazy and your mom was crazy and you had to be.  You were perfect for me but it was a punishment to you.”

I frowned at her.  “Never once.”  I tilted my head to meet her roving gaze so filled with shame.  “Lake.  You were never anything but a blessing to me.  Even when you were away because it made me build things I couldn’t have if you were here.  Maybe I needed you to be gone for a little bit.  So I wasn’t distracted.”  I laughed when she did, like it was some ridiculous suggestion.  But I meant it.  “And now that I have you again, I know to hold on tighter than ever before.  I have you back.  I have my mom back.  I have my career.  It’s going good, Lake,” I whispered with a grin.  “You’re not a punishment.  You’re worth everything.”

She melted into me, her words a sigh in my neck.  “I always will be?”

“You know that.”

It was at that point that Oz and Isabel found us and demanded we return to the party.  They were hammered and Logan was nowhere in sight, which meant that he was neglected as usual.  I wanted to stay where we were but Lake said we couldn’t leave poor Logan alone for much longer, so we went to find him and have a toast the five of us.  We downed our shots and Lake immediately suggested another round.  I wondered if she was using the alcohol as a bailout but I didn’t press the matter.  It was her birthday.  So we did a second toast and then a third and a fourth and by now, Oz and I were looking at our own Scotch like it was bottled torture.

“Partied hard after you left me, didn’t you, Callum?” Ana’s question perked Lake’s eyebrows but I knew she had too much pride to show more curiosity than that.  I kept my expression unreadable for all.

“We had a good time.”

“I hope you haven’t exhausted yourself too much to give me some good stuff.  Of course, I’m used to you refusing me the good stuff these days.”  Her voice dripped with the sexual context only we knew.  Oz frowned at her, Lake at me.  Ana just smiled innocently and cocked her head.  “Quick talk with you, Mr. Pike? Itinerary’s back there.”

I followed her to the back of the jet, containing my anger.  “Thought you were big on professionalism.”

“And I thought this was a business trip.  What is she doing here?”

“It’s her birthday.  I’ll be spending time with her when work is over.”

“I don’t need her causing distraction.”

“As of now, that’s entirely your doing.”

Ana simpered.  “Well, let’s hope it stays that way because while your company is rising fast, it’s by no means top dog and you won’t settle for anything but the best.  At least the Callum I know wouldn’t.  Then again, he also wouldn’t bring his fuck buddy to a business trip and make me consider scrapping his piece and writing about his competitors.”  She pushed the itinerary in my hands.  “Think about what you’re sacrificing here.  Look at her and ask yourself if it’s worth it.  Because girls like that? With nothing else to focus on? Their drama never stops.”  Ana stretched her lips into a grin and straightened my tie before returning to the front of the jet.  “And considering the completely generic birthday gift you plan to give her, it doesn’t seem like you’re all that passionate for the girl in the first place.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Lake

There was something about Ana.

She’d seemed simply flirty the last time I saw her at The Pike but the way she spoke to Callum on the jet confirmed that it was something well beyond that.  I knew it but I kept my mouth shut because we were all in the same space and I didn’t want to give her the pleasure of looking so much as curious let alone threatened.  I just smiled through the tense air, which I knew I didn’t imagine because Oz kept shooting me looks like is something weird? What the hell is going on? I could only shrug and pretend I was unfazed.  All I knew was Ana looked smug, Callum looked irritated and neither of them were saying a thing.