Standing By: A Knight's Tale #2 (3 page)

Dad lifts his shoulders in a non-committal shrug.

“Caroline Roth is the craziest member of the family, and I’m so lucky to have her as my mom,” I continue sarcastically. “Our family tree is a bunch of twisted branches held together with Crazy Glue; it’s all your doing.” I wave my arms up in the air. “There’s no point in rehashing your past, is there? Why are you here, to ask about the wedding too?”

“Paige called me,” I refrain from rolling my eyes. What else does she want from me; I agreed to be her maid of honor. “You know her job doesn’t pay well; she wants me to give her a job in the company…but I can’t. My firm is no place for an eco-friendly fashion designer.”

“Please don’t tell me, you want me to give her a job.” My blood freezes along with my entire body. “We’ll be killing each other, Dad, remember the time she came to help during Christmas two years ago and she ended up destroying four cakes and … Dad… what is it?”

“Paige is pregnant.” He mumbles.

“Mazel tov and yes, I know we’re not Jewish.” Why is he telling me this? “You don’t have to worry about me. Dad, I don’t care about Kevin or Paige’s new addition to the family. As I said before, what hurts is that she’s my sister and didn’t care one bit that he was my boyfriend. Kevin and I may have only gone out for a couple of months and things may not have progressed much, but he was
my
boyfriend.”

There are things I don’t say, like: “
She snatched him right before we had sex. I seriously thought we were there… close to the x date where we decided to take the relationship to the next level.
” The images of Kevin and my sister having sex against my window continued to linger inside my head, which is why I moved to the studio located above the bakery. Thanks to the joy of having a… stepmom or half-mom—Mel. She owned the building and rented it out to me at a fair price. Mel, Dad’s first wife, died a couple of years ago, and now the building belongs to her son Ben, my oldest half-brother. God, I miss her.

“Are you going to help them?” I ask him and then offer, “What can I do to give them a hand? Organize a baby shower?”

“I’m buying them a house,” he says as he scrubs his face with both hands. I narrow my gaze, because that’s like giving them an award for their bad behavior. It’s just like giving them a fish as a gift, instead of teaching them how to fish, as he taught us at an early age. “In New Jersey, so they don’t have to worry about rent and they’ll be away from Manhattan.”

“Thank you?” I spit the words in the form of a question because I have no idea how to take this information or why is he telling me. Then I change the subject to one I can handle. “Do you know anything about
Willows
; is Parker definitely selling?”

Willows
is a trendy, organic restaurant down the street from my bakery shop. My brother, Parker, owns it but he can barely take care of it since he moved to Washington State. I provide them with fresh muffins, cupcakes and some pastries making him my number one customer. If he sells, and the buyer doesn’t care much for my bakery, my production will diminish by fifty percent, and I’ll be in trouble… the bank will now breathe down my neck and bye, bye dream.

“Yes he is finishing the deal today. Are you going to be okay at the wedding?”

“I guess so, why aren’t you going?”

“They don’t want parents involved,” Dad shrugs, as though he isn’t bothered by the fact that he’ll miss Paige’s wedding. “And I know my children, Hayley, this isn’t her first and only marriage. She’s like her mother.”

Her mother—who is searching desperately for husband number five.

“Are you telling me I’m like my mother?”

“No, never.” He pursues his lips. “I loved Caroline but thankfully you’re not like her.”

“You loved her?” he bows his head and I take that as a yes. “Then why didn’t you marry her?”

“Because I didn’t want to divorce her,” he answers with a flat tone. “Certainly you know she’s not an easy person to live with, and in truth, I’m not easy either… this way worked best for everyone.”

“What way? Who is everyone?” I don’t let him answer. “I could have used a buffer while growing up, and I can sure use one now. Instead, you decided to leave me with your first wife—Mel—while you and Mom escaped to some strange destination for weeks or months on end didn’t help me much. Mom complained bitterly that you didn’t want her; that she wouldn’t put her body through another pregnancy to end up with someone like me. Which I thought was something I’d understand when I got older, yet the only translation I come up with is that she doesn’t like me. I love you, Dad, but I also don’t like you seventy percent of the times.”

