Page 103 of The Charade
She was in a delicate condition right now. The tumor was causing more and more issues. "But I know you deserve to have a dad and I want to see what it's like to have daughters—two beautiful daughters," he said. "I'm planning to tell Brianna about everything tomorrow, and then see if we can arrange a time for you two to come over in the next week so all of us can get to know each other better."
"Does Mack know about us yet?" Elyse asked.
And it was then that I realized that not only were we gaining a dad and a stepmother, but we would also have a brother.
A brother who I had liked from the instant I met him because of his charismatic personality.
"I was waiting to talk to all of you first," Mr. Aarden said. "But I'm planning to tell him tomorrow."
"Okay, cool," Elyse said.
I watched Elyse release an anxious breath, and I realized what must be going through her head. Because even though she hadn't acted on it at all, she'd had a crush on Mack since we first came to Eden Falls.
So instead of it being me,shewas going to be the sister who'd had complicated feelings for our brother.
Life was fun, wasn't it?
But thankfully, for her and Mack's sake at least, she'd never said anything about it to anyone besides me.
And of course I would keep it a secret. I of all people understood what kind of trouble could come from not knowing who you may or may not be related to when you came to the world of Eden Falls Academy, where the people were as beautiful and intriguing as the scenery around us.
After exchanging numbers with our father so we could be in touch, we all left Mr. Hastings’s office a little bit different than we'd been when we'd entered. We walked past the ballroom just as the clock was striking midnight. When I peeked through the windows and listened to the sounds coming from inside, I realized that everyone was singing “Happy Birthday” to Carter.
He was standing just a few feet away from the windows, a huge birthday cake with eighteen tall candles flickering in the dimly lit room. He must have noticed our movement from the corner of his eyes, because after everyone finished singing to him and he had blown out the candles, his eyes locked with mine and he mouthed something like, "Are you okay?"
I nodded and sent him a small smile before mouthing back, "I will be."
He nodded to let me know that he understood. And then he pointed to Dr. Aarden who was walking a few feet ahead of me and mouthed, "Is that your dad?"
I smiled and nodded, tears springing to my eyes because I was so relieved and hopeful about how things had turned out.
When Carter seemed to realize that he was officially off the hook for being my brother, his shoulders relaxed and he mouthed, "I love you."
"I love you, too," I whispered back even though he couldn't hear me through the window and above the excited chatter in the ballroom.
His family surrounded him then, everyone wanting to give the birthday boy a hug. I slipped my hand in my mom's and went with her and Elyse back to my mom's hotel suite, so we could spend some much-needed mother/daughter time together.
Now that I wasn't on the verge of going crazy because I'd fallen in love with my brother, Carter and I could catch up on everything tomorrow.
Because now we actually had time.
44
Ava
Elyseand I spent the next morning and afternoon with our mom talking about the past as well as everything going on in our lives right now. After that, Mom dropped Elyse off at the school and then offered to drive me to Carter's house so I could tell him everything. I also needed to give him the birthday present I'd ordered him a few weeks ago when we'd first started officially dating.
"Does Carter know you're coming over?" Mom asked as we drove through the small town of Eden Falls.
"Not yet," I said. "I was planning to surprise him, but maybe I should make sure he's actually home before you drop me off on his front porch."
"That's probably a good idea."
I pulled out my phone and texted Carter to give him a heads up.
Me:I know you don't like celebrating your birthday, but if you aren't in the middle of something right now, I'd love to come over and give you your October 17th Day gift.
His text came through a minute later, as if he'd been waiting for mine.
