“Thanks,” I reply. The guys seem to be making a big deal out of such a simple thing.
“You should talk to Z about getting trained up, Sunshine. Then you could do security with us all the time. Nick could train you, and you can do the course the company offers. The pay is awesome, too. So what’cha doing the rest of the day?”
“You’re going to give me whiplash one of these days, Seb,” I mutter.
“Nah, you’ll get used to it,” he waves. “Can I come over and hang out today?”
“Sure, I guess. I don’t have any plans.”
“Yay!” Seb fist pumps the air. The guys discuss their plans and upcoming basketball playoffs at school.
When Zander comes back about a half hour later, the rest of the guys disperse, and Seb follows Zander and me out to his truck. “That was a good catch on the monitor yesterday, Summer. You have a good eye,” Zander compliments on the drive home.
“Uh, thanks. I didn’t really do anything but tell Nick,” I shrug.
“You helped stop the reporter from getting unauthorized pictures of the party. That means a lot to the family and makes us look good,” he smiles.
“I told her to ask you to train her, Z. She needs to join the company,” Seb comments from the backseat.
Zander smiles over at me. “You’re more than welcome to go through our training program, Summer, if you decide it’s something you want to do. No pressure though,” he says pointedly, looking at Seb in the back seat, who holds up his hands in surrender.
When we get back to the house, I’m not sure what to do. Zander excuses himself to the office to finish up paperwork for the wedding, not wanting to leave it all for Troy. I go to the kitchen, grab two water bottles, and sit at the island, as Seb joins me. “Why do you seem nervous, Sunshine?”
Perceptive guy. “Um, I’m not sure what to do now,” I reply, feeling awkward. The ability to just hang out with new people seems to have disappeared over the last year, along with everyone else. “Did you have something in mind to do today?”
“Nope, I simply wanted to hang out with you,” he says, watching me closely. “Why don’t we go outside?”
“Okay.” Looking through the patio doors, I glance around and choose the live oak. Sliding the door open, I walk over to the tree and take a seat under its branches, leaning against the trunk. Seb joins me, leaning against my side. I happily don’t tense at all.
“Sunshine, tell me more about yourself. I know you like plants, you’re smart, you’re cute, and you run track. That amount of information doesn’t make a BFF.”
“There’s not much else.” My life has been pretty nonexistent, and who I was…before doesn’t feel like an accurate description of me now.
“I highly doubt that,” he replies. Sensing that I’m getting uncomfortable, he says, “How about I go first? Hang on to your hat because I’m gonna tell you a story, and it’s a doozy.”
“So you’re aware of Troy and Gabs, but you don’t know that we’re only half siblings. We all have the same father but different mothers. Troy has custody of us. The parentals aren’t in the picture anymore,” he starts. “Troy grew up with our dad, who is an absolute prick and abusive. He was a highly decorated soldier in the military, and Troy was unaware of our existence for a long time. When I was 12, my addict mother nearly overdosed. I called 911, and the paramedics who came to our apartment called CPS. My sperm donor received a call, and CPS sent me on a flight to live with him. Troy’s military contacts told him the sperm donor had a new son while he was deployed. After coming back from deployment, he immediately told me I was moving in with him. My dad didn’t care because he didn’t want me anyway, and I was happy to escape the abusive ass.
“My mom was a mess, but my dad physically beat me and belittled me all the time, and I had to live with him for almost a year,” he says, putting his arm around my shoulder and stretching out his legs. “Gabby came along a year after me. Her mom was a stripper in some dive bar outside New York. She loved and took care of Gabby as best she could, but died in a shooting at the bar she worked at. Again, CPS contacted our father. Luckily, Troy was stateside and took Gabby right away. In fact, the sperm donor called Troy to tell him there was another one and to come get her as soon as he hung up with CPS,” Seb tells me, disgust in his voice.
“Troy wanted legal custody of us, so our father couldn’t take us from him if he changed his mind in the future. The sperm donor didn’t like that idea, though. He didn’t want questions from anyone about why he wasn’t taking care of his kids or why his oldest son would even want legal custody. When Troy pushed him to sign over his rights to us, he threatened to force us back to live with him, so Troy hired a lawyer and took him to court.
“Sperm donor tried to get Troy to back off until the trial date. He told Troy his case lacked merit, and that Troy’s frequent deployments created an unstable environment for us. He really thought there was no way in hell he’d lose. The sperm donor was unaware that Troy had maintained detailed records of his abuse for years. He had pictures, doctors’ reports, and teacher concerns. He kept everything, including a recorded conversation with our father’s commander, telling Troy to keep his mouth shut about his father because he was an excellent soldier and he didn’t want to lose a good military man over something like this. Troy was also getting discharged from the military,” he tells me, grabbing a piece of Spanish moss to play with.
“Troy won his case, got out of the military, and our father got dishonourably discharged and served time. We haven’t seen or heard from him since.”
“I’m so sorry you all had to go through that, Seb. I’m very glad you and Gabby have such an amazing big brother, though.”
“Yeah, we’re lucky to have Troy.” He gives me a sad smile.
“Knowing you guys, I never would have guessed anything like that happened. You’re both so outgoing and happy.”
“All three of us have had therapy. Troy went for years. I went for about a year after I moved in with Troy.” He bumps my shoulder with his. “When we met, I told you we all have our demons. I wasn’t lying, Sunshine.”
“Thank you for telling me your story Seb.” I hope to be brave enough to tell him my story one day.
“Welcome, Sunshine.” He leans his head on top of mine and lets out a big breath. My body seems totally comfortable with the contact. We sit in companionable silence under the oak branches, listening to the wind rustle through the trees.
Zander calls us in for lunch around noon. The three of us eat sandwiches and a fruit salad Zander made, and I grab three chocolate chip muffins from the freezer for dessert.
