Inheritance

CHAPTER 24

Reese didn’t go back to the ship. She couldn’t face David right now, not with Amber’s words still echoing in her mind. She wound up walking all the way back to the ferry, passing several armed National Guard troops on the way. She heard their walkie-talkies scratch to life behind her as they reported her whereabouts to whoever was in charge. At the harbor, two soldiers paced back and forth in front of the dock. She ignored them and sat on the bench outside the closed information booth, staring at the harbor. She kept remembering the look on Amber’s face when she said she wasn’t sorry she had fallen in love with Reese. The word love was so big, so grand. Reese didn’t know if she should believe Amber. On the one hand, it would be easier if she didn’t. Then she could ignore the L word and concentrate on being angry. On the other hand, part of Reese did want to believe her. Amber had said everything Reese had ever secretly wanted to hear, and even if the word love frightened Reese, she couldn’t deny its allure.

But what about David? Thinking about him made a new, awful ache grow inside her, one she had never felt before. She had liked him long before she had ever met Amber. She trusted him. The way he made her feel was so different from the way Amber made her feel. With David, there was a warmth and solidity and clarity that there wasn’t with Amber. David made her feel safe and respected and happy. Amber made her feel tormented and hungry. There shouldn’t be any competition. But there was.

Half an hour later, an SUV drove up to the ferry landing and David and her father climbed out. Her dad came toward her, looking upset. “Are you all right? Why didn’t you tell us where you were going? You can’t just run off like that.”

“I needed some space,” she answered, avoiding David’s gaze.

“Reese, you need to tell me where you’re going,” her dad admonished her.

“It’s not like nobody knew. I’ve been watched by the National Guard the whole time.”

Her dad sat beside her, shaking his head. “That’s not the point.”

Reese surreptitiously watched David as he turned away from them to look at the harbor. “Fine. I’m sorry,” she said. Her dad sighed, but he didn’t chide her further.

On the ferry, Reese climbed the steep steps to the deck, hoping to continue avoiding David, but he followed her up. She leaned against the railing as the boat motored away from the slip, watching as the island receded.

“Reese.”

She couldn’t bring herself to look at him. He was standing a foot away, and she noticed that he hadn’t attempted to touch her. She didn’t know what she would do if he did. She knew she could shut him out, but even the idea of it felt like a betrayal.

“Dr. Brand invited us to go with them to the UN in New York,” he said.

“She did?”

“Yeah. They want us to travel with them. They’re taking the ship.”

Somehow the invitation didn’t surprise her. “Do you want to go?”

“Yeah, I do. I think it’s our chance to speak to both sides. They need us.”

She didn’t answer. She knew she should say something, but all she could do was think to herself: You’re about to fuck this up, aren’t you? There was a strained silence. In the distance Reese heard the sound of a motorboat zipping across the water.

Finally David came to stand beside her. “Are you going to tell me what happened with Amber?”

Reese lowered her gaze to stare at the water coursing past the ferry. “We just… talked.”

“Then why are you acting so guilty?”

Her face burned. “She’s hard to deal with, okay?” Reese straightened up, shoving her hands into her pockets as she looked at him.

He studied her for a long moment. “Yeah, I’ll bet.”

The intonation behind his words was clear. He didn’t believe her. She swallowed.

“Look,” he said. “I can’t help it. I don’t trust her. I think she’s trying to get back with you and—”

“Don’t you trust me?” Reese interrupted. She heard the accusation in her voice and she flinched. She had no right to make David shoulder the blame, and now she was accelerating straight toward disaster.

The vein in his temple throbbed. “Yeah, I do trust you. Are you telling me I shouldn’t?”

The wind blew her hair into her face and she reached up with shaking fingers to drag it away. “No. Nothing happened. She apologized again for lying to me, that’s all.”

“Do you forgive her?”

She had never heard him speak like this before, his voice low and controlled—too controlled. Her stomach lurched as the ferry crested a wave. She grabbed on to the railing. “I don’t know,” she said finally.

His expression was hard as a mask. “She came to Eres Tilhar’s room to tell us you weren’t coming back.”

“She did?”

“She looked pretty upset.”

“Did she say why?”

Frustration flashed across David’s face. “No. She and Eres had a moment. They did some kind of consciousness-sharing crap and I watched her look depressed and scared, and then everybody freaked out because they had no idea where you were. And then she left. It was very dramatic. And I was scared too, because I didn’t know if you’d gone somewhere on your own or if someone had taken you. And then when we find you, you won’t say anything about what happened. I keep hoping you’ll tell me the truth, but you don’t seem to be able to talk.”

Reese wanted to shrink into nothing. She wished she could melt into the deck of the ferry and become the wood. Anything would be better than seeing David look at her as if he didn’t recognize who she was anymore.

“I know you had feelings for her, and she obviously still has feelings for you.” His eyes were shadowed with something between anger and sadness. “I just want you to be honest with me.”

