Just as Stubborn Read online

  “No. She’s a thief, Av’ry.”

  “What’s your name?” I asked.

  She looked at me and answered, “Mona.”

  “What’s your real name?” Gabe said. “You aren’t Mona.”

  “It’s Deliah. But I won’t answer to it ever, so don’t bother.”

  “Get up,” Gabe ordered. His tone alerted me that he wasn’t messing around. A part of me liked watching him get all edgy. His jaw tightened, and he flexed his biceps.

  I knew he wouldn’t hurt her. Rattle her, maybe.

  “Are you running away?” I asked as I gave the girl my hand. She tried to stand. She wore the same shirt Tessa had on yesterday.

  “No,” she whispered.

  “I’m calling the police if you don’t start spittin’ the truth,” Gabe threatened.

  “Gabe, we don’t have a phone,” I shared.

  The girl’s eyes were bloodshot. She looked tired, but relieved.

  “I’ll get one,” he shouted.

  “Why were you in the cabin?” I asked as I surveyed her outfit. Her T-shirt was too big. She had a ribbon tied at the end of her braid. I also noted her familiar shoelaces.

  Gabe ran a hand down his face. “Yeah, why were you in the cabin?”

  “No reason other than it was raining. Duh,” she said.

  “Do I look like I carry my brains in my pocket?” Gabe yelled. He stepped closer. “Why did you take my truck? Do you even know what you did to it?”

  “It made noises the whole time. You might want to check that out,” she replied.

  “How old are you?” Gabe’s voice sounded peeved.

  “Old enough. How old are you?”

  “Don’t play games,” he scolded.

  “Thirteen. I beat the lap record in the Nürburgring.”

  “You think you can handle a truck because you play video games? Who do you think you are?”

  “You’ll figure it out,” she told him.

  “Gabe,” I said, trying to calm him.

  His face burned with anger just as it started to rain.

  He stepped closer to the girl. “You better gimme a straight answer or I’m gonna—”

  “Gabe!” I blurted again. “She’s been curled up in the backseat for hours. Let’s get her something to eat.”

  * * *

  “You look familiar,” I said as I observed Deliah from my seat in a booth at McDonalds. “But you couldn’t be.”

  “She broke into the cabin. You seen her behind the shower curtain playing out a scene from Psycho,” Gabe said amusingly.

  “That’s not what I mean. I’ve seen her somewhere else.”

  Deliah gobbled a cheeseburger while we debated her appearance.

  “You saw her in the grocery store stealing wallets.” Gabe took a gulp from his super-size Dr. Pepper and then patted his chest. He seemed interested in watching her as opposed to grilling her. I was relieved. I’d be able to get more out of her than he would. “Why do you steal? Didn’t your mom teach you right from wrong?” he finally asked.

  She looked him straight in the face and swallowed the last morsel of her meal. A hint of a grin ghosted across her lips.

  “I’ll get it all out of you,” he warned as he slid out of the booth. “Av’ry, holler up a storm if she tries to make a run. I’ll be back.”

  Deliah’s eyes were on me as I watched Gabe meander through the tables in the restaurant. I loved watching his shoulders sway, the coolness of his step. He was still packing a book under his shirt.

  When I returned my attention to Deliah, she was finishing off Gabe’s drink.

  “What’s your last name?” I asked.

  “Who’s the older one? Do you know all of them?” Deliah replied without acknowledging my question. “Is he the oldest?”

  I bit my lip and wondered why she cared. Their age difference wasn’t obvious if Caleb and Gabe stood side by side.

  “Gabe’s the youngest,” I replied.

  “What’s the other one’s name?”

  I set my elbows on the table.

  “Caleb. How come you won’t answer any of our questions?”

  Deliah sat back in her seat and shrugged. Her fingers played with her long braid. She was pretty. The little freckles under her eyes gave her character. I didn’t question that she was telling the truth about her age.

  I leaned back a ways in my seat when she inclined toward the table and set her elbows in front of me. Our sleeves almost touched.

