The Summer Deal (Wildstone #5)(95)

Everyone looked at Maze, who sighed. “One time. Jeez. You borrow”—still holding her fork in one hand and the paper plate in the other, she managed to use air quotes for the word borrow—“a guy’s tractor one time, and no one lets you forget it.”

“That’s because thanks to you, it’s now illegal to drive a tractor without a permit in the state of California,” Walker said.

Eyes narrowed, Maze searched his gaze, because she’d have sworn she’d heard amusement in his tone, but his expression was completely blank. “That’s a total exaggeration. I didn’t even get arrested.” Not that the implication that she’d been wild and impulsive was wrong. Still wasn’t. She’d merely learned how to fake being mature.

Caitlin smiled and reached out for Heather’s and Maze’s hands, waiting for Heather to take Walker’s so they were all connected. “I love you guys.”

“I love you too,” Heather said.

“Love you,” Walker said quietly in his low baritone without a single beat of hesitation.

There came a beat of silence, and when it wasn’t filled, once again everyone looked at Maze.

“Me too,” she said.

Heather shook her head.

Caitlin rolled her eyes.

Walker didn’t react at all.

“What,” Maze said defensively.

“You never say the actual words,” Caitlin said.

“Of course I do.”

“Never,” Heather said.

Okay, so they were right. But as far as she was concerned, those three little words held way too much power.

Caitlin had been eyeing her watch and craning her neck to look behind them at the parking lot a good hundred yards back.

“What are you looking for?” Maze asked.

“Mom and Dad should’ve been here by now.”

Maze’s stomach dropped. “You invited them?”

Heather raised her hand. “Actually, that was me. I was checking in with them the other day and I mentioned our annual thing.”

“You mean our secret annual thing?” Maze asked.

“Again,” Heather said slowly and clearly. “I don’t keep secrets anymore. And you know why.”

The cake soured in Maze’s belly. Yeah, she certainly did know why Heather no longer kept secrets. She turned to Caitlin. “Why didn’t you tell me Jim and Shelly were coming?”

At the use of her parents’ first names, annoyance flickered over Caitlin’s face. She probably thought Maze was trying to get back at them for the last time they’d spoken, which hadn’t gone well to say the least. But that wasn’t it. Well, at least not all of it. It was more that Maze felt like she didn’t deserve to call them Mom and Dad.

“Today would’ve been Michael’s nineteenth birthday,” Caitlin said quietly, and Maze’s heart clutched. Michael had loved birthdays. And he’d only gotten nine of them.

“I didn’t tell you they were coming,” Cat went on, “because I knew you then wouldn’t.”

“It should’ve been my choice to make, not yours.” And great, now Maze’s voice was trembling. “You don’t get to make choices for me anymore.” It was a low blow and she knew it. But she wasn’t sweet like Heather, and she sure as hell couldn’t be rational like Caitlin.

“Michael was their son, their baby,” Caitlin said.

See? Rational. “Believe me,” Maze said tightly. “I get that.”

Disappointment joined annoyance on Caitlin’s face. “You know that’s not what I meant. I’m just saying that they have every right to be here at their son’s grave.”

While Maze did not. Right. She started to stand up, but Caitlin tugged on her arm. “Don’t go. They’ll want you to be here. And Michael would want that too.”

“Did you ask them?” Maze met her gaze. “Or is this a complete surprise for them as well?”

Caitlin winced, giving herself away. Dammit. Maze shook her head. “See, this is why it’s easier to not be part of a family.”

“A family?” Caitlin asked. “Or this family?”

Contrary to popular belief, Maze did have a few social skills and could read a room. She knew she was treading in dangerous territory here, and was about to seriously piss off the only people who’d ever remained at her back. But a funny thing happened to her when she felt cornered. It made her . . . feel, which also made her even more stubborn than usual, and that was saying something.

Heather was already crying. But to be fair, Heather cried at the drop of a hat.

Maze closed her eyes. “Heather . . . don’t.”

But then Caitlin sniffed too, and when a tear ran down her perfect cheek, it shook Maze because Caitlin almost never cried. “Stop that. You’re all just proving my point.”

Caitlin swiped angrily at her face. “Let me guess. You suck at meaningful relationships, so why bother, right?”

“Something like that.” But the real truth was, Maze didn’t just suck at them, she destroyed them. That was what she did, self-destructed her happiness. And she was good at it.

“Bullshit,” Caitlin snapped. “You just don’t like needing anyone.”

Maze drew a deep breath. “Look, I didn’t come here to ruin this for you guys. But we all know that we’re here because of me. I’m the one. This is all my fault.”