One day my mom was there, and the next she was gone. She was alive, so full of life and joy, but her heart failed her.
It just stopped.
We had no warning, no time to prepare, just a huge gaping hole where her vibrant aura had been. Her warm motherly smile, her loud laughter, and her calming hugs, all just gone.
In my dad’s head it was his job to keep her safe, to protect her, and he failed.
She was taken from us when I was only twelve, and Dad has never and will never get over it. She was the love of his life. Hetold me once his heart will only ever be owned by one person, and once hers stopped beating, his lost its rhythm. Never beating the same again.
“You really should have come out with me, Dad.” I force my voice to remain upbeat and not allow the sadness washing over me to take hold. Always the joker, I steer the conversation away and deflect. “We’re at the tables tonight, and apparently Thomas said you still owe him for Chicago.”
“Chicago? He can’t still be holding that against me.”
“I don’t think you’ve ever told me the story. Something about motorbikes and hot dogs?”
“You tell Stone that I’ll take that dare when he pays me back for LA.”
“Do I even want to know?”
“I think it’s best you don’t.” He snickers, and my shoulders sag, knowing the sadness that grips him so tight has loosened slightly. I know it will never leave him, but my job has always been to make him smile. Only cry with tears of laughter.
“I’ll see you in London in a few weeks for the wedding, right? You can fight it out with Thomas then.”
“We will be there,” Dad says just as Gramps vows, “Just try and stop us.”
“You ready to get your butt whipped?” I shake Hunter’s helmet, slamming his visor down.
Brushing me off, he flips his visor back up. “Should I remind you of our race in Monaco?”
“You were just lucky.”
“He wasn’t,” Noah pipes up, his hands lazily resting on the handlebars of his dune buggy. “My little brother schooled you.You were so far in his rearview that Nana Stone could have lapped you on her scooter.”
“Oh, you’ve got jokes. What about you,Mr. the sun was in my eyes that’s why I spun off the course and crashed my dad’s new Bugatti?”
“You did what?” Thomas bellows behind me. Shit, I forgot he was here. Noah stares at me and I grimace.
“Hmm?” I spin to face an angry-looking Thomas Stone which honestly scares the shit out of me.
“Is that true?”
“No, of course not.” I wave him off. “I’m just messing with Noah.”
“You sure? Because there was a delay on me getting that car.” He raises his eyebrow at me, and I catch Noah’s pleading eyes.
“Definitely. Just messing.” I laugh nervously. “Noah definitely didn’t take that car round the track. It wasn’t even there that day.”
“You’re the worst liar on the planet, Leo Brent.” Thomas grips my shoulder and my balls shrivel, getting sucked into my stomach. I don't think they will ever come back down. He slowly turns to look at Noah who has gone rigid on his buggy, and Hunter is toeing the ground while Deacon busies himself with his phone. “You scratched my Bugatti, son?”
“No,” Noah says quickly, and Thomas crosses his arms, staring down his firstborn. And I actually think I hear Noah’s balls squeal. “I mean, maybe I took a turn a little too quickly and hit a barrier, but I paid for it to be fixed,” he says quickly. “I paid, Dad. I made sure it was perfect before it came back.”
Thomas chortles, shaking his head. “Do you really think I didn’t know?”
“You knew?” Noah says.
“Of course I knew, you fool. The garage called me to ask if everything was okay with the repairs.” He puts his helmet onand climbs into his buggy. “Now which one of you has it in you to beat me?” He slams his visor down and spins off into the sand, leaving us all staring open-mouthed and wide-eyed at his retreating form.
“Okay. You boys need to explain that to me later on,” Kai says, climbing into his buggy. “Then I need a word with Papa Stone, because that man is cool as shit and I want to be him when I grow up.”
