Page 16 of Starry Skies, Stolen Kisses, and My Best Friend's Brother

A couple of hours later, a knock sounds on the door once again.Both Seth and I turn.My dad stands there with his ever-present scowl.

Seth leaps up.“Keith, thanks for coming by.I wanted to go over the leases with you.”

He nods but doesn’t say anything, which is typical for him.Seth grabs a stack of papers off the counter, and Dad sits next to me.“Whatcha doing?”

“Just getting all the social media stuff up and running.”There’s no way he’d understand the ins and outs of it.He doesn’t even have Facebook.

Seth takes the chair next to him.“Before we get to these, are you sure I can’t convince you to let me do a ninety-nine-year lease on those additional twenty houses?”

Dad shakes his head.

“For what?”I ask.

“Residences.Once people are here, they might decide to make it more of a long-term thing, a second home.I think it’s key to growing our business.”

“You’ll just have to find another key.I’m not interested.”Dad’s face tightens, and he purses his lips.This is the perfect plan since they’ll already be using a few of the buildings for the spa, gym, and restaurant.Not to mention the employees’ housing.

“Why not, Dad?It’s not like you’re really doing anything with them anyway, and I bet Seth would pay you a pretty penny.”

I’ve tried for years to convince my dad to do more with the place, but he’s always said he doesn’t need more work, and there was no demand.He has no excuse now.Besides, I have my spot picked out for my dream house one day.

“Now, don’t you two be ganging up on me.I’m not interested.End of story.”

Seth gives a small nod and pulls out the papers he has for the buildings Dad was willing to lease him.It takes about an hour for Seth to go over everything, and even then, Dad seems hesitant, but he signs them anyway.

At five-thirty, we’ve finished the Instagram and Pinterest setup.TikTok will be a big one tomorrow, and Facebook will get done on Monday.Then we have to start preparing for the conference in Vegas, where we’ll lay out the whole program.

I feel the tension between me and Seth, and I’m positive he does as well, but for some reason, we both are ignoring it.I wonder how long it’ll take before nefarious things happen.

Hopefully, sooner rather than later.

FIVE

Seth

A knock sounds on the door frame, and I look up from my computer.Deka perks her head up as well, and before I know it, she’s off and running with Bisbee.

Mom watches the dogs go with a smile.“Deka likes it here.”

“She does.The only time I see her this happy is when my friends and I all get together, and she plays with the other dogs.”

Mom settles into the chair Mae usually sits in and taps her fingers on the desk.“How about you?It’s been a long time since you’ve been home.How are you feeling?”

“It’s not as claustrophobic as it used to be.Though it hasn’t even been two weeks yet.”I’m actually surprised I don’t feel like fleeing.I’m not ready to settle in, but I’m more comfortable than I thought I’d be.

Mom gives a small smile.I can tell her this stuff.Dad doesn’t understand why I left or why I won’t commit to more than six months.He has fond memories of our destitute days.I don’t.

“That doesn’t have anything to do with a pretty young thing named Mae, does it?”Mom winks at me.

I swallow.I’m not ready to tell her the truth, but she’s not blind.“Mae’s too young for me.”

“That’s nonsense.She’s the same age as Abi but years more mature.She had a rough time with her mom leaving, and Keith isn’t exactly the nurturing type.She’s spent more time over here than she has at home.”Mom pauses for a second, and her brows furrow.Mae told me all about what happened to her when her mom left.At one point I hired a private investigator to try to find her.I followed the trail to New York City where she bought a plane ticket to Vietnam, and from there, she disappeared.She certainly doesn’t want to be found.

“One thing I don’t understand,” she continues.“How did you two get so comfortable with one another?I mean, I see the way you look at each other, but I see your closeness too.”

“She was always around when Abi and I would Facetime.She needed some help one night when she was around sixteen, and she texted me herself.She continued to call me when she needed advice, which was at least once a week.”I chuckled because I knew nothing about sixteen-year-old girls, but whatever I said obviously helped her.“We became friends pretty fast once she hit college.I could tell her things I couldn’t tell Abi, and I think she felt the same.In the last three years, I don’t think there’s been a day we haven’t talked in some way.”

Mom nods and smiles like she’s in on some secret.I wish I could tell her about my fears of ruining our friendship, but I’m not ready to talk about that yet.It’s still too new.

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