Rush stood up and ran his hand through his hair and walked over to the window. He didn’t agree with me. I could tell by the stiff way he was holding his shoulders. He looked defensive. “She’s upset and hurt. I know she’s been a bitch to you in the past but right now I need you. For me, could you not say hurtful things to her? I’m really worried about her mental stability at the moment.”
Hurtful things? I hadn’t said anything to Nan. Did he think I was going to? “I was the one who said we should come. I understand she needs your help. Why would you think that I would say hurtful things to her?” I asked, standing up.
Rush let his head fall back and he closed his eyes tightly like he really didn’t want to be having this conversation. Something was wrong.
“I know what you said to her last night at the table. She told me. And yeah, you have every right to say those things to her but right now I just need you not to. The sooner I can fix this the sooner we head back to Rosemary and leave this nightmare.”
“What did I say to her last night at the table? I’m not following you,” I replied feeling a sick knot in my stomach. Was Nan lying about me? She was the one who had said hurtful things at the table. Not me.
“She feels like you made fun of her. Just ... it’s probably best if you just don’t talk to her.”
I sat back down on the bed and let last night’s conversations run through my head. How did she feel like I’d made fun of her? She’d attacked me.
A soft knock on the door interrupted what I was about to say and Rush let out a frustrated growl before stalking over to open it.
“Sorry. I don’t want to disturb y’all but Nan is demanding to know what room is Daddy’s. She doesn’t need to wake him up. That would be bad,” Harlow’s soft-spoken voice sounded anxious.
“Shit,” Rush muttered. He glanced back at me. “I’m sorry. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Just go back to bed and get some rest. I won’t let anyone else disturb you.”
Once the door was closed I let the tears fall. When I’d told him to come deal with Nan I’d thought this would be easier. I had hoped after her accident and her comment about being a part of the baby’s life that she’d be more manageable. I was wrong. Coming here had been a bad idea.
My stomach cramped and I froze. I sat still and waited on the baby to kick and reassure me everything was okay. Nothing happened. I put both my hands on my stomach and the cramp came again. Wincing I tried to calm my heart as it started to race. Something was wrong. A wave of nausea hit me and I laid back and closed my eyes. Maybe I’d gotten up too quick this morning. I needed to start being more careful. All the high-strung tension in this house was getting to me.
I closed my eyes and took slow deep breaths. No more cramps came and I felt a soft kick against my hand. With that little bit of reassurance I drifted off to sleep.
When I opened my eyes the sun had moved and was shinning brightly through the windows. It had to be after lunch. I reached for my phone and checked the time. It was one. I must have been more tired than I thought.
I rolled over to get up and a tray of food was sitting on a small table beside the bed. I wrapped the sheet around me and went over to it. I smiled as I picked up the small note with Rush’s familiar scrawl on it.
I’m sorry about this morning. You were exhausted and I unloaded on you. None of this is your fault. I just want to get it all over with and get you back home. Eat something. I’m going to go see if I can talk to Kiro.
I love you more than life,
Rush.
I picked up the silver cover that had been protecting my plate to find fresh strawberries and cream, salmon, and a slice of toast. My stomach still wasn’t feeling that great so I decided to stay away from the salmon but I took a strawberry and dipped it into the cream before taking a bite. The sweet taste hit my tongue and I felt better. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I finished all the strawberries and toast before getting up and going to get a shower.
RUSH
It was abnormally warm for the end of November. I had put on shorts and a tee shirt and come outside to enjoy the heat of the California sunshine.
Blaire still hadn’t come out of the room. If she wasn’t up soon I was going to get her a new plate of food and go feed her myself. I was glad she was getting sleep but she needed to eat too. Harlow had said she didn’t think Blaire ate much at dinner last night. I should have stayed with her and gone after Nan once I had Blaire tucked away in bed.
If my overly dramatic sister wasn’t so damn volatile I wouldn’t be trying to help her. I just wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I ignored her and something happened to her. As much of a pain in the ass as she was, she was still my sister. I still saw the little girl with pigtails smiling up at me with a toothless grin. She’d been mine when we were growing up. No one else took care of her. It was hard for me to forget that.
“Where’s that girl of yours?” Kiro asked as he sauntered out to the back patio where I’d decided to hide from Nan.
“She’s sleeping,” I replied, glad to see Kiro was outside smoking instead of inside.
“She’s a sweet thing. Reminds me of my Harlow,” he said before sticking the cigarette he was holding back between his lips.
“Yeah. She’s pretty damn perfect,” I agreed.
“You need to protect her a little more from Nan. She was spilling venom all over her last night. Your girl handled it well. I was damn impressed. But you need to take better care of her,” he drawled then flicked ashes from his cigarette before turning and walking back to the house.
I started to ask him what he was talking about when Nan came barreling out of the door wearing a bikini and a pair of stilettos.
“What’re you doing, girl?” Kiro asked her in an annoyed tone.
“Going to get some sun. Why? You want to join me? Maybe talk to me?” Nan spat out hatefully. I wanted to shake her and ask her why she had to be so damn difficult.
“No. I wanna know when you’re gonna move your ass outta my house. You keep stirring up drama. Harlow won’t even come out of her damn room. It’s time you go harass your momma for awhile and leave me in peace.” I winced at the sight of the pain in Nan’s eyes. Damn, Kiro was heartless.
“Why am I even trying? You don’t want to know me. You don’t care to know me. You have Harlow and that’s all you want. I’m nothing to you,” Nan screamed.
“Harlow isn’t a mean bitch, Nan. Try being a normal human and I just might want to get to know you. I didn’t stay with your momma for a reason girl. Guess what the reason was,” he snarled and pushed past her and into the house.
Nan’s eyes looked empty as she stood there staring at the door. Dammit. I stood up and went over to her. She noticed me and shook her head. “No. I don’t want you either. You hate me too. You picked her. Everyone picks someone else. No one wants me,” Nan cried and spun around and took off running back into the house.
I stopped at the door and listened as her heels clicked loudly on the floor until they faded away. I would have to go get her and talk to her but I was going to give her time to calm down. She needed some alone time.
“That didn’t sound good,” Blaire said, breaking into my thoughts. I turned to see her walking down the stairs. Her long blond hair was pulled up and she was wearing a light blue swimsuit with a white see through cover up that hung off her shoulder and hit at mid thigh. Her eyes looked rested but what she’d just heard had caused a worried frown.
“Yeah, it was brutal,” I replied, closing the distance between us and pulling her to me before I kissed those pink full lips. I didn’t like seeing her frown so much. She slipped her arms around my waist and opened her mouth to me. I tasted the minty flavor of her toothpaste and enjoyed the silky warmth of her mouth.