“That would be lovely, thank you.”
She left and it was just me and Harper. I wasn’t very good with meeting new people, but she leaned over and motioned me closer, even though we were the only two people in the room.
“Do you wanna hear a secret?” she whispered rather loudly after she looked around to make sure we were absolutely alone.
“I’d love to hear a secret,” I whispered back, cupping my hand over her ear. She giggled and did the same.
“Hunter likes you.” Aw. She was adorable.
“He does?” I said, playing along.
“A lot. A lot.”
“Like Eric loves Ariel?” There was no doubt this was a Disney girl. There was more than one Little Mermaid sticker on her chair.
“Uh huh.”
“Whoa.”
I wondered how long I could wait before I could somehow escape and find out what Hunter was up to.
Hope came back with a tray of sweating glasses, complete with sliced lemons perched on the side.
“Momma, Taylor likes The Little Mermaid,” Harper said as her mother handed her a glass and a napkin.
“She does? Well, imagine that.” Hope gave me a wink as she handed me a glass. I took a sip so I wouldn’t laugh. Delicious. Damn, this woman should have her own lifestyle show. I fiddled with my napkin and set my glass down.
“Um, where’s your bathroom?”
“Oh, of course. It’s down the hall on the left. There’s a sign on the door that says powder room.”
“Thanks,” I said, escaping from the room as Harper dropped her glass and brown liquid pooled everywhere.
“Oh, Harper,” Hope said with a sigh.
I found the powder room, but kept going. Crap, this house was big. I tiptoed down the hall, and ducked into what turned out to be a closet when I heard voices above. I heard Darah giggle. Mase must be giving her a tour of the house or something. I emerged from my hiding place and turned on my hearing, walking slowly and quietly. I paused at each door, listening to see if anyone was inside. Finally, I got to the last door on the right. This had to be it. I paused outside. Bingo.
“I just don’t think it’s a good idea,” said a voice that must belong to Joe.
“I figured you wouldn’t. But it’s not really up to you, is it?”
“Hunter, I’ve known you your whole life. It’s time for you to grow up and take responsibility for your life. For this.”
“I. Don’t. Want. It.”
I heard a chair scrape back. Shit. I did the most awkward tip-toe run back to the powder room, and shut the door, breathing heavily. I turned the water on, but stayed by the door, waiting to hear Hunter’s footsteps. They didn’t come, and I had to go back into the den or else Hope would think I’d fallen in. I washed my hands just for the heck of it and left the powder room, which was ironically decorated in powder blue.
My mind was reeling with what I’d heard from Hunter and Joe. What wasn’t a good idea? What didn’t Hunter want?
“See? I told you she’d come back,” Hope said when I walked back in the room.
“Where did you think I was going?” I couldn’t wait to hear the answer.
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe later you can show Taylor the apples?”
“Do you wanna see my apple trees?”
“Absolutely.”
I caught Hope giving me a weird look. I must have had an unnatural expression on my face, so I did my best to try and look normal again.
I heard voices from upstairs, and then Mase and Darah came around the corner with a man who must have been John Mason the second. He looked just how I thought he would: tall, dark hair, bronze-rimmed glasses, and a sensible shirt and tie. I felt like I might as well be wearing a hospital gown compared to these people. Except Harper. She had a t-shirt that said Princess in glitter. We were soul mates.
I was going to beat Hunter senseless when I got the chance for not preparing me for this. Also, I was going to beat him so he would tell me about Joe and what he was hiding from me.
If it was any consolation, Darah was also looking a little star struck.
Hope got up to introduce me. “John, this is Taylor. She decided to come up and give us a visit. Isn’t that nice?” She could make a root canal sound nice with that voice. Mr. Mason’s eyebrows went up when she said my name. It was official. I was infamous.
“Oh, yes, Taylor. How nice to finally meet you,” he said, holding out his hand as Hunter came back in the room. For a moment, I saw an angry expression on his face, but he wiped it away and turned on the charm. How did he do that? I was still freaking out.
Where was Joe?
I wanted to trip him, but it would have been obvious. He’d probably just dodge me and make another comment, and then where would I be? Also, I couldn’t do it in front of Harper. I had to set a good example,
so I shook Mr. Mason’s hand and said I was pleased to meet him.
“Well, I should get back to the kitchen. That chicken salad isn’t going to make itself. You’ll stay for lunch, won’t you, Taylor?” Hope said.
“Hope,” Hunter said, as if reminding her of something.
“Oh! Of course. I’ll make you a salad. Hunter told me you didn’t eat meat, and it slipped my mind.”
“That’s fine; you don’t have to make a big production. I don’t want to be a bother.”
She waved the dish towel at me as she left the room.
