Vivian Arend - Rocky Mountain Rebel

Maybe she’d regret this. Maybe she was asking for more pain like she’d felt the previous week, but she had to know if it was possible to have a real friend.

Vicki took a deep breath, hoping this wasn’t going to change her world in ways she’d come to regret.

“Before I tell you about Eric, you tell me something. Tell me about my family, and don’t try to be polite and save my tender feelings. Because the two things are connected.”

He looked rather uncomfortable for a moment. “Again, I know less details and more rumours. Your mom…” she glared until he finished his sentence, “…she’s got a new friend every now and again. Older men who take care of her for a while before she switches.”

“She’s been doing it her entire life as far as I know, which is why me, Lynn and Sarah have three different fathers.”

Joel shook his head. “Damn.”

“Go on.”

He nodded. “Sarah…takes after your ma.”

Vicki let out a guffaw. “Now, that’s a nice way to put it.”

“Lynn. I never heard much about Lynn. She moved to Edmonton right after high school, right?”

She nodded. “And me?”

Joel sighed. “You dropped out of school the same summer Lynn left, moved out on your own.”

“And slept with half the town.”

Denial came instantly. “Actually, once you left school, you fell off the radar. I mean, the Hansol name got used a lot, but not yours specifically.”

What she figured. “It’s so awesome that this town has been giving me hell for years completely based on two members of the family.”

“Eric—what happened?” he prodded again.

God, it hurt to share even now. “Eric did sleep with a Hansol girl, only it was Lynn.”

Joel paused, stiff with shock.

“I overheard the senior guys talking about having one of those stupid bets. How many girls they could sleep with before graduation. You know, the contests that aren’t supposed to happen, but do.”

Anger was rising on Joel’s face. “Go on.”

“I was in the Home-Ec room and heard them in the hall boasting about conquests, reducing sex to sheer numbers. I was disgusted at the time, but when I got home I discovered it was worse than I’d imagined because Lynn was all excited to tell me about her new boyfriend. Seems Eric Tell realized my sweet sister was about as good a target as he could find.”

Oh Lord, here was the moment. She lifted her eyes to Joel’s. “Lynn’s got Asperger’s. She’s not bad, but it means there are certain things she just doesn’t get. She’s borderline on the spectrum, so my mom was never forced to get her real help during school. It was too much bother to fill in paperwork and such. Any teachers who made a comment were poo-pooed, and since Lynn got passing marks, they had no choice but to move her forward year after year. It’s the social side she doesn’t get.”

“Like knowing how to act with others?”

“Exactly.” Vicki wrapped her arms around her legs. “A routine helps, which is why I used to haul her into Home-Ec every lunch break for some quiet time. Having a boyfriend was just a cool thing. Everyone else in high school talked about wanting a boyfriend. When Eric told her that’s what he was, she was thrilled. When I found out what he’d done, I went a little crazy. Raced down to the football field and stormed into the changing room.”

“Oh hell, that would have been incredible to see.”

“Yeah, well once the shouting and running for towels was over, I marched up and got in his face. Told him he was an asshole, and that I didn’t appreciate being used for some kind of bet. That if he’d wanted to sleep with me once and be done, he should have been man enough to just tell me.”

A frown creased Joel’s forehead. “Wait, you said he slept with you ?”

She nodded. “Lynn didn’t need the reputation of being another of the loose Hansol girls, and she didn’t need any other assholes in the school realizing how her mind works. She’s fanatical about her friends, Joel. Will do anything for them, anything they ask at all, even if it’s not in her best interest. She didn’t understand , and like all the years before, I did what I had to do to protect her.”

“And he just agreed with you? Didn’t mention Lynn at all?”

“The rest of the guys starting hooting and cheering him, you know like he was some great hero or something. Yeah, he wasn’t going to argue at that moment. Just took their adoration and trampled me underfoot.”

“So you lost your reputation to save hers.”

“Yeah.” Fear hovered, and she fought it down. She had to trust him. “This is why you can’t tell anyone the truth. I know Lynn is safely away, but I don’t ever want this discussed in front of her. I don’t want him connected with her in any way.”

He was nodding but still staring into the fire. “Something doesn’t make sense. Eric knew you’d lied, and being the kind of ass that he is, why didn’t he try holding this over your head? He knows it was Lynn…”

Vicki paused. “Well, first he kept quiet because he was in the hospital with a concussion and a broken arm.”

It was clear Joel wasn’t too choked up about Eric getting hurt. “That part is true? Damn, you really did beat him up.”

She wished she had. It would have been more satisfying than the truth. “He was standing on a wet floor, clutching a towel around his waist. When I went to kick him in the nuts he slipped and did it to himself. Of course, rumours twisted fast enough into me attacking him out of the blue.”

Anger flared in Joel’s eyes. “Needs to have his balls removed.”

“I’ve had many a pleasant daydream about that.” She swallowed. “The other reason he’s never said anything is I have two birth certificates.”

Confusion was written all over him.

Vicki dove back into her explanation. “With all the places my mom lived before hauling us to Rocky, she was constantly losing things. I was born somewhere in rural Saskatchewan, but when she got here and had to register me for school, she applied for a new copy. Only what she got wasn’t a copy, it’s a different version. Maybe she messed with my age to get me into some free childcare program, or someone in the system might have made a typo, I don’t know for sure. But I found both copies, so I have two.”

“How does that keep Eric from telling about Lynn?”

Vicki slowed. “All the guys heard him acknowledge he slept with me. Once I had that, I had him trapped. I showed him my birth certificate, the second one that I keep hidden. It says I’m three years younger than he expected, which would have meant he slept with a minor. It doesn’t matter if me being that much younger is believable or not, it’s a legal document and would be enough to get him a record, if not jail time, even now.”

She had him floored. Joel blinked hard and shook his head. “Whoa. Okay, remind me never to piss you off.”

“It wasn’t about me. The deal I offered was he leaves Lynn alone. No comments, no nothing about her, and I keep my mouth shut. He goes after her in any way, I go after him.” Vicki stared into the fire, clutching her legs as she waded through to the end. “For years he’s pushed the limits. I take the cracks about myself, and Sarah and Mom. Hell, they made their bed, they can lie in it. But Lynn is off limits.”

“He’s a bastard through and through for even starting this war between you. Was Lynn okay?” He radiated fury, and something about his anger helped defuse hers. Like she finally had someone to share the load with. He rested a hand on her arm and she caught his fingers.

“She is now. I contacted social services and got them to listen. Lynn got accepted into a group home, and she’s safe. No chance of Sarah’s leftovers strolling down the hall and making a move on us.”