Power & Choice Read online

  "There have been certain rumors about the coordinator, Julia Enders. They haven't been flattering. I thought it best to pull Quinn out and set her up with something here, in Charleston."

  "What kind of rumors?" I found myself asking.

  Mrs. Carter flicked her gaze to me and for a moment, I worried that I had overstepped my boundaries, but she simply smiled and returned her teacup to the table.

  "Well, it's just that a few girls that have attended Ms. Enders’ etiquette camp have turned out rather...well..." Mrs. Carter's frown deepened and she sighed. "It just seems that good, decent, girls go to the camp and come back with some sort of issue."

  "What kind of issues?" Marv asked. A similar furrow between his brows started to form.

  Mrs. Carter shook her head. "It's never right away, of course," she said. "But Carly – Robert's daughter, you know her, Marv – she went last summer and after a few months the girl was disappearing at all hours of the night. She and a few other girls were caught doing all manner of things young girls shouldn't. Underage drinking. Breaking curfew. I've even heard that a few of the older ones were..." Mrs. Carter paused, casting a glance in my direction.

  "It's okay, Mom," Marv assured her. "Harlow won't repeat anything she hears today. She's with Iris," he reminded her, as if that would give her significant reassurance.

  She nodded as though it did and proceeded, "A few of them were arrested," she confessed. "Drug possession and even some rumors of prostitution."

  "Are you sure this has anything to do with Ms. Enders’ etiquette camp?" Marv asked, sitting back.

  "All I know it that all of the girls that this has happened to have gone to the same camp before their problems began. Lovely girls going bad, it's preposterous!"

  "Maybe they're just being teenagers," Marv said, though he, himself, didn't seem to be convinced of that.

  "We can always go talk to them," I offered lamely.

  Mrs. Carter looked at me, eyes analyzing, and nodded. "I think it would be a good idea, but for now, I think I'll enroll Quinn in dancing lessons or something else that's closer."

  Marv nodded also, accepting her decision. We spent the rest of the tea time making small talk. Mrs. Carter and Marv discussed old family friends and she asked me questions that I didn't mind answering. We discussed how I had moved out of the house I had shared with my mom several weeks earlier, and had been living with the guys, helping them move into the house Knix had built. It was certainly bigger, and he had even added extra bedroom space off of the living room. I told her about my cat that lived with me at the guys’ house. Perhaps she wasn't as fascinated as she appeared to be and was merely being polite, but when she inquired about Cleo's breed, I quickly whipped out my phone and presented pictures to which she smiled and cooed at.

  We stayed until the sky darkened for the first time in several days and rain threatened overhead.

  As Marv and I reentered the house and moved towards the front door, Mrs. Carter followed, her heels clicking on the floor. At the front door, she turned Marv around and planted a sweet kiss on his cheek, as I had seen her do the one time before when I caught a glimpse of her. Marv groaned and attempted to pull away, but she only smiled and patted his cheek before wishing both of us well on our way.

  Marv opened the front door and dashed out first, unlocking the car. He held my passenger door open for me and I quickly got in. Just as the door closed behind me, rain began to pour. I watched as he hurried around the front of his car, stopping as a confused expression overtook his features. He leaned over the hood of his car and wiped at something. It took me a moment to realize what he was doing, but once I did, his confused face became awash in horror and I began to laugh.

  His eyes bulged as he stared, horror struck, at the dark gray paint of his beloved BMW melting away to a bright bubblegum pink. I laughed so hard that I began to wheeze. His eyes snapped to mine over the hood and he narrowed his gaze. Stomping to the driver's side door, Marv yanked it open, not bothering to care that his suit was getting wet or that he was getting water inside the car.

  "You. Are. So. Dead," he warned.

  I laughed even harder.

  The second the now bubblegum pink BMW came to a stop in front of the house, I was unbuckled and out of the car. A steaming mad Marv was close behind me. I burst into the house through the garage, screaming for Texas and Bellamy. The rain had stopped halfway back to the house, but the BMW was already wet, the bright, sickly pink just a few shades lighter than the horrified flush that had stolen across Marv's cheeks.