“Never you mind; it’s no bother at all. No wonder you keep that pretty figure. I should try that.” Like she needed it. God, if most women looked like her, they’d be walking around nak*d.
“So, what made you decide to come and see us, Taylor?” John asked.
“My car wouldn’t start,” Hunter said for me.
“Again?” Mase said, pulling Darah down onto the sofa. He definitely didn’t fit in this pristine environment. His jeans were torn on the bottoms and his shirt had been through the wash more than a few times. I wondered what Hope thought of that.
“I keep telling you to get rid of that thing. I told you that Bob Karrigan has an old Audi he doesn’t use anymore that he’d be happy to let you have for a couple thousand.”
Hunter shook his head.
“It’s fine. I’ll get it fixed,” Hunter said.
“Daddy, Daddy! Taylor said she would sing with me,” Harper said, using the joystick on her wheelchair to come closer to me.
“Yes, Angel. You should say excuse me when other people are having a conversation if you want to say something.” She thought about that for a second.
“Okay. Excuse me, Daddy. Taylor said she would sing with me.”
I caught Darah’s eye, and we had to press our lips together so we wouldn’t laugh.
“That’s great. Did you ask her nicely?”
“Yes.”
“Good girl.”
“Give me some skin, Harp,” Mase said, holding up his hand for a high five. She reeled back and smacked as hard as she could, and he pretended to recoil in agony, rolling over on the couch. Her laughter filled the room like bubbles, and we all joined in. Thank God for Harper, because otherwise, this might have been a very uncomfortable situation.
“Hunter, why don’t you give Taylor a tour of the house?” John said. It would probably take a few years, at least.
“Sure,” Hunter said.
“Want to come, Seven?”
“May I?” Harper looked at her father with big pleading eyes.
“Why don’t we let Taylor and Hunter do the tour and then you can show her your room.”
“Okay,” Harper said, clearly bummed.
“We’ll be back soon,” I said.
“Promise?”
“Pinky swear,” I said, holding mine out. We linked, and she smiled again.
“Hunter,” John said. Hunter nodded in understanding. Wait, what?
“Shall we?” Hunter said, holding his arm out for me to go first, bowing slightly.
I gave Harper a little wave before we rounded the corner and stood in a long hallway with a set of glorious stairs. I stared at the study door, hoping Joe would come out, but nothing happened.
“I am going to rip your arms off and then strangle you with them,” I hissed at Hunter when I was sure we were out of hearing range.
“So this is the hallway,” Hunter said, ignoring me. “Elevator, if you ever need it.”
“You’re not even listening to me. How could you not tell me?” He started walking down the hallway.
“There’s a music room back here –“
I yanked on his arm to make him stop.
“How could you not tell me?”
He still wouldn’t look at me. I reached up and grabbed his chin, turning his stubborn face so I could meet his eyes.
“Come on,” he said.
“No, I want to talk about this.”
“We will, just not here.”
He took my hand and pulled me behind him up the stairs. I caught lots of fancy paintings and furniture that didn’t come from Ikea. Down another hall we went, and he pulled me into a room, shutting the door quickly.
“This is my room,” he said.
I was momentarily distracted from screaming at him. It looked very much like our room at school, only twelve times the size. Clean and neat and with dark colors. Slate, black, blue. There were a few band posters, including The Goo Goo Dolls and Matchbox 20.
“I didn’t tell you because I know you and I knew you’d freak.”
“So springing it on me was a better idea?” I hoped I wouldn’t get so mad that I would spill that I’d spied on him.
“It seemed so at the time,” he said, pulling a chair out from behind a huge desk. It looked like something an old crusty writer would use to compose masterpieces on his typewriter. “Now I’m not so sure. You’re freaking anyway.”
I threw up my hands in frustration.
“How else was I supposed to react? It’s not just that you sprung this,” I said, gesturing to the general situation of the house being effing enormous, “it’s that I feel like I don’t know you. There’s this whole huge part of your life and I had no idea. And you’re meeting with some guy named Joe about some mysterious thing, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were involved with the mob.”
“Why do you care?” That was the million-dollar question. Why did it bother me so much?
“Because you’re my roommate,” I said, floundering.
“That’s not enough of a reason. You wouldn’t throw a hissy fit if you found out Darah or Renee lived here or had secret meetings with a guy named Joe. So why me?”
“Because.”
“That’s not a reason.” He got up from his chair and stood right in front of me, our chests only inches apart. He tipped his head down to look in my eyes.
“I think it’s because you like me. As much as you would rather choke to death than admit it. And you want to know things about the people you like. You want to know what they do when no one is watching, what movie makes them feel better when they’re sick, what they really want to be when they grow up. Am I right?”