Kyler grimaced. “It wasn’t a big deal, really,Rose…”
But it was. Yes, Dad would have needed to reduce the staff while we hadn’t been in regular residence. Maybe a pastry chef hadn’t been necessary. But the house still needed at least some security, and someone to keep the gardens from overgrowing. And he’d justhappenedto lay off the parents of the boys he’d insisted I stay awayfrom?
“Damon’s mom?” I asked, my heart sinking. She’d been on the cleaning staff. “Gabriel’sdad?” No. The Lordes had worked for the Hallowells for generations, all the way back to when our garage had been a stable instead. The Mr. Lorde I’d known had overseen everything to do with Dad’s prized cars. There was noway—
Jin had lowered his head. Seth leaned forward with his elbows on the table. “It was a long time ago. We’ve all—we’ve all moved pastit.”
That hint of hesitation suggested maybe the “all” wasn’t totally accurate. I swiped my hand over my mouth, feeling abruptly queasy. “I had no idea. I really didn’t. If I had, I’d have talked to him, I’d have done anything Icould…”
I never would have thought my father was capable of that kind of cruelty, punishing five members of his staff just because their kids had hung out with me a little more than he was comfortablewith.
Although—had it been Dad at all or had Celestine convinced him somehow? Or snuck it by him and then when he’d found out it’d been too late to rehire them? I wasn’t sure what possibility was mostplausible.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Kyler said quickly. “I mean, we were all only kids, you included. And Seth’s right. It’s fine now. There’snothing…”
He trailed off, his focus shifting to something behind me. Orsomeone.
I turned in my seat to see a guy who was familiar and yet not sauntering over to us from the back of the hardwarestore.
Damon Scarsi had always been fond of leather. The jacket he had on now was more roughed-up than the hand-me-down he’d worn at thirteen, but he filled this one out better with that muscular body, so I guessed it was a fair trade-off. The sweep of his jagged dark brown hair cast a shadow over his even darker blue eyes. A few days’ worth of scruff outlined his chiseledjaw.
There was no mistaking the guy in front of me for a kidnow.
“Ooh la la,” Phil said, producing a fan out of thin air to flap at her bosom. “Now this trip was definitely worthwhile. My dear Rose, you haveexcellenttaste infriends.”
Maybe—except Damon didn’t look all that friendly right now. The devil-may-care stride was all him… but the slant of his mouth, half scowl and half sneer, wasn’t the boy I’d known atall.
He came to a halt at the edge of the patio. I pushed myself to my feet, feeling too awkward just sitting there. “Damon,” Isaid.
He looked me up and down. The glance sent a shiver through my body that wasn’t entirely pleasant. “So you really came back. Isn’t thatnice.”
His stance was nonchalant, but there was heat under that cool tone. Was he…angrythat I washere?
I scrambled for the right thing to say. “I’m sorry. About your mother—her job—I only just foundout—”
He cut me off with a scoffing sound. “Words arecheap.”
Philomena cleared her throat. “As a being constructed entirely of words, I muststrenuouslyobject.”
The question fell from my mouth before I knew I was going to ask it. “What do you want me todo?”
For a second, Damon looked startled. Then his expression shuttered again. “I don’t know, Rose. Why don’t you give it some thought and get back to me? Or you can decide it’s good enough that you saw me, and we never need to have happy times like this little get-togetheragain.”
He spun on his heel with a jerk of his head that seemed to briefly acknowledge the other guys. Then he stalked back the way he’d come. I watched him go, my chest a tangle ofemotions.
Phil sniffed. “I must say, as enjoyable as that one is to look upon, I really don’t care for his opinions. Just ignore him,Rose.”
“Oh, you’d love speculating about what you might find under that grouchy exterior if he hadn’t made the comment about words,” I said in my head, through the whirl of my thoughts. My hands clenched at my sides. “And I think maybe he’sright.”
Dad—or Celestine—had taken away five livelihoods because of me. I had to find some way to make it at least a little right. That might be the most I could give, but it was the least my boysdeserved.
Chapter Five
Rose
You only wanted to see them again the once, isn’t that what you said?” Philomena teased as I pulled on my jacket in the front hall. We’d gotten some April showers overnight, and the air outside was still coolly damp. “Just to see how they’refaring?”
“Just to make sure they were doingwell,” I corrected her. “And they’re not, not completely. I owe them more than they got, that’s forsure.”