The sudden mention of Kevin jars me and I lean forward toward Clark.
“Wait. Kevin wanted to buy your business?”
Clark looks away from Emily and focuses on me. He looks as if he has forgotten completely that I am here. I glance over at Emily who shrugs. Behind her, Wendy is pretending to be busy in the kitchen, having never returned with the water that Clark asked her just to get her out of the dining room.
“Yes, he did. A pretty penny too. But I refused.”
“Why?”
“Kevin sees a profit everywhere he looks. I don’t trust the man. I know your father does, April, but I always considered that foolish.”
I realize that Clark doesn’t know my father has passed away. It seems awkward to suddenly tell him now. I also don’t want to upset him. I can already tell that speaking about Kevin is bothering him by the way he taps his fingers against the table.
Clark goes on, “So I wasn’t going to sell to him. He’s a snake. He’s always plotting and planning. Everyone has the wool pulled over their eyes with him. Don’t believe anything Kevin says. He is never up to anything good. He’s greedy.”
“Why do you think that, Dad?” Emily asks.
He looks over at her, “I can tell. I can feel it.”
I see that Emily is let down by this answer. I am too. I realize I had been hoping that Clark had something concrete in regards to Kevin, something he could give us that could nail him against the wall. But Emily and I already know that Kevin is a snake in the grass.
Clark clears his throat and says, “Kevin lost all interest in people and being kind when Sophia’s sister died.”
I blink. “His wife’s sister?”
“Yes, that’s right,” he says, sounding impatient now. “He was in love with her.”
I look at Emily but she looks just as lost as I do. I don’t know much about Kevin’s wife. In fact, I don’t see her often. She was around but always looked either bored or vacant. I remember her as being quiet. There was a rumor that she did a lot of pills but nothing ever came of it.
“He was in love with Sophie’s sister?” Emily repeats.
“Yes, yes, child, are you not listening?” he says and Wendy takes a step forward.
Emily, as if sensing time is short before her father’s clarity is gone, asks, “How do you know this?”
“Everyone knew. This was years and years ago. His father wanted him to marry one of those sisters for a business deal. Kevin didn’t mind. He was smitten with Angel. She was everything he wanted in a woman. He loved her. She died, however, when a drunk driver crashed into her car one night after they got engaged. Kevin changed then. He married Sophia, that poor girl, to keep his father’s business deal going but the man just wasn’t the same after that.”
Clark has said so much now that he suddenly begins coughing. Wendy rushes over with the water and he takes a gulp of it.
Then he looks at the two of us. “You need to stay away from him, Emily. Do you understand? That schoolgirl crush on him – stay away from him. Both of you!”
“Calm down, sir,” Wendy says but Clark is ranting loudly now about Kevin and gesturing wildly.
Emily stands up and motions for me to follow her. We head into the living room to give Wendy a chance to calm Clark down. Emily looks at me.
“Did you know about that?” I ask.
“What, Kevin being in love? No. Do you think your dad knew?”
“Probably. It sounded like everyone knew. Poor Sophia,” I mumble. “Is your dad okay?”
Emily looks lost in thought. I haven’t yet told her about Spencer and the fact that Kevin uses their child against her. Spencer wants to keep information like that on the down low and I want to respect her.
“He gets like this. He’s clear for a while and then loses track of what is going on or gets really upset about things.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I should come here more often. I just get nervous, I guess. I don’t know. Mixed feelings about everything.”
Wendy comes into the room then. “He needs to nap. I’m sorry to cut the visit short.”
“It’s okay,” Emily says quickly. “I’ll try to be back soon.”
“Okay, dear. Nice to meet you, April.”
We say good-bye and step outside. Emily is fiddling with her wedding ring, looking absently ahead.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“Yeah. Just thinking about what Dad said. I’m angry how he handled the business. Maybe I could have been really good at it. I feel like I’m not good at anything.”
“That isn’t true. You’re good with people, like he said your mom was.”
“Yeah, but what can I do with that?”
“Lots of things. Customer service. You could work in a business that needs someone good with people.”
“Maybe,” she says, still sounding unsure.
I glance over to see Miss Midnight now cleaning her car. She barely glances up at us.
“You could work with Miss Midnight,” I say, half joking. “She probably needs someone working the desk at her little tarot shop if you’re bored at the record company. Imagine all the interesting people you’d see there.”
I can see this suggestion has stirred something up in Emily because she does look interested. “Maybe I will.”
“Come on, let’s go,” I tell her before she can rush into anything.
We head toward her car.
***
After spending all afternoon with people, the silence of the apartment feels almost deafening. I sit down on the couch and stare at the TV, even though it isn’t on. I am thinking about Emily, about her father and mother, and how I wish I could help her find something she wants to do with her life. I realize how lucky I am to have always wanted to be a photographer.
My mind drifts to Kevin, which it seems to always be drifting to whenever I have an extra moment. I try to picture him in love but my mind can’t conjure anything up. I didn’t even know Sophia had a sister. What was Angel like that she won Kevin’s heart? Poor Sophia, having to marry a man who loved someone else, even if it was her own sister.
Even so, I don’t feel any sympathy for Kevin. How can I after what he did to me? After what he is doing to Spencer?
I close my eyes and curl up on the couch. I drift off into dreamland. For the first time in ages, it has nothing to do with my accident. Instead, I am in Bennett’s apartment. He is behind me, kissing along my neck and running his fingers down my arms. Goosebumps prickle up along my skin.
I turn to kiss him but he is gone. I turn around completely and survey the room but it is empty. I wander around the apartment but he is nowhere to be found.
I wake up suddenly, letting out a gasp for breath. The living room is dark. The sun has set and the clock above the TV shows that it is a little after seven. I sit up, rubbing my eyes.
I miss Bennett. The thought comes to me quickly and hard, as if it is smacking me in the face. I am lonely without him. I miss him touching me and him popping up at my doorstep. I miss finding out all the strange little things about him and the way he would laugh at different things. I even miss the way he would annoy me.
But can I overcome the obstacles between us? Can I overlook the fact that he doesn’t want to go against his father? I have learned by now that Kevin is full of secrets and lies, a soap opera villain brought to life in front of my own eyes. How many people have fallen for Kevin? Spencer, fighting against him yet too scared to move. Bennett, his own son, wanting to get approval that Kevin will withhold just to keep a firm grip on him. His wife, Sophia, dealing with the fact that he never loved her.
The pieces lie at my feet – all the people Kevin have broken. The ones that I know of and the ones that are unknown to me. Knowing that Bennett is one of those people, it is foolish and unwise to be falling so deeply for him.
Before I can talk myself out of it, I grab my phone and call Bennett. Even though my brain is telling me to hang up, I don’t. No answer. He is three hours ahead on the other coast. Could he be sleeping? Did he see my call and just ignore it?
“Hi, this is Bennett. Sorry I missed your call. Please leave your name and your number and I will call you back.”
His voice makes my insides ache. I should just hang up now but the phone beeps in my ear and I stare at the clock above my TV.
“Bennett. It’s April. I just… I don’t know why I’m calling. I miss you. I’m sorry to call you. I was just thinking about you. Good-night.”
I hang up and toss my phone over beside me. I wonder what he will think when he hears my message.