Stepbrother Dearest by Penelope Ward

Author:Penelope Ward
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Published: 2014-09-27T18:30:00+00:00

Everything is fine. Elec had something like a panic attack and I’m driving him around. Make sure Greg gives you a ride to the restaurant and let him know Elec is with me. Not sure if we’ll miss the meal.

I didn’t expect her to respond since the service was still going on but hoped she’d check her phone once she noticed we were gone.

He grunted. “Fuck.”

“What?”

“My cigarettes are in Greg’s car. I really need one.”

“We can stop and get some.”

He held up his hand. “No. Don’t stop. Just drive.”

So, that’s what I did. For two hours straight, I drove on the highway. It was the middle of the day, so traffic was light. Elec was quiet the entire time, mostly looking out the window.

I had to stop at some point; otherwise, we’d be heading out of state. Sure enough, fifteen minutes later, the Welcome to Connecticut sign greeted me. He’d told me to take him to the polar opposite of a graveyard, to make him forget. I suddenly had a brilliant idea and knew exactly where we could go.

“Just about another twenty minutes then we’re gonna stop somewhere, okay?”

He turned to me and spoke for the first time in hours. “Thank you.”

I wanted to reach for his hand but resisted. A few minutes later, it looked like he’d fallen asleep. I remembered Chelsea saying he hadn’t been getting any sleep since finding out Randy died.

My phone rang, and I picked it up.

“Hey, Mom.”

“Greta, we’ve been worried. The meal is over. Is everything okay?”

“Everything is fine. We’re still driving. We’re gonna stop soon. Don’t worry, okay? I’m sorry I had to leave you.”

“I’m alright. The worst is over. I’m with Greg and Clara for the night. Just take care of Elec. He shouldn’t be alone.”

“Okay. Thanks for understanding, Mom. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

We were approaching our destination, so I nudged Elec. “Wake up. We’re here.”

He rubbed his eyes and looked over at me as we continued down the long driveway.

“Are you taking me to visit the magical Wizard of Oz?”

He was right. The approach to the building kind of reminded me of the yellow brick road with the massive castle at the end.

“No, silly. It’s a casino.”

“We escaped from a funeral so that you could take me gambling? What the fuck?”

When I turned to look at his face, I expected to see a confused expression, but instead, he was giving me that rare genuine smile that I’d only seen a few times—the one that told me he was just messing with me. It was the same look that always made my heart flutter.

Then, he started laughing hysterically into his hands. I think he was delirious.

“You think it’s distasteful?”

He wiped his eyes. “No, I think it’s fucking brilliant!”

When I pulled into a parking spot, he was still laughing.

“Well, you told me to take you to the polar opposite of a graveyard, Elec.”

“Yeah, I was thinking maybe a Zen Japanese restaurant or I don’t know…a beach?”

“You want to leave?”

“Hell no. I

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