  Her forehead rose in question. “So who do you like kissing better?”

  Seven

  “We’re going back to Memphis,” Gabe announced as he slid into the booth.

  “Can’t you take me to your house?” Deliah asked. “There’s something I need to do there.”

  “What? No way. I’m not taking you anywhere but home to your parents. You got no business in Texas.”

  “I don’t have any parents,” she replied and took the cup from Gabe’s hand and shook the ice before taking the last sip.

  My mind was stuck on her intrusive question. I couldn’t figure out if she knew something that she shouldn’t know or if she was just speculating that maybe I once kissed both of the Halden boys because who wouldn’t want to kiss two gorgeous brothers. I wanted to strangle Caleb’s thick neck. I didn’t know why his mission in life was to make me squirm.

  Gabe’s eyes tightened as though her question intrigued him. “You sure are a screwworm. I know you got parents and I know school isn’t out.”

  Deliah crossed her arms over her shirt and grunted. “I go to private school. Classes in my accelerated program are Wednesday through Friday only.”

  “You go to private school and you got no parents. That makes perfect sense,” he said.

  “What do you know about it?” she responded.

  “I went to private school, and it costs more than an arm and a leg. So if you got no folks, you got no business in there. That’s what I know.”

  “What grade are you in?” I wasn’t going to let her know she flustered me.

  “Eighth grade. But I take sophomore classes.”

  “So you’re smart. That don’t give you the right to trash my truck,” Gabe snapped.

  “Can’t you just buy a new one?” she asked smartly.

  Gabe’s brow crimped as he turned to look at me with a stunned look.

  I jerked my shoulders into a shrug. I thought the same exact thing at the truck stop. “Don’t look at me. I didn’t say anything to her.”

  “What do you know about me?” he asked the girl. Did she know about his family and their wealth?

  She boldly lifted his HalRem cap off his head and tossed it in the air. Apparently that was her answer.

  Gabe slapped a hand on the table. “Hey, you little—”

  “Gabe, let’s go,” I called as he jumped up fast and scooped the hat off the table behind us.

  * * *

  “Wake up,” Gabe said. He jiggled Deliah’s knee in the backseat after we parked at Tessa’s apartment.

  “Nobody’s here,” Deliah said, rubbing her eyes.

  “Get out. We’ll wait. I’m sure you know how to break in.”

  I held my seat down for her to climb out. I offered a hand as Gabe slammed his door and the girl slipped past me so fast I didn’t know what happened.

  “Hey!” Gabe shouted. “Dammit, Av’ry!”

  Minutes later Gabe came around the other side of the building with Deliah’s head under his arm just like he did when he caught Josh escaping on the drive to Texas. She hit him in the side, but he didn’t release her.

  “Now what?” I said as he took the girl by both arms and made her walk the path to the door.

  “She’ll find a key or a way to get us in.”

  “It’s never locked,” Deliah boasted.

  I shadowed Gabe into the living room where he directed Deliah to sit on the couch and held up his hand to warn her to stay put. He perused the table of books and glared at her.

  She reminded me o
f Josh and his new attitude.

  “These are yours?” Gabe asked, brows lifted.

  “Yep,” she said. “Way over your head.”

  I laughed to myself.

  “Why are they here?” he said.

  “Tessa lets me crash. My mom’s ex-boyfriend is a prick. He still comes around to hassle her so I stay here. He thinks he’s hot stuff.”

  “See, you got parents,” Gabe mumbled. “You sure got a mouth on you.”

  “I only got one parent.”

  “I only got one too. You read all these?” he asked.

  “Do you listen ever?” she replied.

  “You’re really a smart mouth,” he drawled. “Where’d these come from?”

  “I collect them,” she answered haughtily. “My mom got me started.”

  He flashed a mocking grin. “Don’t little girls collect dolls?”

  “Oh my god, Gabe,” I scolded. “That’s so lame.” I couldn’t believe he said that to her.

  “I read all of them. Quiz me,” she said in a snarky voice.

