"So I'm taking it everything is fine in the Benley universe again?" Ariana asked when I showed up to work the next day, with Bennett, who insisted he drive me.

"Yes," Bennett answered, holding my hand tighter.

"You guys have more drama than a television show. Maybe you should submit a screenplay of your relationship to Lifetime."

I rolled my eyes as she giggled at her own joke. "While it would be great to get paid for dealing with all this, I'll pass on that."

"Ooh, or I could write a book! Ah, I know just what I'd call it— Hired to Love."

"No, Ariana. You can't exploit me like that."

She frowned. "Okay. The title was tacky anyway."

Thunder rumbled overhead and I glanced out the window, mildly surprised. The weather app hadn't said there'd be any storms today. Still, rain began falling from the sky.

"I have to leave for work now," Bennett said, glancing at the clock on the wall. "Ariana, may I have a large hot coffee with an espresso shot to go?"

She nodded and disappeared behind the counter and I turned to Bennett whose lips were pressed into a flat line. "Espresso?"

"I'm going to need it to deal with my mother today."

I grimaced. "You should call out dead."

It took me approximately point five seconds to realize how in bad taste my joke was, but before I could apologize, Bennett's lips cracked into a small smile. "I've never heard that excuse before. However, it won't be that bad. Lee will be there today so I won't have to face her alone at least."

His words were depressing. I only knew one side to Mrs. Calloway and yes, it was an awful one, but I wondered what other sides there were to her. What sides that lead her two only sons to not wanting to be in her presence. What sides led Bennett to feel like he had to obey her every word. And what sides kept her sons protecting her even through all the awful stuff she put them through.

Maybe I just didn't understand. My parents were barely in my life. The word family didn't mean the same to me as it did to other people.

"Henley," Bennett said, pressing a finger to my forehead and smoothing out the wrinkles. "What are you thinking about? Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"I know, but I still feel the urge to protect you from your mother."

"I feel that same sentiment."

"Okay, but how can you expect me not to use your lines in a book when they're so dang cheesy," Ariana said, popping up between us, coffee in hand. "Seriously, I can't think of any other couple that would be better for a book or movie."

I took the coffee from her and gently pushed her aside. "No, Ariana. I'll sue you for defamation if you do."

"Okay, Bennett. Ruin my fun."

Bennett blinked in surprise.

I bit my lip to keep from grinning. "Ignore her, Bennett. You'll be late if you stay any longer."

Bennett stared at Ariana for a moment before turning his attention back to me. "Henry will pick you up later. I'll come to your house after I'm finished. Something tells me the workload will be considerably high today."

"Okay, see you later then."

He hesitated a moment, rocking on the balls of his feet, then quickly pressed a kiss to my forehead. "I love you, have a good day."

Without waiting for me to reciprocate he walked out of the store. I watched him leave before turning to Ariana, who was furiously typing away at her phone. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"Nothing," she said quickly, looking up at me and shoving her phone into her pocket. "Are you going to put on your apron or not?"

I narrowed my eyes at her before slipping under the counter and grabbing my apron off the hook. "Has it been busy?"

"Not really. And now it's raining so it'll probably be even more dead. Which is fine because you need to fill me in about what I missed between you and Bennett."

"It's a long story."

"Those are my favorite kind."

I started wiping down the counters as I retold the events that had happened the past few days. Part of me wanted to skip the part about Sebastian lying to me, but it was important for Ariana to know— for more than one reason. If he could hide something like that, what else could he be hiding? I didn't want to distrust Sebastian after this, but I barely knew him to begin with. How was I supposed to build the trust back up? And what if he tried to pursue a relationship with Ariana? How could I support that?

"Should I beat him up?" was her response after I explained everything.

"No," I laughed.

She smiled, but didn't seem to feel any humor. "I never thought Sebastian would be like that."

I picked up a bag of coffee beans and started filling the grinder. "I mean it's not like he doesn't have his reasons. And it's not like we're really close friends either. We've only known each other for a couple months."

"Still..." The dejection in her expression made my heart clench.

"Do you like him that much?"

Ariana looked at me with wide eyes. "Huh?"

"Sebastian. How much do you like him?"

"Well I mean, he's good looking. And nice. And he has a really nice voice. Deep, but really soft. And even though he's rich, you'd never know unless he told you. He's very grounded and kind. And his eyes—"

I patted her on the shoulder. "I didn't realize you had it so bad."

She pouted. "What am I supposed to do now? How can I like someone like that? Not after what he's done to you and Brandon."

"Like I said, I'm sure he had his reasons—"

"That doesn't matter. I don't even know if I'll look at him the same way after he kept such an important thing from you. How do you know he was even going to tell you? What if he decided to keep what he found hidden forever?"

"Ariana, Sebastian is still a good guy. I don't believe he would've done that."

"I don't either," she agreed. "But how could we know for sure? It's just throwing me off a little. In my head Sebastian was the perfect man. But I guess no one is perfect after all."

I nodded, brewing myself a fresh cup of coffee. I felt tired. Understandable, of course, seeing the whirlwind of events that had been happening lately. The rainy weather probably didn't help either.

