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Diamond
I’ve never been afraid of making phone calls.
While most kids my age are embarrassed to make dentist appointments by themselves, it never occurred to me to pawn it off on my dads. I didn’t understand how one tiny conversation could possibly make someone this nervous.
Until I had to quit my job in a ten-second voicemail…
Sitting on my front porch’s squeaky swing with Lexie, I fidget with my phone, trying to drum up the perfect resignation speech. I’ve been getting Mr. Richards’s voicemail all morning, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave a message.
Lexie hasn’t left my side since we stepped foot inside my house last night. She was nervous—how could she not be in a new environment—but I can tell by the way she clings to me for dear life that she trusts me to protect her.
She knows I’d never do anything to hurt her.
I can’t help thinking that if I pull the plug on this job, I’ll be betraying that trust.
Abandoning her.
As if she can feel my inner conflict, Lexie rests her chin on my shoulder and gives my cheek a big, wet lick. A small laugh slips from my lips, and I wrap my arm around her for a long side hug.
She braces her chin on my thigh as soon as I let go, and I scratch her behind her ears, my throat painfully tight.
“God, I can’t,” I whisper. “I can’t leave you.”
You’d think she understood me by how fast she angles her head to look at me, her adorable brown eyes pulling at my heartstrings.
If last night is anything to go by, Finn can’t be trusted to take care of his dog, and I can’t imagine myself dropping Lexie back at the house and returning to my life as though nothing ever happened.
My phone lights up with an incoming call.
From Mr. Richards.
I stare at my screen long and hard, petting Lexie with one hand and gripping my phone until my joints ache with the other.
It feels like a test.
One I wish I didn’t have to pass.
But my mind is made up.
So, I let it ring.
* * *
“You’re making a mistake.” My brother tsks as he races up Finn’s driveway, his accusing voice plaguing me with doubt. He’s spent the entire drive here telling me how wrong I am for coming back.
That I should run while I still have the chance.
He also hasn’t deigned to answer one of my questions about his suspicious altercation with Finn’s brother last night. All he said was that Brody is a pro at stirring shit, and none of it was true. I know better than to just take his word for it, but I figured I’d stay out of this one.
“Why would you even want to come back here anyw—” Jesse’s voice wanders off when we reach the top of the driveway.
Confused, I glance at my brother, then in the direction of the mansion to see what he’s looking at.
I connect the dots immediately.
The lot is empty, except for Theo’s red car, and the front lawn that was a sea of trash just hours ago is now perfectly clean. Jesse and I scan the property for any sign of the raging party that took place in this very spot but come up empty.
“What the…” Jesse speaks my mind.