  I laughed wildly as Marv growled my way.

  "Oh shit!" Texas said from the stairwell.

  Bellamy rounded the corner from the kitchen and froze. In that moment, he knew. His eyes flashed to me and Texas. Texas waved the keys to the SUV at me and we took off. Behind us, I heard Marv growling at Bellamy. "Outside," he snapped, "my car. Now."

  Texas looked over his shoulder at me and laughed. "We're in so much trouble." He said it so gleefully, I knew it was a state of being he enjoyed very much.

  I rolled down the window as we sped out of the driveway, glancing back as Marv dragged Bellamy out into the garage. I could hear him yelling as we made our getaway. "Maybe we should go back," I said as Texas turned out of the driveway. "It wasn't fair to leave that all on Bellamy."

  Texas laughed. "He'll get us back, don't you worry. Besides, that jackass deserves it. Did I ever tell you the time he left me in the middle of the woods on a camping trip?"

  I shook my head. "He came back for you, didn't he?" I pointed out.

  He shook his head, his cheeks flushing, but continued anyway. "That jerk left me naked."

  My eyes widened at the mental image and when he turned to look at me, I quickly glanced away, my own cheeks burning. I chuckled, trying to alleviate the tension. "Okay, so this is your payback."

  "You're damn right, it is," he snapped, relaxing back in his seat and slowing as we came to a stop sign. His phone buzzed in his back pocket, and kept buzzing until he groaned and reached back for it.

  I slapped his hand as he swiped at the screen. "No phone while you're driving," I reminded him.

  He laughed and shook his head. "It's probably Bell anyway."

  I looked down at the screen and sure enough, there were several text messages from someone named Jackass. I laughed and kept laughing as I set the phone in the console, and Texas drove on. I didn't know where we were going but it felt so good to just be out in the summertime with a friend. The wind whipped through the window and my hair rose and fluttered across my shoulders.

  "Where are we going?" I asked.

  Texas shrugged. After several minutes of silence, however, and aimless driving, he peeked over at me. "Wanna go visit mama bear?" Texas suggested.

  I smiled brightly. "Can we pick up flowers?"

  Texas' eyes softened, and he directed the SUV towards the grocery store. "Sure, Princess. Flowers it is."

  Chapter 2

  The Summerville Cancer Care Center – though not the number one cancer care center in the country, or even the state – was one of the best in the local area. I had tried to convince my mom that a center up north might have been better, but she had refused to be moved. The argument had been so normal, but I could tell that it wore on her because every time she snapped, I would flinch. I never meant to, but it reminded her of how she had acted before, when her medications had been mixed up. She blamed herself and I blamed me. Like mother, like daughter, I supposed.

  In the end, this had been a decent compromise. I wanted to move her to a cancer center and she hadn't seen the need to move from the hospital at all. At least at the center, she was looked after 24/7. She got to meet people who had some of the same problems, a support group of sorts, and I could visit because it was less than a thirty-minute drive.

  The heavy smell of disinfectant permeated the hallways of Summerville's Cancer Care Center. For care centers, though, it wasn’t that bad. Marv had made sure of it, and considering I had no idea w
hat to look for, I had relied on his expertise. Well, his, Bellamy's, Knix's, and Texas’. Over that thick disinfectant smell, there was the feeling that this place didn’t represent death and that was the best part.

  "Baby!" My mom's voice carried across the care center's dining hall. Her curled blonde-gray hair peeked above all the others as she leaned forward in her wheelchair and waved for my attention. I rushed forward with Texas trailing behind me. "Are those for me?" Mom asked, indicating the pale yellow and pink roses I carried.

  I smiled and held them back for a moment. "The flowers?" I asked, teasingly. "No, someone just handed them to me in the hall. I wanted to show them off."

  She wrinkled her nose at me and held out her arms. "Brat," she replied. "Give them here, let me smell them."