Reese didn’t know what to say. A thousand words were jumbled up in her head and she couldn’t form a sentence out of any of them.

Gritting his teeth, David turned and headed back across the deck toward the stairs.

“David, wait!” She went after him, determined not to mess this up, not like this, and she grabbed his hand. Jealousy jolted through her, fierce and bitter, and she nearly dropped his hand in shock.

He jerked away from her. “What?”

“You’re not like that,” she said, desperation rising in her. “You’re not like this.”

“Like what?”

She pushed her hair back, her fingers digging into her scalp as she searched frantically for the right words. “You’re—you have no reason to be jealous. You’re you. You always do the right thing. You’re so put together, and you can talk about whatever happened to us when I turn into a babbling idiot, and you’re—you’re the good guy. I want the good guy. I want you.”

Something softened in his gaze, and she took that as a positive sign. She reached for him again, but his hand was a leaden weight in hers. David. He took a step closer to her. “Can’t you feel how I feel about you?” she asked. She raised his hand and placed it over her heart.

He lifted his other hand to her face. His fingers were warm on her cheek. He was so close to her, all he had to do was lean down a tiny bit, and he could kiss her. She put her hands on his upper arms. She wanted to tug him down to her. She wanted to close the distance between them and forget about Amber.

“Yeah, I can feel it,” he whispered.

Her fingers tightened over his biceps. David. He didn’t move.

“But how do you feel about Amber? You need to figure that part out.” He didn’t kiss her. He stepped back. “I’m not the person you think I am,” he said, and then he turned and left her alone.

Reese and her dad had to drive David home. It was beyond awkward. As Reese’s dad pulled the car away from David’s house, he asked, “Is something wrong between you two? Do you want to talk about it?”

She stared out the window at the passing houses as their car descended the hill. “No,” she answered. She definitely didn’t want to get into this with her dad. She saw him glance at her dubiously and she quickly changed the subject. “When are you leaving?”

“Why, am I outstaying my welcome?” he said jokingly.

“I’m just wondering. Don’t you have to get back to work in Seattle?”

“I’m working here. You know that. I have to fly back for a meeting at the end of the month, but I might come back after that.”

She turned her head to look at him. “Why?”

His eyebrows rose in surprise. “I’m your father. After what happened to you, I want to be here for you.”

She turned back to the window. “Oh, really,” she said, lacing the words with sarcasm.

There was a pause, and then her dad asked, “What is the matter with you? Are you trying to start a fight?”

She shrugged, slouching down in the seat. “Why, is there a fight we should be having?”

“Reese,” he said, sounding exasperated.

“Dad,” she mimicked. She was all prickles right now; she didn’t care if she started a fight.

“You’re acting like a child.”

“You guys never let me do anything on my own anymore. Maybe that’s why.”

He inhaled sharply. “Reese. I’m trying here. Are you angry with me? You have to meet me halfway.”

She didn’t answer for a moment. She felt as if all her emotions were turning to stone. She asked in a bored tone of voice, “What are you doing with Mom?”

She could sense the tension in the car ratchet up several notches as her dad said, “What do you mean?”

She looked at him. His jaw was tight, his hands clenched over the wheel. “I mean, are you trying to get back together with her?”

He kept his eyes on the road. “I’m your father,” he said curtly. “You shouldn’t be speaking to me in that tone.”

“I think you lost your parental authority when you cheated on Mom and moved out.” Reese had argued with her father before, but she had never put this particular thought into words. Saying it out loud sent a surge of hot excitement through her, as if she were gearing up to do something reckless.

Her father’s face turned an ugly shade of red. “You need to tone it down. I won’t accept this from you.”

“Won’t accept what? The truth?” She sat up, glaring at him. “You never tell me the truth. What about Lydia? Are you still with her?”

Her father jammed his foot on the brake and the car jerked, the seat belt digging into her shoulder. They were at a stop sign. He turned to look at her. “Where did you hear about her?” he demanded.

“I live in the same house with Mom,” she said coldly. “I can hear, you know.”

He accelerated through the intersection. “You’re too young to understand these things. And they’re between your mother and me and have nothing to do with you.”

His answer infuriated her, and she couldn’t seem to stop herself from pushing him further. It was as if everything she had ever wanted to tell him was waiting to spill right out of her into the space of the car, and all she had to do was let go. “Oh, really? Who gets to deal with the fallout when you decide you’re done with Mom again? Who? I do. Do you know how upset she was last time you guys broke up? It was horrible, Dad. You have no idea what happens because you go back up to Seattle and you don’t have to deal with it. You go back to your—to Lydia, or whoever, and you don’t have any repercussions.”

“Reese, I’m warning you—”

“You don’t get it!” Reese cried, anger arcing through her like lightning. “If you love Mom, then fucking love her. That’s the only one you get to love. You can’t have your cake and eat it too.”

