Page 114 of Crave Me
CHAPTER 26
Wren
The rumbling of voices slap like the splatter of heavy rain against the steel door. As per the mass company email I sent, everyone is filing into the auditorium we typically reserve to introduce new product lines. Not this time. This time, it’s all about the overwhelming success iCronos is experiencing and the man who made it happen.
I’m wearing a blue dress with silvery tones to match his tie. He smiled when he saw me, knowing why I chose it. After everything he’s done for me and for us, it’s the least I can do.
He paces the conference room where we wait, his excitement building. I’m so proud of him and wish I could explain just how much. Except nothing I can think to say seems like enough. So I tell him a story, cause it’s the one thing I’m pretty damn good at.
“Did I ever tell you about what happened between me and Carolina Delgado?”
He stops pacing. “Is she the one you punched in the face for seducing your brother?”
“No, that was Josefina Miller. I punched Carolina in the face for something entirely different.”
He crosses his arms and leans into the conference table. “I thought Josefina was the one who taught you to ride a motorcycle?”
“No, that was Juanita Delaverde.” I stop swiveling in my seat. “Besides, that was sixth grade and I’m talking about fifth.”
He smirks. “No, I don’t believe you’ve acquainted me with Carolina Delgado.”
“In that case, listen up, it’s going to help you out there.”
“I have no doubt,” he says, chuckling.
I clear my throat, my way of telling him it’s going to be a doozey because it sure as hell is. “When I was eleven years old, I had to stand in front of the entire student body at Saint Therese Catholic School, the staff, and worst yet Sister Hildegard and my arch nemesis Carolina. By some miracle of God, I’d scored among the top ten students in our spelling bee and it was down to me, Carolina, and Yvette McGillicudy to represent Saint Therese at the state level.”
“What was so bad about Sister Hildegard?”
It’s so like Evan to guess she plays a big part of the story. “Oh, nothing, she just hated me since the time she caught me, Killian, and Curran lugging the holy water tank out of church. Long story,” I add when he blinks back at me. “Let’s just say Finnie had hit the terrible two’s, the angry three’s, and the fucking fours all at once. We were convinced he was possessed and were trying to save him.” I hold out a hand. “Our hearts were in the right place. But in case you were wondering, he wasn’t possessed.”
“I wasn’t wondering, actually,” he responds.
“Good, but he was still a little bastard and we all have the bite marks to prove it.”
I cross my legs when he laughs. “Anyway, Carolina’s word was ‘irrefutable’. The bat-shit crazy peroxide blonde nailed it. Yvette’s word was, ‘camouflage’. She was always smart so she spelled it out in one breath. Mine was ‘silhouette’. Sil-hou-fucking-ette. The moment I heard it, I couldn’t remember which came first, the “l” or the “h.”
“How did it go?”
“About as bad as you can imagine and then a little worse,” I admit. “I step up to the podium, pretty much knowing I’m screwed and wishing I didn’t have to be. The bright lights from the stage added about ten degrees to the already scorching auditorium that subbed as our gymnasium, sending heat tearing across my chest. It was bad, Evan. Real bad. I was sweating so much I looked like I’d showered in my uniform. The polyester stuck against my skinny body and it was like I couldn’t breathe.”
“Darling,” he says.
He sounds worried about me, even after all the years that passed. I want to hug him for it. But I keep going. He needs to hear what I have to say.
“‘Erin O’Brien?’ Sister Hildegard said, her voice as sweet as vinegar poured over gasoline. ‘Spell silhouette,’ she repeated.”
“Um,” I said.
He adjusts his position, listening closely. “A flash went off in the audience,” I tell him. “Followed by another. Ma and Angus were snapping away on the disposable cameras they’d picked up at the drugstore like this was the O’Briens’ finest moment. In a way, it was, seeing it was the first good thing to happen since my father had died. Declan sat between them. Grammie was there, too, praying the rosary. I couldn’t let them down, you know? But I did. I said, ‘Silhouette. S-i-h-l-o-u-e-t-t-e.’”
“Oh,” Evan says, grimacing.
“I know,” I mumble. “Angus jumps up. Applauding and cheering, thinking I spelled it right. It sucked. Not only because I hadn’t, but because at least half the audience laughed at him, some of the snobbier kids even pointed. Declan turned around, told them to shut up. He, Ma, and Angus started arguing with the people directly behind them. They didn’t hear Carolina tell me, ‘Your brother’s as stupid as you are’. But I did.’”
“My God,” Evan says.
“She didn’t know Angus took his GED at sixteen and started working full time to help support us after my father died.” I shrug. “Or maybe she did. Carolina was always mean. So instead of taking a seat because my moment was over, I took a swing and knocked her on her ass.”