Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 69333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
“What utter bullshit,” says Grandma, getting to her feet. “Get out of here, you three. The only person welcome in my house right now is my granddaughter. I don’t want to see the rest of you for a while.”
Charlie frowns. “Aud—”
“Get out!”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
I didn’t know I had this many tears in me. More than sufficient for an hour crying on the bathroom floor. And it’s given me a bitch of a headache. Time to take some aspirin and pull myself together.
So I made a mistake and should have told him about Farmer straight away. Nash is an adult who doesn’t need someone protecting his happy. The part where he didn’t even give me the benefit of the doubt, however, is a sharp and jagged thing inside of me. If we can come apart so easily…if his belief in me is so fragile…then we don’t belong together. And it’s better to find this out sooner rather than later.
Grandma curses up a storm as she packs Charlie and Angus’s gear and throws it into the front garden. They are most definitely being evicted. She says she hates men. She especially hates these three men in particular. And she sincerely wishes they would fuck off to outer space and never be seen again.
Seems I rehearse speeches in my head when I’m anxious and Grandma talks to herself when she’s angry. There’s an interesting array of foibles in our family.
My face is a stark and swollen pink in the bathroom mirror. The way my eyes look like they’re about to explode. Stupid, idiotic, unnecessary love. I’m probably better off without it. I mean, what have I really lost here? Someone who I thought was my person, who made my life better in a myriad of ways and who I wanted to be with forever. Happiness and great sex and good conversation and laughter. He’s a stellar hugger too.
Though, I don’t need him and none of it matters if he thinks I would sell him out so easily. Therefore, I am fine and moving on to a bigger and brighter future minus any famous musicians. Just as soon as I lock myself back in the bathroom to cry some more. Might take a bottle of wine or a pitcher of margaritas in with me this time. It honestly can’t hurt.
“What the hell is happening here?” asks Sabrina, coming through the front door.
And behind her is Rose. “Saw someone’s stuff being thrown into the garden and thought we should check things out.”
Grandma takes a deep breath and stands tall. “That idiot of a rockstar upset her. Look at the state of her.”
So I’m sort of rumpled and ruddy-faced. There’s no need to make a big thing out of it.
“What did he do?” asks Isa, entering the room still wearing her apron from the café. Guess she left work in a hurry.
Rose shrugs. “I activated the phone tree. It felt like an emergency. Carmen is picking up supplies in Seattle and won’t be here for a few hours, and Amy is stuck teaching a cross-stitch class. They both send their love though.”
And I do not burst into tears all over again because I have friends. That would be weird and excessive on my part.
“Oh, good lord.” Sabrina hugs me. “Deep breaths. Don’t worry. We will get the fucker where it hurts.”
Rose nods. “Damn right we will. It’s been ages since I’ve slashed anyone’s tires.”
“What happened?” asks Isa, taking a seat on the sofa.
I wipe my face with my hands and get myself under control. Sort of. “The record company asshole came to town last night and offered me a bunch of money to get Nash to sign with them again, and I didn’t want it to ruin his night so I was going to tell him today, but someone else told him first and now he thinks I betrayed him and was going to take their money.”
There are a whole lot of wide eyes in the room.
“That’s everything,” I say.
“Was it a lot of money?” asks Rose.
“Yeah.” I nod. “I wasn’t going to do it though.”
“Of course not,” says Isa.
Which is when Father Frank walks into the house in full regalia. The long white robe with a green and gold stole. This sure is a day for surprises. Some bad and some just plain strange. “I had a baptism to finish, but I’m here now. Who needs praying over?”
“Nash thinks June sold him out, the big idiot.” Sabrina continues rubbing my back. It really is quite soothing.
“Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate you all being here,” I say. “But why do you believe me about this when we lied to you all before?”
“You were wrong to do it,” announces Father Frank. “However, there were solid reasons for trying to hide him so he could attempt to live a more normal life. We’re not unreasonable people.”