Stepbrother Read online

  Stepbrother

  Stacy McWilliams

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Stepsister - Chapter 1

  Stepsister - Chapter 2

  Thank You

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2020 Stacy McWilliams Stepbrother

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be duplicated, transmitted, in any form or by any means—whether electronically, mechanically, by photocopying or any other means—without prior written consent. To do so would result in legal proceedings.

  This novel is a work of fiction and any similarities to any party are coincidental.

  The ownership of this work is protected by copyright and belongs to the author.

  Cover design - Shower of Schmidt Designs

  Editor - Amanda Williams

  Formatting - Irish Ink Publishing

  This book is dedicated to my amazing boys. I love you all so very much and I am so grateful to have been gifted three such incredible little men.

  Corey, you are the oldest and most sensitive, smart wee man ever and I’m so proud of you as you are growing. Reuben and Theo are very lucky you are their big brother.

  Reuben, you are compassionate, stubborn and sweet and a wonderful big brother.

  And Theo, you are amazing, my baby boy. You were the missing part of our family puzzle and we love you so much.

  Lastly, my amazing hubs, you put up with me when I’m at my worst, lift me when I’m miserable and make me smile when I want to cry. You are my best friend; my soulmate and I love you more than I could ever say.

  Bailey

  Coming home from school on that Tuesday was like any other day of any other week. I’d been to practice, and I’d had tea at my grandma’s like I’d done forever, but when I arrived home at eight-thirty p.m., my mom’s car was in the driveway. It was unusual, she usually worked until nine at the office. I’d panicked because I usually did my breakfast dishes and my chores when I got home, and I was scared that mom would be mad at me.

  “Mom,” I called out as I walked in the front door. There were voices in the kitchen, and I walked towards them. My mom was there with two of her girlfriends; they were drinking wine and talking seriously. As I walked through the door my mom and my aunt Cate smiled at me, but Kimberly ignored me. She’d hated me since her son had fallen out with me the year before.

  “Bailey.” My mom motioned for me to sit down with a grimace on her face. Open on the table was a letter, and as I sat down, my name jumped out. The letter was written in my dad’s hand and I reached over for it when Kim snatched it away from me.

  “No,” my mom said, “let her see it, Kim. She needs to know what her father has done.”

  Kim passed me over the letter as I sat down at the island, surrounded by my breakfast dishes. My eleven-year-old eyes widened, and I ran my finger through my blonde hair as I took in the letter. It wasn’t addressed to me, but my mom.

  Henri,

  I know this might come out of the blue, but I can’t have Bailey around anymore after the last week she was here and disappeared. We have two toddlers and can’t have her acting the way she is. It hasn’t been an easy decision, but I feel it’d be best for Bailey, Josie and Julian if Bailey stopped visiting. I will put the money for her into a trust fund that she can access at twenty-five, but both Lexa and I think she is just reacting to the atmosphere between us. You’ve never forgiven me for falling for Lex and leaving you, Louis, and Bails, and this has been passed to Bailey. She has never respected me, and I can’t have her in my home with my children.

  I know doing this to her so soon after losing Louis is going to be hard on her, but you need to get her some help. She isn’t stable and she needs therapy.

  Tell her how sorry I am that this arrangement hasn’t worked out. I love her, and she’ll always be my oldest girl, but she needs more than I can give her.

  I’m truly sorry.

  Terry

  My heart stopped and tears stung my eyes; my dad had cut me out of his life. I looked at my mom and she shrugged at me. I raced from the kitchen and locked myself in my bedroom as I realized my dad didn’t want me in his life anymore. I’d lost Louis and now I’d lost my dad too. It hurt so bad, and I spent the night sobbing and destroying the pictures of us together, cutting him out of the pictures of Louis.

  My dad had walked out on my mom and me two years ago. He told me he’d always love me, I’d always be his baby girl, but he’d gone on to marry Alexa, and she hated me. She made my life miserable any time I went to visit and last time I was there she put me on the bus home but didn’t tell my dad, and he went crazy looking for me. He didn’t believe me when I told him she’d sent me home and this was the result of it.

  The next day my mom called me into the kitchen.

  “Bailey, come here, please.” I walked into the kitchen at seven-thirty and sat down at the counter, watching as she poured me OJ and put pancakes on my plate. My mom didn’t do hugs or come over all lovey-dovey. She wasn’t cold, just aloof, but I knew she loved me deep down.

  “Bailey, I know what your dad did hurt you, but it’s okay. You’ll be okay.” She nodded at my plate and I began eating my food in silence. I didn’t want to talk about what my dad did. She sat across from me with pursed lips and drank her coffee. As the clock hit seven-fifty, she dropped me off with Leah, our neighbor.