"I won't be mad if you want to continue liking him either," I continued after taking a sip of my coffee. It burned my tongue, but the warmth and sweetness did wonders to my body.

"Oh, forget Sebastian. I still have your brother."

A jingling brought our attention to the front of the store. Ariana sucked in a small breath beside me as I recognized the well-dressed man at the door as Sebastian. He looked a little different today. His hair was slicked back into a different style and he was dressed much more casually than usual. Instead of his button ups or suits, he wore a light tan cable knit sweater and a pair of black jeans. It looked very good on him.

An image of Bennett wearing the same outfit popped into my head and I had to look away from Sebastian to hide my smile. Bennett in casual wear... would I ever get to see it in public? Even pajama pants in the comfort of his own home seemed too much to ask for sometimes.

"Good morning Henley, Ariana," Sebastian greeted us as he came over to the counter.

Ariana dipped her head in acknowledgment and turned away, busying herself with checking the levels of the creamers and milks. The corners of Sebastian's lips fell a fraction of an inch and he gaze turned toward me. "Are you busy right now?"

"I just got here so I have some stuff I have to do, but it's not really urgent. As you can see there's no customers..."

"I'm sorry for coming to your work to discuss this, but I didn't want to leave things how they were yesterday. Everything was tense and rushed. I'm ashamed and I've been feeling sick all-night thinking about how what I've done affected you. I really don't expect you to forgive me, but I just want to explain myself one more time. I know I'm selfish, but please listen Henley."

The earnest look in Sebastian's eyes hurt my heart. Was he really having a hard time about this? How could I think badly of him? He was protecting Bennett and his family. Even if he would have never told me, he would've been doing it for his family. I would do anything for Brandon. Could I really be mad? Ariana had gone motionless and I knew she was listening too. "I can kind of understand why you kept everything from me."

"I promise I was going to tell you. When I went to Bennett's that day, I was going to explain everything to him and find an easier way to tell you about it. I didn't expect for you to be there. I wasn't hiding everything to protect my family. I wanted to make sure I was positive about everything before I told you. I didn't want to hurt you without proper evidence."

I leaned against the counter, putting my hands into the pockets of my apron. "You didn't hurt me, Sebastian. Yes, I'm upset at the situation, but you don't have any part in that. And you know what? Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't have any right to be mad at all."

"You have every right to be mad, Henley."

"If you hadn't gone digging, maybe this would never have been uncovered. My brother would've remained guilty and I would've lived wondering if he really was after all. So now as I'm realizing all of this, I really should be thanking you for what you did."

"I didn't do it for you or Brandon."

"I know."

Sebastian gave me a puppy dog look. "Still, I should've included you from the start."

"It's okay, Sebastian. But from now on there can't be any more secrets. They'll always be revealed and someone will always be hurt."

"I promise I'll tell you everything from now on. I enjoy your company. I want us to remain friends."

I smiled. "I enjoy your company too. And I'm dating your best friend. We have to get along."

Ariana appeared suddenly, holding a steaming mug of coffee. Almost as if a peace offering, she pushed it over the counter to Sebastian. The light in his eyes seemed to light up the entire coffee shop, as if the sun came out. "Thank you," Sebastian said, holding her hand for a second.

She held his gaze. "I'll warn you now... if you hurt Henley again, I won't let you off easy."

"Ariana," I sighed.

"I won't," Sebastian promised. "And I should apologize to you as well, Ariana. We don't know each other very well and I'm sure this left a bad taste in your mouth. I've considered you a friend and I'm sorry I've done something that could threaten that."

"I was only mad on Henley's behalf...so if she's okay then I'm okay."

I rolled my eyes as a light blush dusted across her face. Ariana was so loyal until she wasn't. Throw a handsome man in the mix and anything could happen. Although Sebastian was rather different than the average handsome man. Sebastian was way better than them.

He smiled warmly at Ariana. "Thank you, Ariana."

I cleared my throat when Ariana made no move to move away from him and he made no move to let go of her hand. "Do you have the day off Sebastian?"

"I called out sick. I didn't want to leave things between us unsettled."

"What? You called out just to talk to me? Is it okay for you to do that?"

"One day won't kill anyone. I'll check in with my mother later. Have you talked to Brandon yet?"

Now it was my turn to feel guilty. "No... he doesn't know anything yet. Lee said he wanted to talk to him first, but I'm afraid to leave the two of them alone. I asked Lee to wait until I could be there as well."

Sebastian tapped his coffee mug. "Maybe I should be there as well."

"No," I said quickly. "The less people there is, the better. Especially if he gets mad. I'm not sure how he'll take this. Especially considering he and Lee were friends before."

"I hope he understands this wasn't Lee's fault. Aside from being drunk, Mrs. Calloway had everything set up perfectly. Brandon must have been walking by at the perfect moment. And Brandon can't remember anything that happened, right? He's a great example of the wrong place at the wrong time."

"What I don't get is Lee's injuries. How did he get hurt? You made it sound like he got hit by a car."