  I handed them over and sat on the other side of her table. The older woman that had been visiting with my mom just moments before had been wheeled away by a nurse who had announced that she was being requested in the game room, leaving the three of us – Mom, Texas, and me – alone.

  The dining room of the cancer care center was quite different than anything my mom was used to. The wooden tables, covered in pure white cloths were the main attractions atop a burgundy train. In other areas of the center, there were game rooms and pristine nurses’ stations. My mom shared her private room with another woman close to her age. I met the woman only once and, though she was quiet and reserved, she seemed like a nice enough person.

  "Texas," Mom called across the table to Texas who was still standing. "Have a seat. How has my Harlow been doing?"

  I knew well enough by now that there was no getting around my mom's questions. Half the summer was over, and I had been working with the guys for a little over a month. Mom had met each of them – at her insistence after our conversation following the fiasco with Grayson's brother.

  Call it a mother's intuition or whatever you will, but Mom had known exactly how I felt as soon as she had met them. She had barely taken one look between Knix, Bellamy, Marv, and Texas and turned to me with a nod as though she approved of each. It was so nice having the mom I always wanted back, the real mom beneath the surface of her illnesses and medications. Even though the cancer had spread, in the care center she had flourished. With the right medications, she was actually up and about every day. I could tell she was much happier.

  "Oh, she's doing well," Texas said, taking his seat.

  I rolled my eyes, but didn't correct him. To be honest, though, I hadn't done much of anything since Grayson's brother disappeared off to a rehab center upstate. I'd worked a few extra shifts at Alex's Diner, with Knix, Marv, Bellamy, or even Texas watching. I didn't know why they didn't think I could handle it, considering I had worked there long before they ever met me. When I tried convincing Alex to kick them out, he had simply laughed and told me to enjoy the tips.

  "Mmmhmm," Mom hummed, squinting at Texas with suspicion. "And what has she been doing?"

  "Oh, you know how it is Mrs. Hampton. She's been training really well so far," Texas evaded.

  I glared at him. So far, training had only included more self-defense lessons from Knix and Bellamy, and running errands with the rest of them. They had encouraged me to get back into doing gymnastics, but it hadn’t felt right – especially with everything else that had taken place with the move and my mom being admitted, long-term, at the care center.

  It had taken a couple of days to pack up the duplex and put most of the stuff we had collected over the years into storage, then move in and set up the new house. It had taken several more days to move my mom from the hospital to the cancer care center. There really hadn't been time for more "training."

  "I see." Mom’s gaze moved to mine. "And how do you like it, Harlow?"

  "I like it just fine, Mom." I reached for her free hand, the one not lying over the bouquet of fresh roses. "But don't worry about that. I'd really rather you worry about getting better."

  Now it was her turn to roll her eyes and she did so with a familiar finesse, flicking her hand at me in nonchalance. "Oh, don't worry about me, Baby. I'm fine here. This place is quite nice." Her head bobbed gently, and she glanced around at the rest of the people in the hall. "I've made a few friends and you visit so often." She turned back to me. "You were here just yesterday. I'm surprised your co-workers are willing to drive you here so often." Mom's shrewd gaze rotated towards Texas.

  "Well, erm...Mrs. Hampton, with Harlow working for Iris, she gets lodgings, and we live in the vicinity. It's no problem at all." I could understand his awkwardness. I certainly didn't want to tell my mom that I was living with four guys, even if she seemed fairly calm about the idea of me dating one or more of them.

  "Mom," I said, bringing her attention back to me. I managed to suppress a smirk at the relief on Texas' face as her sharp mom gaze was redirected. "I like visiting you and they won't have to drive me much longer, because they're helping me get my license."

  Mom looked at me with her narrowed gaze and I smiled at her in reassurance. "How about I make you a deal," I said. "I'll try to stop worrying about you and you try to stop worrying about me?"

  She harrumphed but nodded her assent.

