Page 44 of Fake Dark Vows

“You didn’t complete all the challenges, did you?” Brandon asks.

“No,” Harry says. “Planning the treasure hunt keeps your mother happy, but she doesn’t expect—or want—me to win. Where would be the fun in awarding the prize to her husband?”

I remember Brandon’s comment earlier in the day that his father plays by his own rules. Is this what he meant? Harry took part to keep Ruby happy, but had no intention of winning, and instead, spent a leisurely day cruising around the Keys and eating pie.

So, why do I still have the overwhelming sensation that I’m missing something here?

I finish my pie while the conversation meanders between April’s drunken revelations of her husband’s not-so-secret obsession with Pamela Anderson, and the merits of the Blond Giraffe’s key lime pie compared to those being sold in other establishments around the Keys.

Brandon—in complete one-eighty contrast to his behavior earlier in the day— seems inclined to linger a while, so I take the container we bought in Rain Barrel Village and head back inside to pick up the slice of pie we need to complete the challenge.

When I come back to the serenity garden, Harry is detached from the conversation taking place between Brandon and Ron, playing a clapping game with Georgie on his lap. I hear the name Russo as the table grows silent, and Brandon stands abruptly, causing me to step backwards to avoid his chair.

He glares at me. His eyes are even darker than they are whenever he’s in Damon’s presence, and his fists are clenched. The casual stance that he adopted to mimic that of his father and Ron when we arrived has been automatically replaced by Brandon Weiss in fight mode.

“I collected the pie to take back.” I raise the container as evidence.

“Good luck,” Ron says, although it’s unclear if he’s speaking to me or Brandon.

I shove the pie in Brandon’s hands and collect Georgie from Harry. It doesn’t occur to me that she could stay—despite the doting grandpa performance, I don’t feel comfortable leaving her behind.

“Bye, honey.” Harry kisses Georgie’s forehead and rubs noses with her.

“Bye, Grandpa.”

“We’ll catch up with the winners later,” Harry catches my eye and addresses me. “And I don’t necessarily mean the ones holding the prize.”

CHAPTER 15

Brandon

“And the winning couple is…”

My mother should’ve been an actress the way she revels in the spotlight, even when it’s of her own making.

“Drumroll please, Damon.”

My brother produces the required fanfare by rolling his ‘r’s and air-playing the drums, and my mother completes the dramatic effect by peering around the group on the porch as if they are the TV audience waiting in enraptured suspense.

“Brandon and his partner Rose.”

She couldn’t just say Brandon and Rose, she had to insert the distinct barrier between us with the word partner. I glance at Rose behind the drinks trolley in her uniform, beaming at my mother as if she just announced she won the national lottery.

I haven’t seen her since we got back to the house. The sun has left golden highlights in her hair that catch the glow of the fairy lights strung around the house, and her face has that healthy glow that only the ocean on a warm summer’s day can produce. She catches my eye, and I find myself smiling back at her like this is our moment.

“Brandon and Rose didn’t complete the treasure hunt in the fastest time, but they did, however, follow the brief of the challenges and come back with the most unusual—in the judges’ opinion—object from Rain Barrel Village.”

My mother produces the zoetrope and holds it up for all to see like she’s conducting an auction rather than hosting a cocktail hour.

“Brandon always has been able to sniff out a priceless work of art.” Mom pauses again for effect, and her friends provide the obligatory chuckles. “I’ll pass it around so that everyone can see why this piece won Brandon the overall winner title.”

Here is where I should intervene, remind her that Rose and I were a team, perhaps even correct her assumption that I discovered the zoetrope. The tacky snow globe is still in its box on the dresser in my room, just waiting to call me out on my silence at the end of the evening. But I wait a beat too long.

“Come on, Ruby,” April calls out. Having made a full recovery from this morning’s hangover, she is already on her third mojito. “Put us out of our suspense and tell me what I would’ve won.”

Mom smiles affectionately at April, pretending that she doesn’t know the cleaner spent the morning refreshing April’s ensuite bathroom. “An all-expenses paid trip to Vegas with $10,000 to spend in the casino.”

Rose blinks in slow motion. She must realize that her mouth is open, because she closes it abruptly, and shakes her head. “I-I can’t accept that,” she murmurs, so softly that I’m not even sure my mom heard her.