“I know, Pumpkin, I’m not a very nice person.” He pats my hand again and heads to the door. “However, I love all my kids, and you the most.”

I stare at him not knowing what to say back, because there are days when he’s this loving man that I adore but then there are others where he also barges in and lists my flaws and failures.

“You’re too hard with Caroline, Hayley.” Dad stops mid-way through the threshold. “You’re her only family. Perhaps you should try to be a better daughter to her. Consider getting an online degree. Small businesses don’t always stay afloat. Remember, I could always use a paralegal at the law firm.” He lifts a shoulder, watching me with an empty stare and set jaw. “It’s not a hobby, but it isn’t a long-term career either, Hay-Bear.”

He departs without giving me a second glance. Though he did not slam the door, he shattered me. Each time I look at the empty space next door and think about expanding the bakery into a café, I remember what he said:
“You can only go so far.” “Don’t take unnecessary risks…”
The twinge of disappointment pinches my heart, and the pain magnifies as it spreads through my body, the need to expel it increases and I run to the bathroom. One small cut a tiny one to numb me and help me get through the rest of my day. I pull the case from under the sink, extract the razor, slice it into the flesh of my belly and in a matter of seconds whatever they said or did slowly melts away. My chest expands, and the light-headedness grabs me, taking everything away. For now.

Mitch

M
y phone rings
for the third time in a row and I finally pull it out of the nightstand drawer. The screen shows a picture of a good-looking guy with a shitty haircut. Jake, my twin.

“This better be good,” I answer the phone after the third ring “It’s five in the freaking morning asshole, what do you want?”

“Morning, sunshine. Meet me at the gym in twenty.”

“No.” I hang up, rub my face, push myself out of the bed and head to the bathroom.

No is a word that we Knights have a hard time following. If I try to ignore him, he’ll call me until I concede or he’ll come to my apartment and bang on the door until I join him. I change into a pair of running shorts, a shirt and my gym shoes, then throw some clean clothes in my gym bag and head to the Piers where the sport center is located. On the way, I text Jake.

MAK:
This better be worth the wake-up call.

JAK:
It is for me, Liam wasn’t as rude when I called him.

MAK:
Because Liam lives in London time, no matter where he physically stays.

JAK:
Truth. See you in a few.

It takes me twenty minutes to arrive, the automatic doors slide open and I cross the threshold. I pull out my phone, open the gym’s app and scan my digital membership card through their scanner. The perky blonde behind the desk looks at her computer and smiles.

“Good morning, Mr. Knight,” she squeezes her chest with her arms and licks her lips. “I think your brother just stepped inside a few minutes ago.”

“Thank you,” I look at the ID card between her breasts and read her name. “Stacy, see you around.”

She’s hot but I don’t think our relationship would go any further from a flirting smile.

“Mitch,” I pivot around and spot Liam entering the building, he is going through the same process I just did but ignores Stacy as he passes through. “What’s wrong with your twin?”

“I think he said you were singing at the top of your lungs with happiness when he called you,” I tell him as we head to the locker room.

“Are you kidding me, Mitch?”

The frustration in his voice makes me want to go back home and forget I’m related to these two for at least the next few hours. It’s Monday and I’m fucking tired.

“I was working. I don’t have time for a trip to the gym. Not today.” he growls. “This was a bad week to visit New York.”

“Mom’s birthday was yesterday, Liam, don’t complain,” I remind him. “That’s why you came to visit. Are you leaving sooner than expected?”

“Yeah, my plane is scheduled to leave,” he looks at his watch and then turns to looks at me. “In four hours. This better be worth it…” Then he stares at me, more precisely at the top of my head, the scrutinizing look makes me want to check for bugs. “Have you ever thought about using a comb on that hair?”

I shake my head and use a hand to ruffle my dark blond hair to antagonize him. My little brother looks a lot like us—Jake and I. We are all a half inch shy from six four, have the same straight nose, square chin and broad shoulders. If you see us together, you will think we’re triplets. Except, instead of dark green eyes like Jake and I; Liam’s are amber. Then there’s the hair. Jake wears a buzz cut, Liam’s is always perfectly combed and I… I don’t give a shit about it.

