Page 116 of Somebody's Watching Me
“Mom told me you were staying out there when she called last week,” Charlie admitted as they turned to take one of the paths along the side of the house. “Everyone knows yo—”
Above them, from somewhere on the side porch, a woman screamed. “Jesus Christ on a cracker!” A light clicked on, and Laura Jean placed a hand over her heart. “You guys scared the crap out of me. What the hell are you doing out there?”
“Sorry, we didn’t mean to startle you.” Ben smiled up at her, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. “I just needed Charlie.”
Charlie’s mouth fell open as he stared at his brother. Ben Fairweather never apologized. Ever. It was like a rule of his or something.
“Did you see the news about the storm?” Laura Jean came closer to lean against a column. “Should we be worried?”
“I haven’t really looked.” Ben’s smile grew, creeping Charlie out further. “I’ll check it out when I get to the house.”
“Devon is all in a tizzy.” She raised the glass mason jar in her hand, giving it a shake so the ice cubes clinkedtogether. “He’s making rounds of whiskey lemonades because he thinks this is the last calm night we’re going to have for a while.”
In the soft glow of the porch lanterns, Laura Jean came off as enchanting. Being beautiful was easy, but there was just something about her that drew people in, and Charlie would readily admit he was no exception.
Apparently, neither was his brother. Shoving his hands in his pockets, Ben rocked on the balls of his feet, looking like a damn smitten fool.
Charlie thought about punching him.
“Well, have fun,” Ben said, turning to leave. “Goodnight.”
“Would you like to join us?” She rushed forward, almost falling off the edge of the porch, and had to use a column to catch herself. Her wavy blonde hair glowed under the porch light, making her look like an angel hovering above. “I mean you too, Charlie. Both of you. I can get Rebecca, and I’m sure the kids want to sleep in their own rooms. We can have a party! Like a pre-hurricane party.”
Charlie returned her smile. “Thanks, Laura Jean, but I’ve got to get going, and I’m sure Ben has important asshole stuff to do.”
“I’ll come in for a second,” Ben said behind him. “Just let me see Charlie off.”
“You’re going to do what?!”
Charlie hadn’t meant to shout in front of Laura Jean, but first, there was the apology, and now this—sure, I’ll come in for a casual drink—version of Ben. It was about the most messed up thing he’d ever seen. His brother didn’t do casual. Or drink whiskey lemonades out of glass mason jars. Or smile… wait… was that a fucking dimple?
“I’ll be back,” Ben said to Laura Jean and gave Charlie a shove. “This won’t take long.”
Needing to get home, but also needing answers, Charlie allowed himself to be led to the front of the house before turning on Ben. “What is going on?”
“Go home, Charlie.”
“That’s Albie’s fucking wife.” He pointed toward Haven. “Albie, Ben. You can’t look at her like that.”
Wiping a hand down his face, Ben muttered to himself. “I don’t have time for this.”
“Oh, but you have time to go in that house and have a drink while your wife sits at home alone? You can have a drink with Miranda, you know.” Charlie wasn’t about to miss this rare chance to take a cheap shot. “Or is she still not drinking even though the cancer is gone?”
Grabbing him by the shirt, Ben hauled him off the front path, through Ty’s rainbow garden, and straight back into a tree. Holding him there, his brother gave him a firm shake. “What I do is not your business.”
“And what I do isn’t yours.”
“Everything you do is my business,” Ben snarled like the monster Charlie knew him to be. “There is not a single caveat of your life that is not wholly mine to control.”
Charlie shoved at the hold, breaking loose. “I’ll do what I want, you son of a bitch.”
“And bring us all down in the process?” Ben shoved him back, much like they did as children. “One wrong move, Charlie. One wrong fucking move, and we lose it all. Dad wanted to screw us over, and he’s doing it beyond the grave so spectacularly, I’m almost impressed.”
“This can’t all be on me.”
“It’s on both of us, so go home. Make Viv happy. That’s all I’m asking.”
As if dismissing him, Ben turned and headed to the house.