  Gabe scanned the piles of books. I could tell he was impressed because his forehead jumped when he read an interesting title. Books were his thing.

  “I read all these too.”

  The girl sat up. Her face lit in surprise.

  “I own all these,” he added.

  “Do not,” she said. “They’re all rare. You can’t find them anywhere.”

  “That’s ’cause I got them,” he responded childishly. “And you tore the cover off one in my truck. I would think you would know better.”

  “That was a lousy book. One would think you would know better,” she countered.

  I resisted rolling my eyes. He was bickering like he did with Caleb.

  “You write the music in those notebooks, huh?” he asked.

  She sucked in a breath and stood.

  “Sit,” he said, pointing to the indent in the couch.

  “You went through my bag? That’s private property!”

  Gabe laughed.

  “So’s my cabin in Texas and my truck, little girl.”

  “Where’s my bag?” she demanded.

  “With my brother.”

  “When will Tessa come home?” I asked, trying to diffuse the tension. “Maybe we should take her to the Stomp Box.”

  “No!” They shouted at the exact same time. I shook my head in question.

  “I’ll wait here,” Gabe said.

  Deliah sat down. “Yeah. Tessa opens back up tonight. She’ll be busy.”

  “Why is she reopening?” I asked. “What happened?”

  “My mom’s ex drove his car through the front door in a rage. He’s a lunatic. Tessa will probably come home to change.”

  “Like when?” Gabe asked.

  “At your service,” the female voice said as the screen door opened. “Y’all been waiting here long? This is a pleasant surprise.”

  “Hi, Tessa,” I said sheepishly, feeling uncomfortable standing in the woman’s living room without her permission.

  “Hi, Avery.” She set her purse on the end table and turned her attention to Gabe and Deliah. “I see you both found what you were looking for.”

  “Where can I find Deliah’s parents?” he asked in a huff.

  “It’s Mona. I told you,” Deliah grumbled. She started to get up again, and Gabe stepped sideways and put a hand on her head to push her down.

  “Mona?” Tessa raised an eyebrow. “Are you really going by that now?”

  “Deliah showed up in the backseat of my car trying to hitch a ride to Texas. I’m not leaving until I get to the bottom of this. Why doesn’t anyone keep an eye on her? She hitchhiked with a trucker. Are you responsible for her?”

  “Have a seat,” Tessa told him.

  Gabe cooperated and sat on the arm of a chair. I sat beside him.

  “What’s her real name and her folks’ names?” he asked.

  “First things first,” Tessa said calmly. “I saw you run out of the bar earlier. Your brother stayed all afternoon.”

  Gabe straightened up. I didn’t think he intended to address the elephant standing on the coffee table.

  “That’s his prerogative. He’s a damn fool.”

  “He knows?” Deliah asked excitedly. “You know?”

  I watched Gabe’s profile as he flashed a confused look.

  Tessa walked over to the couch and made a warning face at the girl.

  “What do you think I know?” Gabe lifted his cap and ran a hand through his hair. Then he stood and rammed his hands in his pockets. “What is she talking about? How the hell does she know what’s going on?”

  “Have a seat and I’ll explain,” Tessa said.

  Gabe drew a long breath through his nostrils and stood in the center of the room shaking his head.

  “How does this kid know about my mom? What’s it to her? How do you know who I am?”

  I bit my lip. I was royally confused. Everything Gabe said, I was thinking.

  “You don’t remember me at all, do you?” Tessa asked Gabe.

  He rubbed at his jaw. “No. Should I?”

  “I knew your brother Eli. I watched after you a time or two when you were younger. I took you to the movies.”

  “I don’t think I know you,” he replied.

  “Eli brought you and your brothers here when he came out to look for your mom.”

  “That theater was familiar, but I’ve never been here,” Gabe was quick to answer. “Do you mean after she left my dad and abandoned all four of us? Eli would never want to see her. He couldn’t stand to talk about her.”

  There was a drawn-out pause. The room was so quiet I was certain everyone could hear my heart pounding.