“Took you long enough, ladies. If your delay is because you tried to look beautiful, let me tell you, you failed. You two still look fucking ugly,” Jake says as we reach the locker room he’s about to exit. “I’ll see the two of you on the track. Liam, we’re leaving at eleven if you don’t mind. I’m piloting the plane. I’ll head to one of my training facilities right after I drop you. I have a job in Cameron.”

“He knows we all look alike, right?” Liam’s eyebrow arches and then he shakes his head. “I swear he needs to stop trying to be funny.”

“Give the guy some points for perseverance.” I open my locker, shove my gym bag in and lock it back up.

We both make our way to the indoor track, the terra-cotta lanes circle around the boxing ring and a designated area where the punching bags and dummies are. Before we step inside, we stretch and join Jake as he passes close to where we stand. While the three of us workout on a regular basis, my brother, who owns a security company is huskier and stronger than us. I hate to accept it but at the same time, I don’t mind because my job doesn’t require me to kick bad guy’s asses and bulk up the muscle to look scary.

“She said
yes
,” Jake finally speaks, his breath steady. “And she set a date.”

“Emma?” I want to make sure I understand correctly since he has proposed at least seven or eight times—I lost track. “You’re seriously marrying? I mean, I know you want to marry her but after so long I just thought it would never happen.”

“He doesn’t know how to propose.” Liam’s voice is breathy. “Remember Christmas?”

“
Just say yes, you damn woman
,” I repeat, opening my palms and shaking my hands the way he did it. Liam and I both try to hide the chuckle, but it becomes a full-blown laugh that slows our pace.

“No wait, Valentine’s Day was epic,” Liam can barely speak between laughs.

Jake took her to some new restaurant, which only serves game meat. No fish.

“It’s like you don’t know me, Jake.”
Emma, the self-proclaimed pescatarian who avoids all meat and tries to eat only organic said. She almost broke up with him. I took the blame on that one and saved his ass.

“Congratulations,” Jake’s exasperated voice bounces through the walls. “That’s what you tell the person who’s engaged. You don’t rehash the ways he fucked up before she said yes.”

“So… how did you manage to get the
yes
, Jay?”

“None of your fucking business, Mitch.” He responds and takes off.

He’s not one bit upset, there’s no hardness in his eyes, or clenched jaw. Most of all there’s no threat to pound us until our own mother can’t recognize us. I bet he knew we weren’t going to give him a pat on the back and that’s why he decided to say it while we worked out. We were ready for the hug and pat six months ago. Now we expect a fun explanation on how she shut him down, this “
She said yes.
” isn’t as much fun.

“You’re his twin, is he mad?”

“Nope.” I respond and we continue running at the same pace ignoring the Speedy Gonzalez wannabe. “I wish I knew what transpired between midnight and five in the morning.”

“Ugh, disgusting.” Liam puffs and I notice he’s turning red and breaking a sweat. He definitely needs more gym time. “Please don’t ask him again what happened, I bet it was during sex and those two will obviously give us the play by play if we press for more information. That should explain his
got lucky
face.”

“Got lucky? Please tell me you don’t use those lines when you create your advertising campaigns.”

He doesn’t respond to my comment and we carry on with our morning run. We talk about his accounts, the acquisitions I plan for this year and then I head to the weight room where Jake’s already using the leg press machine. I head to the free weights and do some bicep curls before using the machines. As much as I like to compete with Jake, when it comes to weights, I hate it. Liam does even more, which I believe is why instead of joining us, he headed to the punching bags.

“You could be happy for me.” Jake approaches; I crook an eyebrow and stop the series at eight. “Is it because you’re alone and miserable? Perhaps it’s time you look for someone special.”

“Dude, I am happy for you, seriously. You know I love Em and you two are the perfect couple. Believe me, Li and I are thrilled that she finally said yes. Mom’s ready to use all those bridal magazines she’s been buying since the two of you got back together. If you want a hug and a congratulations, you don’t spring the news while we’re running. That’s why she didn’t accept the first hundred times. Not that I want to know how you finally got the
yes
.”