They had reached the house, and as soon as her dad pulled the car into the garage he said, “You are grounded, Reese. You can’t speak to me that way.”

“Whatever,” she said, opening the door. “You can’t ground me. You don’t even live here.” She got out of the car and slammed the door, stalking away.

Her dad got out too. “Reese! Come back here!”

She didn’t listen to him. She just kept walking.

Her mother was waiting for her in the living room when she returned home a couple of hours later. “Where have you been?” her mom asked, standing up. She looked tired and exasperated and upset.

“I had to get some air,” Reese said, heading for the stairs.

“Stop right there,” her mom snapped. “I’m not finished with you.”

Reese’s shoulders hunched. She turned around on the bottom step. “Mom, I—”

“Your father told me what you said to him.”

“He deserved it.”

Her mom crossed her arms. “He deserves your respect.”

Reese gaped at her. “Are you serious? After what he’s done to you?”

Her mom came into the hall. “I understand that you’re being protective of me, and you know, I even appreciate that. But you don’t understand the details of what’s going on between your father and me, and it’s not your place to manage that.”

“So tell me! Or do you want me to just wait till it’s over so I can make you feel better when he leaves you again?”

Her mother flushed. “That’s enough. Go to your room. We’ll discuss this when you’re calmer.”

Reese made a frustrated sound and stalked up the stairs. “Fine,” she threw back over her shoulder. “Whatever.” She slammed her bedroom door so hard that it made the walls shake. She sat down on the edge of her bed, dropping her head into her hands, and felt as if every nerve in her body had been switched on. She was vibrating with tension, and at first she didn’t realize that part of the vibration came from the phone in her jeans pocket.

She pulled it out, fearing that it was David, but to her surprise it was Bri. “What’s up?” Reese asked, answering the phone.

“Reese? It’s Bri.” She sounded strangely excited.

“Yeah, what’s going on?” She couldn’t hide the anger in her voice, and she didn’t care. It felt good.

“Um, there are these photos of you online?” Bri said hesitantly.

“This is news? There are photos all the time now.”

“These are new.”

There was something in her tone that made Reese suddenly nervous. “What are these photos of?” Reese went to her desk and opened her laptop.

“Well, you’re with that alien chick.”

“Like during the press conference in front of my house?”

“Uh, no.” Bri paused. The computer was slowly loading. “They’re, um, you guys look a little intimate.”

“What?” Why was her computer so slow? “Where are we?”

“Some beach somewhere? So… you and this alien chick?”

The laptop was finally on. Reese clicked on the Internet browser. “What website did you see it on?”

“It’s on the Hub. It just showed up like a few minutes ago.”

She went to the Hub. “On your feed? Where?”

“Just type in your name and it’ll come up.”

There it was. A somewhat grainy photo of Reese and Amber, sitting on the concrete retaining wall on the edge of Angel Island, their heads close together. Amber’s hand was on her cheek. Their mouths were nearly touching. Behind them the bulk of the spaceship loomed like a giant black beast.

Reese’s heart was racing. “Shit.”

“Reese? Are you okay?” Bri asked.

Reese clicked on a thumbnail image next to the large one. It was another shot of the two of them. There was a whole series, starting with them sitting a couple of feet apart and culminating with the fuzzy, zoomed-in photo that made it look as if they were about to or had just kissed.

“Hey, I just wanted to tell you. I didn’t want you to be surprised,” Bri said.

Reese took a shuddering breath. “Yeah. Thanks.”

“Are you all right? You sound a little freaked out.”

Hysterical laughter threatened to rip out of her. “Freaked out? Shit. Shit.”

“So, I gotta ask, um, did you guys hook up before? I mean, you told the news that you knew her before. When did you know her?”

Reese thought she was going to hyperventilate. The comments beneath the photos turned her stomach. There weren’t many yet, but she knew this was only the beginning. Alien hottie moves in on human girl! Guess the Chinese dude just wasn’t “enough” for her, huh? I wanna get me some of that.

“Reese?”

She had to stop looking at this page and its comments—another three popped up that second—or she would throw up. She got up, slamming her laptop closed. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m here,” she said. She began to pace back and forth. Her phone beeped; Julian was on call-waiting. She didn’t answer, and Bri kept talking.

“I know you’re not out and all, and this is probably like a giant shock to you or something. I’m really sorry. If you need to talk about it or anything, I’m here for you.” Bri laughed slightly. “Hey, that girl’s pretty hot. Congratulations?”

Reese froze in place. She had to call David. He was going to see those pictures. “I have to go,” she said abruptly. “I’m sorry. Thanks for telling me about the photos. I’ll talk to you later.” She hung up without waiting for Bri to respond, and then she stood there with her phone in her hand, her finger poised above David’s number in her address book.

She took a deep breath and hit the Call button.