Susan Mallery: Only Mine

“Right. Malibu. And I’ll meet with producers and go to parties and make millions.” He glanced at his brother. “What are you going to do?”

Stephen was quiet for a long time. “I don’t know,” he said at last. “Not go to Hollywood.”

“You’d like it.”

Stephen shook his head. “No. I want something different. I want …”

He didn’t complete the sentence, but then he didn’t have to. Sasha already knew. He and his twin might not share the same dreams, but they still knew everything about each other. Stephen wanted to find a place to belong, whatever the hell that meant.

“It’s Finn’s fault you’re not excited about this,” Sasha grumbled.

Stephen looked at him and grinned. “You mean because he’s so hell-bent on us finishing college and having a good life? What a jerk.”

Sasha chuckled. “Yeah. Where does he get off demanding we’re successful?” His humor faded. “Except it’s not about us. It’s about him. He just wants to say he’s done a good job.”

Sasha knew it was more than that, but he wasn’t willing to admit it. Not out loud, anyway.

“Don’t worry about him,” Stephen said, reaching for the magazine. “He’s a couple thousand miles away.”

“Right,” Sasha said. “Why let him ruin our good time? We’re going to be on TV.”

“Finn will never watch the show.”

True enough. Finn didn’t do anything for fun. Not anymore. He used to be wild—before …

Before their parents had died. That’s how all the Andersson boys measured time. Events were either before or after the death of their parents. But their brother had changed after the accident. Today Finn wouldn’t know a good time if it bit him on the ass.

“Just because Finn knows where we are doesn’t mean he’s going to come after us,” Sasha said. “He knows when he’s beat.”

Someone knocked on the door.

Since Sasha was closer, he stood and leaned over far enough to reach the knob. The door eased open. Finn stood there, looking as mad as he had the time the twins had trapped a skunk and left it in his bedroom.

“Hello, boys,” he said, stepping inside. “Let’s talk.”

FINN TOLD HIMSELF that yelling wasn’t going to accomplish anything. His brothers were technically adults, although it wouldn’t be hard to make a case that, over eighteen or not, they were idiots.

He stepped into the tiny motel room, crammed with two full-size beds, a dresser, battered television and the door to an equally small bathroom.

“Nice,” he said, glancing around. “I like what you’ve done with the place.”

Sasha rolled his eyes as he sank back on his bed. “What are you doing here?”

“Coming after you.”

The twins exchanged a look of surprise.

Finn shook his head. “Did you really think an email telling me you’d left college to come here was enough? That I would simply say, ‘No problem. Have fun. Who cares if you abandon college in your last semester?’”

“We said we were fine,” Sasha reminded him.

“Yes, you did and I do appreciate it.”

As there weren’t all that many motels in Fool’s Gold, locating the twins had been relatively easy. Finn knew that money would be tight, which had eliminated all the nice places. The motel manager had recognized them immediately and hadn’t minded giving Finn their room number.

Stephen watched him warily but didn’t speak. He’d always been the quieter of the twins. Despite the fact that they looked nearly exactly alike, they had different personalities. Sasha was outgoing, impulsive and easily distracted. Stephen was more silent and usually considered his actions. Finn could understand Sasha taking off for California, but Stephen?

Stay calm, he reminded himself. Having a conversation would get him further than shouting. But when he opened his mouth, he found himself yelling from the very first word.

“What the hell were you thinking?” he demanded, slamming the door shut behind him and planting both hands on his hips. “You had one semester left of college. Just one. You could have finished your classes and graduated. Then you would each have had a degree. Something no one could take away from you. But did you think of that? Of course not. Instead you took off, quitting before you were finished. And for what? Some chance to be in a ridiculous show?”

The twins looked at each other. Sasha sat up and sucked in a breath. “The show isn’t ridiculous. Not to us.”

“Because you’re both professionals? You know what you’re doing?” He glared at them both. “I want to lock you in this damn room until you figure out how stupid you’re being.”

Stephen nodded slowly. “That would be why we didn’t tell you until after we were here, Finn. We didn’t want to hurt you or scare you, but you’re holding on too tight.”

Words Finn didn’t want to hear. “Why couldn’t you finish college? That’s all I wanted. Just to get you through college.”

“Would it really end there?” Sasha asked him, coming to his feet. “You said that before. That all we had to do was finish high school and you’d get off our butts. But you didn’t. There you were, pushing for college, staying on us about our grades, our classes.”

Finn felt his temper rising. “How is that wrong? Is it bad that I want you to have a good life?”

“You want us to have your life,” Sasha said, glaring at him. “We appreciate all you’ve done. We care about you, but we can’t do what you want anymore.”

“You’re twenty-one. You’re kids.”

“We’re not,” Stephen said, sitting up. “You keep saying that.”

“Maybe my attitude has something to do with your actions.”

“Or maybe it’s just you,” Stephen told him. “You’ve never trusted us. Never given us a chance to prove what we could do on our own.”

Finn wanted to put his fist through a wall. “Maybe because I knew you’d pull something like this. What were you thinking?”

“We need to make our own decisions,” Stephen said stubbornly.

“Not when they’re this bad.”

Finn could feel control of the conversation slipping from him. The sensation got worse when the twins exchanged a look. One that said they were communicating silently, in a way he’d never understood.

“You can’t make us go back,” Stephen said quietly. “We’re staying. We’re going to get on the show.”

“And then what?” Finn asked, dropping his hands to his sides.

“I’m going to Hollywood to be on television and in the movies,” Sasha told him.

Hardly news, Finn thought. Sasha had been starstruck for years.

“What about you?” Finn asked Stephen. “Want to become a spokesmodel?”

“No.”

“Then come home.”

“We’re not going back,” Stephen told him, sounding strangely determined and mature. “Let it go, Finn. You’ve done all you needed to. We’re ready to be on our own.”

They weren’t. That’s what killed Finn. They were too young, too determined to screw up. If he wasn’t nearby, how could he keep them safe? He would do anything to protect them. Briefly he wondered if he could physically wrestle them into submission. But then what? He couldn’t keep them tied up for the entire trip back. The thought of kidnapping wasn’t pleasant, and he had a vague notion that he would be flirting with felony charges the second he crossed state lines.

Besides, getting them back to Alaska wouldn’t accomplish anything if they weren’t willing to stay and finish school.

“Can’t you do this in June?” he asked. “After you graduate?”

The twins shook their heads.

“We don’t want to hurt you,” Stephen told him. “We really do appreciate all you’ve done. It’s time to let go. We’re going to be fine.”