Page 56 of Dahlias, Sapphires, and Cool Autumn Dusk
“You haven’t so far,” Julian said as he rose. “He wants answers, and we have a right to ask for them. Enough already.” He pounded on his chest. “I think I already know what happened, and I have for years, based on things I heard.”
I wondered if he faked it, but something about his expression said he might know more than the rest of us, and I could tell Stephen saw it.
Jeremy gasped. “Really?”
Should I leave?I didn’t belong here if they intended to discuss a personal family matter. Still, Dina had opened her journals to me, and the guys had said they loved me. My heart beat in my throat, and I clenched my fists, but I stayed like I had a right to be there.Even if I probably should’ve run while I could.
Julian continued. “They want the money, right? Mom’s family. I figured it had something to do with them. Did they take the kids to try to force the issue?”
Stephen sank into a seat, his gaze distant, as if he peered into the past. “I wish it was about money. We would’ve paid them any amount they asked. No, I think it was payback for a slight. If Kit’s instincts are right, that’s what it was. But I don’t even know what the slight is and I didn’t see any of it, at the time.”
Dina leaned against the wall, her arms crossed. “Some of it was about money, Stephen. Don’t fool yourself. If you were poor and unimportant, they wouldn’t have bothered.”
My chin jerked in surprise, but then again, Dina usually cut to the chase.
Phoenix focused on the important part, asking, “What resentment?Whotook me?”
Jeremy hugged Phoenix and Barrett rose, saying, “Get to it.”
Stephen shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know. Truly. If I did, they would be dead. We only know your mother ran for her life,and she arrived at our door. We didn’t give her back, we married her. We took her away. They saw it as one more way we tried to get over them, to pretend they didn’t matter. They don’t like it, and they didn’t at the time. To this day, some men down there think we should give her back to them, as if she were property.”
Her safety immediately pressed itself to the forefront of my concern, so I asked, “Then why would you take her back there for treatment or whatever?”
It was the first time I said anything, and I panicked and looked at my fists. Jeremy laughed, adding, “What she said.”
“Not everyone down there is evil, and we can’t just paint them all with one broad brush. We have very close friends there, ones who also live the Life. Some are very good doctors, and one of them is working with your mom. You have friends there, too, boys. We took you there when you were young. You know this. We avoid your mom’s family and their people ever since you were kidnapped, Phoenix. We might not have proof, but we knew. It took us longer than Granny to figure it out, but we caught up eventually.”
Barrett shook his head. “I think we’ve all had enough fun.I don’t knowis not the answer any of us wanted.”
“It’s the only one I can give you.” Stephen sank deeper into his chair, rubbing his face. “I know we’re shitty parents. We had good ones, so I can tell the difference. I’m sorry about that, since it feels too late to fix it now.”
Silence descended on the room, and I glanced around at each of the brothers. None of them seemed to know what to say, either.
He wasn’t finished, though. “And I am sorry, Alatheia, for the role I played in you getting sent away from the Hamptons. It was my fault, and I’m sorry.”
I cleared my throat. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not.” Jeremy shook his head. “It really wasn’t.”
Finally, Dina cleared her throat. “I would be happy to continue my story, if you like. Doesn’t anyone want to hear how I couldn’t have a baby until I turned thirty-eight?”
“No,” Every male voice in the room said at once.
I smirked, sharing a secret grin with Dina.At least they all agree on that.
14
“We are too young to be this constantly strung out,” Jeremy called over his shoulder as he headed into his bedroom to take a shower. None of us got much sleep the night before, and I wasn’t sure whether to blame myself or Murial.
I drooped onto the couch and Phoenix sank down on the floor in front of me, crossing his legs. His hands shook, and it made me instantly sympathetic.
Acting on instinct, I rubbed his shoulders gently and he sighed, relaxing back into my touch. Julian got up and said, “I’m going to Barrett’s room and if I’m honest, I might just pass out for the night. I won’t even fight you for the bed tonight.”
Barrett shook his head. “I’m turning in, too. You guys okay?”
“Yes,” I said, focusing my thumbs on a knotted bit of muscle near his spine.
“You can’t know how good that feels,” he said, but he still twitched slightly. I decided to ignore it. Usually in the summer, he took something before he went to bed, and whatever it was would help with the shaking.
