it, she was probably right about this, too. Yes, I fully realized that Brody wasn't the one who'd hired me and that he technically wasn't my boss.
But I also realized that if he wanted me gone – truly wanted me gone – he'd have plenty of power to make that happen.
So why didn't he?
To Waverly, I said, "Yeah, well, maybe he'll fire me tomorrow."
"He can't fire you tomorrow," she said. "It's Sunday."
"Fine. Monday then."
"If you ask me, he should fire you," she said. "The way I hear it, you could've killed his sister."
"What?" I shook my head. "He doesn't even have a sister."
With a mean little laugh, she said, "If you say so."
"I do say so." I didn't bother pointing out that I'd known Brody since high school. And more recently, I'd known him intimately. Very intimately.
During those few blissful months, we'd talked for hours, and not only about the house. I might not know everything about him. But I did know this. He had zero sisters.
At the table, Waverly actually snickered.
I asked, "What's so funny?"
"You." In a snotty voice, she mimicked what I'd said a moment ago. "He doesn't have a sister."
"He doesn't," I insisted.
"Sure he does," she said. "And you could've killed her."
I summoned up a stiff smile. "Yes. And the Easter bunny could've stolen my shoes." I froze. What did that even mean?
I had no idea.
But in my own defense, Waverly wasn't making much sense either.
With a smirk, she said, "They all hate you, you know."
Her words felt like a slap, but I refused to flinch. "Who? The brothers?" I tried to laugh. "Yeah. Tell me something I don't know."
"I already did," she said. "And you didn't believe me."
"Oh, please," I scoffed. "I think I'd know if I could've killed a sister who didn't exist."
"Oh, she exists," Waverly said. "And from what I hear, Mason was absolutely livid."
Mason? I paused. "Wait a minute. You're not talking about Willow, are you?"
Waverly smiled. "I don't know. Am I?"
I frowned. "But Mason's her dad, not her brother."
Waverly's smile grew sly. "Oh, really? Are you sure?"
No. I wasn't.
Not a hundred percent.
And for some reason, this shook me to the core.
I should be sure. Brody and I had been close, really close.
Hadn't we?
But then, I recalled the situation with his parents. He hadn't shared those details either – not until yesterday at the tail end of our argument.
Plus, for months, he'd been lying to me about how he'd acquired the house.
All things considered, was it really that far-fetched that he'd neglect to mention a sister, too?
No.
It wasn't.
Talk about depressing.
At the table, Waverly said, "See? You know I’m telling the truth."
I tried to think. "But even if Willow is his sister, I only met her the one time. And all I did was try to walk her home."
Even as I said it, I recalled Mason's reaction when he'd found us. He'd been angry, really angry, like he'd caught me trying to kidnap her or something.
More to myself than to Waverly, I murmured, "They seriously think I would've harmed her?"
The accusation hurt more than it should've. It wasn't like I'd driven up in a van and offered Willow candy. No. She'd literally knocked on my door.
Whether she'd said so or not, she'd needed help getting home. And I'd tried to help. In hindsight, maybe I should've done things differently, but at no time whatsoever had Willow been in any danger – not while she'd been with me, anyway.
I'd been looking out for her.
Not the nanny. Not Mason. Not Brody either.
But me, along with Cami.
Even now, I still had no idea how Willow had ended up on my doorstep in the first place.
If I had to guess, I'd say it had something to do with the house across the street, like maybe she'd hitched a ride with one of her brothers and had been forgotten in some sort of confusion.
Brothers?
Oh, God. Brody was her brother.
And me? I hadn't known.
At the table, Waverly said, "That's all I know. But you didn't hear it from me."
By now, I was practically quivering with agitation. I still felt sorry for Brody's childhood, but that didn't change the fact that apparently, I'd never known him at all.
And forget his brothers. They were totally awful. Mason in particular.
I felt like throttling him.
I felt like throttling all of them.
This wasn't good, especially a couple of hours later when I happened to glance out the front window and see who else, but Mason Blastoviak, standing in the driveway across the street.
The way it