"I don't understand that either. I found photos of the car in the accident. There wasn't enough damage to cause any serious injury to Lee so it had to have happened outside the car. And yes, the injuries were consistent with the accident report, but if he was outside the car and was hit that means we're still missing a big piece to the story. A hit and run or a serious case of negligence. We didn't have a chance to talk about everything yesterday but we'll have to bring this up again with Lee and Bennett."

It didn't even occur to me to think about Lee's injuries. Brandon had only been arrested for stealing the car and driving drunk. He hadn't been injured at all when he'd been found drunk and dazed. So, for Lee to get injured, something else must've happened. Had someone driving by hit the drunk Lee who might've stumbled into the road? But why wouldn't they have stopped to get help? At some point Mrs. Calloway had to have been there because Lee wasn't anywhere near the scene by the time the police showed up.

"I've asked Lee but he can't remember," Sebastian continued, breaking my train of thought. "It's frustrating. Memory loss should be left for plot devices only. Now we have two people who can't remember a critical moment and we're left trying to figure it out ourselves."

"I don't mean to butt in...but you don't think that could've been done on purpose, do you?" Ariana asked.

Sebastian angled his body toward her. "What do you mean?"

"Brandon was basically black out drunk so I get why he can't remember anything. But Lee seems like the type of person to not sit by idly while this happened. Maybe someone knew that and wanted him to lose his memories. Or maybe I've been watching too many dramas and need to watch what I say," she ended with an awkward giggle. "Sorry. Ignore me."

A cold feeling ran through me at her words. Something that seemed like it would only happen on TV was entirely possible when it came to Mrs. Calloway. But would she hurt her own son on purpose? There was no way, was there?

Judging by the way Sebastian tensed, his train of thoughts were similar to mine. It was an awful thing to think. But made even more awful by the fact that it could actually be true.

Ariana's face paled. "You don't think...?"

"I couldn't say for sure," Sebastian responded, taking a long drink from his coffee. He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. "This is very good."

"Even if something like that did happen, it'd probably be hard to find any evidence," I said. "And for Lee to lose his memories, wouldn't there have to be a head injury? Was there anything in the hospital records or accident report about that?"

"No, and there doesn't necessarily have to be a head injury for someone to lose a memory. If something is traumatic enough, your brain can block the memory out."

"That's true...but there's also a chance it was just left out of the medical records, isn't there?"

Sebastian's lips twisted into a frown. "Perhaps. It's difficult because we have to find evidence for everything since we cannot rely on Lee's memory. Or Brandon's for that fact."

"Geez. We should just hire a private detective."

"Let's focus on one thing at a time. I'm sure we will uncover new things as time goes on. Or better yet, Lee could miraculously recover his memory," Sebastian said, taking another sip of his coffee.

"Knowing Brandon is innocent is enough to pacify me for now. I'm more than okay on first working on proving that to the world. But if Mrs. Calloway really did something terrible to Lee... she better get what she deserves."

"We'll make sure she will."

"If you guys need back up support, let me know," Ariana said, hooking a thumb at herself. "A face she won't recognize, an innocent bystander with an emotional sob story, anything. I took a few acting classes in high school."

Sebastian grinned and I let out a long breath, shaking my head. "It's probably best for you to stay out of it."

"I will... but seriously, if you ever need any help, don't hesitate to ask."

"I'm glad I can count on you, Ariana."

"I'm glad to hear that, Sebastian," she replied, smiling at him. They smiled at each other for what seemed longer than necessary.

The door bell jingled again and Sebastian stepped away from the counter, breaking eye contact with Ariana, as a pair of women entered the shop. "I'll head out then. I'll talk to you guys later."

"Bye Sebastian," we chorused.

"And thanks again," I added. "I'll text you when I get a chance to sit down with Lee and Brandon."

"Alright, let me know what happens. See you."

Ariana stared after him. "You know I hate to say it but I probably would have still like him even if he was a bad guy."

"Somehow I don't doubt him," I said before stepping up to the register to take the customer's orders.

Ariana started the macchiato while I went for a slice of cheesecake in the display case. "What? You found your story book love. It's time for me to find mine."

"Maybe wait until everything is settled to try anything with Sebastian."

"If I can wait," she muttered under her breath.

"You can wait. And what about my brother?"

She paused. "Well. We'll see. Man, it's tough being single."

I couldn't help roll my eyes. Although I had to admit, it'd be nice to have a life where choosing between two boys was my biggest problem. Instead, I had to deal with my own problems, and my boyfriend's... which could lead to something bigger than I'd ever thought I'd have to deal with in my life— a mother harming her own son.

My content expression slid off my face. I kept trying not to think about it, but it was forcing its way into my mind. It seemed like the only explanation. Mrs. Calloway had done something to Lee so he wouldn't be able to remember. She had purposefully hurt him. That was horrifying to think about. But no matter how bad it was for me to hear that if it was true, it would be nothing compared to how Bennett and Lee would feel.

I swallowed hard, Ariana's babbling not even registering. The only thing I could do was be there for them. And help find the truth.

Soon.