Chapter 22
Pane
“So now I’ve got less time,” I explain to Stone later that night. “Can we move the deadline up?”
In the background, I hear someone barking orders. Stone breaks through the intrusion with, “So now you want me to havelesstime to beat you. Is that it?”
“Technically, it’s less time that it’ll take for me to win—and yes, that’s what I’m asking.”
My brother laughs. “So smug. Tell you what: I agree. As long as Sylvia’s okay with it, it’s fine with me. I can kick your ass at this with one hand tied behind my back.”
“Ah, you must be loving hot dogs.”
“I’m going to send you a case, smart-ass, so you can see how good the product is.”
“Please do. I’ll send you the address.”
I’m outside the shamper, sitting on the steps. Once Luke left, I had a meeting with the men and told them the new timeline. They eagerly agreed to put in more hours. Thank God. Otherwise, we’d be screwed.
Can we do everything that needs to be done in five weeks? Renovate, sell packages, get the social media presence up to par so that we open with a bang?
Maybe. Maybe not.
“How are things going?” I ask him.
“They’re fine.”
There’s tension in his voice. Stone’s generally calm, even under pressure.Especiallyunder pressure. Last time I saw him, when we were with our mother, something was off with him then, too.
“What’s up? Something going on with Mom that you want to talk about?”
He sighs. The sounds of people talking fade away, and I hear a car door slam. “There’s something you should know.”
A piggycorn steps out from the bushes surrounding the shamper. It’s Tallulah, the little one Rowe can’t get enough of.What’s she doing over here?
“What is it?” I ask my brother.
“Promise you won’t get mad.”
“Definitely not.”
“I’ve been talking to Dad.”
Every cell in my body turns to ice. “What?”
“Yeah, and you should talk to him.”
“No.”
He exhales heavily. “Some of the things we’ve been told ... Look, they’re not true, okay?”
I explode, “It’s not true that he abandoned our family and had nothing to do with us? That’s not true?”
“It’s more complicated than that.”
“It’s not more complicated, Stone. It’s pretty simple, actually. When we needed that man the most, he left us, turned his back on his family.” I close my eyes and pinch the corners with my thumb and forefinger. “I can’t believe you’re talking to him. You hate him more than I do.”
“Well, I don’t. Not anymore.” He pauses. “You should hear him out.”
