An hour later, I’m cleaning dishes when Lennox walks in.
Wordless, he starts grabbing dishes I’ve cleaned and starts drying them. We work in tandem for a few minutes until everything is done before he grabs us both a drink from the refrigerator and nods to the back patio.
Everyone else is chatting in the living room, but I follow him.
I sit down in one of the rocking chairs Rina built for the house and wait him out. He clearly has something on his mind.
“How much do you know about Oakley?” he asks, completely blindsiding me. I mean, sure, he knows I’ve been hanging out with him as research for my book, but that’s supposed to be all he knows.
“Umm, that he owns Grind Time?” I play dumb, poorly, but it’s my only defense.
He eyeballs me as he takes a drink, and I’m desperately trying to avoid eye contact. Which, in hindsight, probably gives me away more.
“You know.”
“Know what, Lenny? What are you even talking about?”
“Fuck, I don’t like this, Will. You need to be careful around him, and I think you know that because you know more than you’re letting on.” He runs his hand over his slightly overgrown brown curls, viability flustered, which is very unlike my easygoing brother.
“What exactly do you think you know?” I ask, my curiosity getting the better of me.
“It’s not what I think I know; it’s exactly what I know. I overheard him on a phone call while he was on the trail.”
My blood runs cold.How much did he overhear? Does Oakley know he heard him?
“I talked to Oakley about it, so he knows how much I know. Hell, he told me a lot of it himself. I can already see the panic on your face, so you might as well give up the façade.”
“I didn’t know you knew a word like ‘façade’,” I quip to hide my rising panic. I don’t know what to say to him because it all feels like I’m breaking Oakley’s trust.
“Will…”
“Everything is fine, Len. I’m careful; he’s careful. Things are fine.” It’s generic, and I don’t even know if it’s true, but it’s all I can really give him. I’m not sure what they specifically talked about that’s freaking out Lennox the most, but I’m a big girl and I can handle myself.
But you can’t protect your heart from James.Yeah, but Lennox doesn’t need to know that. Although, it does make me think something else happened. Especially if I combine this knowledge with James and my last interaction.
“If something happens, call me please. And be careful around him. I know you’re using him for research or whatever, but if you can spend less time with him, you should.”
Something in his words makes me angry. Maybe it’s the fact he doesn’t understand just how safe Oakley is, or that he’s telling me how to spend my time, but it doesn’t sit right with me. It probably has more to do with my defense of James, but I don’t want to think toohard about that.
“Yeah, we’re done with this conversation. Please believe that I can take care of myself, and please don’t ever tell me how to spend my time again.” I abruptly stand up, but Lennox grabs my arm.
“I’m sorry. Shit. Will, you know I just worry about you, and I don’t hear from you that often. I just want to make sure you’re safe. It’s not that I don’t trust Oakley, because I do, especially knowing more of his background now, but I don’t trust the situation.”
“Okay. I hear you, but you need to see that I’m not a child anymore. I write thrillers, for God’s sake. If anyone can see the signs of bad shit to come, it’s me. Trust that I won’t get myself into trouble.”
I don’t wait for his response because all I want to do is go home. I’m depressed because of the whole Oakley situation, and now my brother is trying to warn me against him. It’s too much for my confused mind, and I need to leave.
“Ainsley, Ledg, wonderful dinner as usual. I’ve got to get back to the writing cave.” I kiss Ainsley’s cheek and give Ledger a hug quickly, leaving them a little shocked at my abrupt departure.
I know if I stay, the cracks will show. This face I put on in front of them will fracture and all the fucked-up little pieces will start showing through, and I can’t handle a well-meaning family talk right now. Hell, I don’t think I can handle any attention. Curling up in a ball of blankets and avoiding the world feels like a good move right now.
I get in my car and drive home, since Ledger lives on the outskirts of town, breathing out a sigh of relief to be alone.
The entire drive, my thoughts flip from missing Oakley to thinking about how much of a danger he could actually be. Lennox’s words infiltrate what I know and make me second-guess a lot of things. WhichI fucking hate. I’m that person that rarely takes a step back and thinks before acting; I usually just jump. Second-guessing is not in my nature.
But I’ve been doing a lot of that lately.
The drive home is one of the scary times you forget you’re driving. I pull into my driveway and have exactly zero recollection of driving here. If Lennox wants to talk about who’s the danger, it’s probably me.