  “She left me in Texas and never called or came back. What she’s done is so low she’s gotta look up to see hell.” The cords in his neck started to stretch. It was uncomfortable to watch.

  “You don’t know it all,” Deliah told him.

  Gabe swung his head around and glared at her with daggers in his eyes.

  “What on earth do you know?” he sneered.

  “More than you.”

  “You weren’t even born. These aren’t any of your affairs.” He scowled at Deliah and then turned to Tessa. “Who is this girl? Tell me what’s going on?”

  Tessa didn’t answer.

  “I deserve to know why this kid knows my business.” He waited for an answer.

  I silently counted to ten. Tessa’s shoulders slouched.

  “So you’re not going to answer!” he shouted.

  As much as I wanted to know the true story, I didn’t want Gabe to explode in the apartment.

  “Gabe, let’s take a walk,” I suggested.

  He brushed past me and slammed the door, making it easier than I expected.

  “I’m sorry,” I told Tessa as I reached the door. “I really…I don’t know what to do.”

  “Why don’t you try to get him back to Red’s when he calms down? His brother should still be there. He’ll come around, honey.”

  Tessa didn’t know whom she was dealing with. Gabe’s stubborn streak had grown tenfold.

  I turned my eyes on Deliah as I stepped out the door. She pulled her wavy hair out of the braid, and when she looked up, her eyes struck me.

  “Wait up,” I called to Gabe as he barreled down the sidewalk.

  “Leave me alone. I gotta think.”

  “Don’t run off and leave me here. It’s bad enough I don’t have my phone,” I yelled.

  I followed him to a picnic table in front of the corner gas station. I sat on the only surface that wasn’t dotted with petrified bubble gum and bird poop. We weren’t far from Tessa’s apartment. I could see the rear of the blue car sticking out from behind a dumpster.

  Gabe propped a boot up on the seat beside me and leaned into the table. “Eli would never come here.”

  He ran both hands through his hair after he set his HalRem cap on his knee. His shirt stretched tight over his muscular back, the
book almost popped out of his waistband.

  “And I don’t get what this kid wants. I think Tessa’s her mom, but why is she hiding it?”

  “I was thinking the same thing.” I set a hand on his leg. “Do you want to see your mother one last time?”

  He twisted his neck in my direction. The warped scowl on his face said it all. “Are you kidding?”

  “I’m sorry,” I said as a lump formed in my throat. I turned my eyes down. “I don’t know what to say without pissing you off.”

  “Then don’t say anything,” he snapped. “You’re not helping.”

  I clenched my stomach and stood. I wasn’t going to allow him to bring me to tears.

  “Wait, dangit,” he said as his fingers grabbed the back of my shirt. “Stay.”

  “Don’t touch me.” I tried to break from his grip, and he took another hold of my shirt until I was turned around. “Let go of me.” I pushed down on his wrist with surprising force.

  He looked stunned. I couldn’t take another of his irrational episodes.

  “Av’ry,” he drawled.

  “You’re messed up,” I told him. “I only want to help. You’re so pigheaded. Just maybe you don’t know anything about your older brother.”

  I pressed my lips closed so fast I thought I could recapture the words that left my mouth. I crossed the line. I spun around and then bolted up the sidewalk. Gabe had his hand locked around my elbow in a matter of seconds. He didn’t say a word as we walked. I tried to calm myself, but my chest pounded wildly.

  “Av’ry.”

  I stopped walking, squeezed my eyes tightly and tried to pretend I was somewhere else.

  “I need my bag out of Caleb’s truck. Can you take me to him?”

  “Then what?” he asked. His hand was still molded to my arm.

  “Then I’m going home.”

  “Aw now, come on.” Gabe reached around my neck. I swatted his arm with my free hand, and he jerked me forward so our middles touched.

  “No,” he said.

  “Bring me to Caleb.” I needed something desperately. I wasn’t sure what exactly, but Caleb would willingly have it ready. A hug. A ride. Kindness.

  “You don’t need him.”

  “You don’t need me!” I hollered into his face.

  “You don’t have to shout. I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m really sorry.”