  The daughter of immigrants from Mexico, Leah was tall, caramel-skinned, and exotic. She was slim and strict, but she wasn’t mean, and I loved her.

  “Morning, Bailey,” she’d say every morning and I‘d smile and nod at her, before sitting by her window, watching for the school bus with Alice, her six-year-old daughter.

  As the school bus arrived, we’d go down together and get on the bus since it went by the elementary school before stopping at my school. I sat on the bus with her tuning everyone out and let her off at her stop. This was how my life went until I was fifteen.

  Four years later

  I arrived home from school and saw my mom was home. This was unusual and since the day my dad’s letter arrived, I’d spent more time with Leah and Alice because my mom went to work early and worked until after I was in bed every night. Weekends she went to conferences and during the holidays I spent time with my dad’s parents, though this got less and less and last summer I only spent one weekend there.

  I was a good student and I worked hard at school. I wanted to go to university to become a doctor or an art history major. But I was only fifteen and I had plenty of time to decide on my path in life. I didn’t have many friends, because I was shy, painfully so. Wendy, my best friend, put up with my paralyzing shyness and awkwardness around everyone.

  She was overtly funny and always cracked a joke whenever I froze up around new people to make me relax. She was especially good at helping me when the boys from school were mean or made fun of me.

  The boys at school asked me if I was a boy because I was as flat-chested as I had been at nine. I hated the boys at scho
ol. I couldn’t wait to be old enough to leave them behind while I went to university and became a valuable member of society, and they worked in a fast-food place. At least that was what I was hoping for.

  As I walked into our apartment, something was different, and I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. My mom greeted me at the door of the foyer with a hug which had my back stiffening from the unusual act of affection. She pulled me into the living room where a strange man was standing. She had her brown hair swept up in an elegant chignon, fancier than she usually wore, and she had a gray silk dress on with navy blue heels.

  “Well, hi, you must be Bailey?” His smile was kind, and he looked at my mom with genuine affection as she nodded at him. “I’m Shawn Christie. How do you do?” He reached out his hand to me and I glanced at my mom once before shaking his hand. He shook gently and smiled at me again.

  My blue eyes widened at his expensive watch. My dad had one like it, and before mom and I lived in our apartment, my family lived in a huge house in the countryside with a pool. But once my dad left, he’d sold the house and told my mom he’d buy us somewhere else to live.

  She told him no chance, that she’d support Louis and me without his help, so he told her that he’d put the alimony into a trust fund for me and that I could access it when I was twenty-five. He’d also set up a college fund for me and added Louis’ college money when he’d passed to make sure I had enough to get through school.

  Louis was my big brother. He was sixteen when my mom and dad divorced, but he’d been killed after a car accident just after my mom and dad split. Since then my mom had closed off. I shook my head and glanced around at the door, wishing I could run to my room and close the door, but my mom caught my glance and shook her head. I knew I’d need to tough it out.

  “Come sit down, Bailey,” my mom’s voice commanded, and I dragged my feet over to the armchair while my mom and Shawn took the sofa.

  “Bailey,” my mom said, “Shawn is my boyfriend, and he wanted to meet you.” I nodded at her, not seeing the relevance of meeting him. She’d never made me meet any of her other boyfriends before. I always assumed she was dating, but she usually kept me out of that side of her life

  “Yeah, your mom has met my boys and we felt it was time to meet her daughter. She talks so much about you and how smart you are.”

  I smiled at him, trying to be polite, but I was struggling with having him in my environment and I didn’t want to talk to him. He continued speaking, impervious to my nervousness, “And since things are beginning to get serious with your mom and me, I wanted to get to know you a little.”

  I found my voice and squeaked out, “What do you want to know?”

  It sounded rude and his back stiffened a little, but he continued to smile. I wasn’t trying to be rude, I was trying to make an effort, but the look my mom gave me made me shrink back on the chair.

  “Well, I’d like to know what you want to do with yourself after school? What interests you?” He spoke softly to me as though I was a horse ready to bolt. I sat back and stared at him. He had brown hair with gray in it. His gray eyes were kind and his smile was wide, but I still couldn’t relax. He was changing things and I hated change.

  I’d been through enough change since my dad left and Louis had died. I’d had enough and didn’t want anything to change in my life because I was sure that if things changed again then I’d be completely and utterly alone.

  “I’m not sure what I want to do after school yet, but I love to draw, read, and watch movies with my best friend.”

  My mom made a gesture with her hand and I stared at her for a moment, not understanding what she meant, and then I realized she wanted me to leave. I stood up and whispered, “Excuse me,” before running from the room and heading straight into my room, locking the door behind me with my face burning with hurt and embarrassment.

