Page 168 of Darling Obsession
“Come on,” Damian prompts, looking around at our siblings. “Old Stodd would be laughing if he were here right now, and we all know it. As far as he’d be concerned, Harlan completed his challenge.”
“You’re right about Granddad,” Savi says tentatively. “He’d be loving this twist. He’d probably adopt the cat.”
“The cat isn’t up for adoption,” I mutter.
“It’s true that Granddad would find this amusing,” Jamie admits, grudgingly. “But the fact is, Harlan lied to us.”
“What Harlan did,” Damian counters, “technically, was introduce us to two Darlas. A womananda cat.”
“He introduced us to afakeDarla and lied to us,” Jamie says. “He cheated at Granddad’s game. And the deadline on his challenge passed months ago.”
“Be fair, Jamie,” Savannah says. “We have a year in total for all of us to complete our challenges. That’s the official rule of the game. We were the ones who decided Harlan had one month. He took longer than that to come around, but now he’s introducedus to the real Darla. His challenge was ‘Introduce us to Darla,’ and he’s done that. For real this time.”
“But it’s a fucking cat.”
“I don’t care if Darla is a cockroach,” Damian says dryly. “We’re done here.”
They all look at Graysen, who’s been staring at the cat with a frown and listening to the rest of us argue.
He slowly shakes his head, then sets his gray eyes on me. I see disappointment, disapproval, and extreme annoyance in his gaze.
But I think I see grudging acceptance, too.
“If it helps,” I offer, “I have a large veterinarian’s bill with the name of the cat on it, should you need some evidence. The vet will corroborate that the cat has been named Darla all her life, and that her birth predates the challenge. She is the real Darla.”
Graysen rolls his eyes.
“Congratulations.” Damian shakes my hand with a smirk. “Well played. I have places to be.”
Jameson shakes my hand next, reluctantly. “Congratulations, Harlan. You’re even more of a freak than I took you for. But I hope your cat heals.”
“Thank you.”
“Harlan.” Graysen comes to give me a stiff handshake. I know he’s pissed at me. “Next time, save us all the trouble and just tell us the truth.”
“I’ll work on that.”
“Don’t make me any promises you won’t keep.”
“I won’t.”
Irritated but apparently satisfied, he nods.
I pull him in for a hug. “Thank you.”
He takes a moment to recover from the surprise, but he pats me on the back.
My brothers leave all at once, Jameson complaining that he’s late for a date with Megan because of me.
Then it’s just me and Savannah and the cat in the sunroom, staring at each other. Savannah’s wearing Chanel, but she’s down on the floor, stroking the cat. It kind of warms my heart.
I try to absorb this moment, and the feeling of being safe and warm, with family. It’s a feeling I wish I had more of in my life.
My siblings may let me get away with this grand fuck-up, but I know it’s going to be a long road rebuilding what I’ve broken.
It wasn’t one or two lies that did it.
It’s been years of shutting them out that I’ll have to atone for. And repair. One truth at a time.