  The rest of our visit went by as it normally did. She regaled Texas and I of her time in the center and the wonderfully polite nurses and their love lives that she enjoyed listening in on. I had never known my mom to be a gossip, but I supposed that now that she was finally on the right medications and around people, it was easier to see a side of her that I hadn't before.

  As Texas smiled and nodded and joked with my mom, I found my gaze straying to the swooping of his hair. It was getting longer on one side than the other. Naturally, he said it was like that already, but I knew that he just didn't care enough about cutting his hair to fix it. I was sure he had gone to some hack hair stylist before and I resolved to sit him down and cut it after dinner that night.

  It felt like one of the only things I could do for him – and for the others. So far, other than the measly training it felt like I was nothing more than a mooch.

  I bit my lip and glanced towards the double doors that led into the lobby catching a middle-aged nurse scurry outside, her face turned down, her hand resting on her cheek as though she didn't want anyone to see her as she moved. I tilted my head to the side, straining to the edge of my seat and caught only a glimpse of a wounded expression.

  "Harlow?" My mom's voice drew me back and I stuttered on the edge of my chair, nearly careening and falling over. Texas reached out and adjusted the back of my seat before I could embarrass myself, but some damage had already been done. My mom and Texas both looked at me confused, and my cheeks began to heat up.

  "I–um–the chair's wobbly," I said defensively.

  Texas raised a brow, but Mom merely shrugged. "Well, dear, I think it's almost time for my afternoon nap," she said. "The chemo really takes a lot out of me these days, but my new doctor says I shouldn't have to go through it anymore after this next round."

  It was my turn to raise a brow. "None at all?" I asked, skeptically. I was afraid to be too hopeful.

  "Well, he said that we would see if I was strong enough," she replied.

  I chuckled, though it pained me to do so. If only we could have seen what was going on inside of her before it was too late. Then maybe she wouldn't be in the care center at all.

  Texas and I stood and gave our goodbyes. I leaned over and kissed the top of my mom's head and she patted my hand. As we walked out, I tried to catch sight of the strange nurse, but other than a few patients and their family members, there were no care center employees in the lobby.

  As we got into the SUV, my phone buzzed in my back pocket. Texas glanced over as he started the engine. "Marv or Bellamy?" he asked.

  "Neither," I said opening the text. "Erika."

  Erika: Got a call from Josh today, he's doing fine.

  Since Erika's boyfriend – ex-thief and drug addict – had been in rehab, quite a few things had changed. It was less than six w
eeks ago, but Erika was already in college, having chosen to start her summer classes early, and I was moved in with the guys. The Iris Boys I liked to call them. I almost felt like Wendy surrounded by her lost boys. I couldn't picture any of them being Peter Pan though, or wearing green tights.

  Harlow: That's great! I'm glad you got to hear from him.

  Erika: I'm going to go see him when he's allowed visitors.

  Harlow: Want me to go with you?

  I was sure she didn't, but it felt like the right thing to say and I wouldn't mind going if it made her more comfortable. Erika responded quickly though.

  Erika: No, it'll be okay. Gotta go, class is starting.

  Just as I was about to put my phone away, it buzzed again, and I wondered if she had neglected to tell me something or changed her mind, but when I pulled it back up and opened my messages again, a new number popped up. Curious, I clicked on the new text and read.

  Unknown: Been a long time, Baby. Do you know how hard it is to get your number these days?

  Almost immediately I could guess who it was. I rolled my eyes and typed a quick reply.

  Harlow: Are you playing a scared evil villain now? And yea, the guys changed my number for a reason. Looks like I'll have to memorize a new one. Thanks a lot.

  Grayson: Think you can get away from your boyfriends for a few hours?

  I snarled at the phone, earning a glance from Texas. I quickly smoothed out my expression and typed my reply as calmly as I could.

  Harlow: NOT. MY. BOYFRIENDS.

  I knew Texas wasn't nearly as distrustful of Grayson as Marv and Bellamy were, but I was pretty sure if he knew I was texting him, he'd demand my phone. And since it technically wasn’t mine anyway, I would feel obligated to give it to him.