  I heard my mom speaking to Shawn, “Sorry about that, she’s shy. Shall we get going?” Her tone was low and sultry, and I cringed against the door.

  “Will she be okay, Henrietta?” He sounded worried and the fact that he used her full name made my stomach roll. He was serious about her, and he’d said he had boys. God, what if they were snot-nosed brats and wanted to hang out with me. The thought left me cold all over because they would change everything and they would likely be like the boys I knew, mean and callous, no matter what age they were.

  As the front door closed, I grabbed my cell and called Wendy. She answered on the second ring.

  “Yo, my biatch.” Her usual greeting helped to relax me, and I glanced around my room, taking in my posters, clothes on the floor, lemon walls, and purple bedding, where my bed was still a mess from the morning. I walked over to my computer desk and pressed the button on my laptop.

  “My mom’s new boyfriend was here,” I answered her without missing a beat, and she screamed in my ear in response.

  “What, seriously? What’s he like? Is he a fox? Your mom’s a total babe, so he’d have to be a fox? Tell me everything.”

  She was so excited, but my stomach dropped. I’d wanted someone to be as upset as me about my mom being serious about a man, but she was excited. Wendy got excited about pretty much everything in life.

  “He was nice and pleasant. He has sons, but I don’t know how many. I wanted to run away as soon as I met him. You know what I’m like.”

  Her sigh told me she did know what I was like, but I continued speaking without interruption which surprised me and told me that Wendy was distracted.

  “I hate meeting new people. I hated it and then my mom cut me off and made me feel like she didn’t want him to get to know me. It was like I was irrelevant or something. I bet he’d pushed her into meeting me…”

  Wendy, with her eternally cheerful nature, red hair, and pretty green eyes, she should have been one of the most popular girls in school, but because she wasn’t slim, she was ridiculed. She ignored them completely, but sometimes I wondered if it hurt her.

  “My mom’s calling me for dinner. You okay, Bails?” I nodded at her question, then realized she couldn’t see me, so I answered.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m going to do my homework and then read that new book I bought yesterday.”

  “Okay, speak to you tomorrow. Love ya, bye.”

  And with that, she was gone. I sat on the window seat and opened up my kindle, falling asleep there and crawling into bed early without eating. When I awoke the next morning, I had a cream cheese bagel and some coffee for breakfast, before going to get the school bus.

  I popped my earbuds in and listened to some music, ignoring everyone on the bus as we rolled along to school.

  School was as much fun as always. I was mostly ignored until it was time to take part in a debate. I hated being on the debate team and usually hid at the back, but my teacher was trying to force me into a more focal role.

  The private school from the other side of town were our opponents that day and I hated it when they came. They were rude, obnoxious, and entitled. Plus, with the private school, the bullies were out in force from them.

  As we took our seats each person stood to speak. My eyes wandered the room and I couldn’t help staring at this boy across from me. He had rich brown hair and a chiseled jaw and when he smiled it made my insides warm. He caught me looking at him and I tried and failed to smile at him because he glared at me and I averted my eyes.

  He continued to glare at me throughout the debate with our school. We wore uniforms with a red tie and St. Marcus wore a green striped tie with black sweatshirts.

  Their school won the debate and still the boy from St. Marcus’s glared at me, making sure to barge into me hard as he passed me by. As I turned to walk out of the dining hall where the debate had been held, one of the girls from my school sidled up to him and linked arms with him.

  “Hi, Cooper, why didn’t you call me Saturday?”

  His voice when he answered, “Because I didn’t want to,” sent a chill down my spine that had nothing to do wi
th the words he spoke. His voice was rich and enticing and I wanted something I’d never wanted before. I wanted him.

  I moved beyond them, and he stuck his foot out, almost sending me sprawling. I managed to keep myself up by grabbing hold of Pete Thompson, the most popular boy in my school. He glared at me as I stood back up mumbling an apology before taking off for the girls’ locker room.

  The rest of my day passed without incident, but at the end of the school day Pete and his friends trapped me in the classroom and didn’t let me out until the school bus left, meaning I had to walk the twelve miles home. I tried to call my mom and Leah on the way home, but my mom’s call went to messages and Leah was held up in a meeting and couldn’t pick me up, so I walked.

  I made it home from school at nine p.m. I was exhausted and my feet ached. My mom wasn’t home and as I let myself into the apartment I glanced around and saw a silver car I didn’t recognize parked at the end of my street.

  While I stared at the car it revved its engine and reversed around the corner, before taking off. I collapsed into bed without dinner, thankful that it was Saturday the next day. My mom woke me up when she arrived home at twelve and I stared at her bleary-eyed, wondering why she was waving her hand in my face, until I saw it sitting there, mocking me. There was a rock the size of a small country on her finger. My mom was engaged.