Maybe it’s Axel.
Maybe he teleported across the house.
Maybe it’s a murderer.
Please let it be a murderer.
Please let it be literally anyone other than Brian.
Frozen, pan clutched to my chest, I stare across the dark room.
A shape takes form. Then another. And then I hear a feminine giggle.
Oh dear.
There’s another giggle, followed by a deeper voice, trying to whisper, “Shh, you don’t want to wake up my dad.”
I pull the pan in closer to my body, wondering if I could just duck down behind the counter and somehow go unnoticed.
But I’m too slow, stuck in my anxious terror.
“Oh, um,” the male voice comes out louder this time.
The girl whispers something and my last hope of avoidance disappears when they keep walking closer, not stopping until they reach the other side of the island.
There wasn’t really a question of the guy’s identity, but considering I recognize him from his profile picture, and from the fact that he has Axel’s bright blue eyes, I’m dead certain this is Brian. Axel’s son.
Brian’s around six feet tall. His hair looks like it was slicked back at one point. And he has an arm slung around the shoulders of the girl standing next to him.
The girl I obviously don’t recognize, but she’s pretty, with short blonde hair, friendly eyes, and a grin that says she’s maybe a little drunk.
“You look way too young to be his mom,” she says with a sway.
My mouth drops open the same moment that Brian lets out a loud laugh.
“Shit, Cat!” he continues to laugh, “That’s not my mom!”
“Oh,” the girl, Cat, looks a little sheepish. “Sorry. But then who is she?”
Brian wipes at the corner of his eyes before turning his smile on me. “I think she’s my dad’s secret girlfriend.”
Chapter57
Maddie
We all stareat each other – both of them staring at me, my eyes darting back and forth between theirs – no one saying anything else for a long torturous minute.
Then Brian leans forward, over the island, and reaches his hand out.
“I’m Brian, Axel’s son.”
Still feeling an almost overwhelming amount of anxiousness, I shuffle towards my side of the island, only letting go of the pan with one hand so I can take his offered one.
“Maddie,” I murmur my name.
Brian smiles, “Hi, Maddie.”
The girl sticks her hand out next, “I’m Cat.”