by Raven Scott
“For what it’s worth, even Jessie fell under Meredith’s heel, and she’s a controlling bitch at the best of times.” Only nodding at that, I stood up as Mateo clambered onto the sand and swept back his hair while Mikayla popped up. “Hey, I was wondering if you two want to come to lunch with all of us— Seth and his sisters and their husbands and like nine people in total. We were thinking sushi.”
“Sure, if Lucy wants to. I have to get changed and stuff, first.” If he was nervous about meeting everyone, he didn’t show it, and I nodded when he cast me a questioning glance. “Cool. Do you want a ride back to the hotel, Mikayla?”
“That’d be great, thanks.” Gathering up my bag, I shook out my beach towel to fold it up under my arm, and that warm, mosey feeling invaded my head. “I got a question . . . when we get back, am I gonna be homeless?”
“What? Why would you be homeless? I’m not gonna just kick you out on your butt, Mickey.” Mikayla shrugged at my question, and I held my bag and towel to my chest as Marshal rubbed up against my legs. Nothing else was said as we headed up the bank to the parking lot, and I gnawed on my lower lip diligently. I wasn’t going to be that friend that disappeared when I got into a relationship— a real one. Knowing Mikayla, she probably thinks we’ll have loud, obnoxious sex all the time.
I could guarantee that’s what she thought.
My best friend climbed into the back with all the dogs, and the drive to the hotel was shorter than the reverse. Piling out of the Jeep, I paused to dig into my beach bag for my phone; things had been so crazy that I put every single ringer on mute. Frowning as I scanned the eleven missed texts and twenty-plus missed calls, I rounded the back of the vehicle with my head buried in my screen.
‘Lucy, it’s your mom. Call me when you get this. We need to talk.’ My brows rose at the huge blocks of texts that followed, but mostly why did my mom verify it was her? Rolling my eyes, I stepped up on the curb to sit on a small bench, and Mikayla sat next to me to look over my shoulder at my phone.
“I’ll be right down. You need a shirt or something?” Clenching my jaw as I scanned the texts that got angrier and more belligerent, I tore my eyes away from the screen at Mateo’s question. His cheek twitched, the only indication that he was annoyed, before leaving all the dogs with me with a stern command and heading inside. Guilt twanged in my chest, but it seemed like there were finally hairline fractures in our picture-perfect last twenty-four hours.
“You should just block her and delete the conversation. God only knows how her attempt to fix things always ends.” I slumped heavily against the bench, flopped my head back, and groaned a tortured sound of affirmation. “She’s not allowed in your life anymore, remember?”
“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Screw it.” My thumbs trembled as I pressed the three dots on top of the conversation, and I hesitated for a moment before tapping the screen. The option to block my mom was right there, so easily accessed, and I pursed my lips thinly. Tapping the option, I inhaled deeply in a futile attempt to calm my rapid heartbeat, and I tapped the verification button.
Exhaling a shaky breath, I ducked my head and propped my elbows on my knees to hold my forehead in my hand. That was harder than I expected, but it also felt much, much more relieving than I thought it would. I straightened to suck in a big breath, and Mikayla rubbed my back before I dropped my phone in my bag to pull out a tank top and a pair of shorts.
“I’m good. Where’s Seth and everyone?” Mickey waved her phone tellingly, and I nodded as I swiped back my hair and fixed my shoulders back. “Let’s get some sushi, for sure. Text them.”
“Alrighty.” Standing up to pull on my clothes over my bathing suit, I fastened the button and zipper, and Mikayla stretched her legs out with a groan. “I’ll start looking for a place when we get back. You’re not gonna kick me out on my ass, but I’m not a fan of being a third wheel.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m not gonna rush you- you’ll rush yourself.” She stuck out her tongue at me as I pulled my shirt down, and the sliding, glass doors to the hotel slid open. Ketchup stood up, his tail stump waggling excitedly, and I twisted as Seth, his sisters, and Roger came sauntering out of the hotel. I thought it would be awkward, but my eyes met his and there was . . . nothing. There was no discomfort, no fear or shame, and Seth smiled as he gave me a half-hug.
“I’m sorry about all this, Lucy.” Seth spoke like he’d accidentally bought me an aisle seat, not a window seat; there wasn’t any strong, underlying guilt, and I didn’t feel any undue shame bubble up to clog my throat. I ran my hand through my hair, and he rocked back on his heels to stuff his hands in his cargo short pockets. “I was considering taking a different flight out, so I didn’t have to hear my mom on the plane, but I have headphones for a reason, I guess.”
“It’s okay. Where’s your brothers-in-law?” My gaze slipped over heads, and Seth scratched his goatee as he shrugged carelessly. “Oh, I also wanted to ask you, has my mom tried to talk to you at all?”
“Yeah, I just saw her in the hallway. She apologized and stuff for yesterday, which . . . I don’t even remember anything from yesterday.” Smiling at the sheepish confession, I huffed a laugh as humor wound around my ribs, and Seth had the audacity to blush. “Anyway, she told me she’d try to convince you to still go through with it if I was willing to take you back. I don’t know. I just walked away while she was talking. I appreciate the apology, but . . . ”
“If you want to block her, you can. I did.” Anger quickly replaced the pleasantness in my veins, but I pushed it down as he nodded. “So, if your mom tries to sue me, will you be my lawyer?”
“No.” Seth’s face blanked out, and my eyes widened as his narrowed into tight points. “You were right, Lucy— my mom controls a lot of what I do. I intentionally flunked the Bar, but I lied and said I’d passed to keep her quiet. Look at where that got me . . . us. I’m sure you’ll find a great lawyer who wants an easy case, though.”
“O-oh. What are you gonna do, then?” He only shrugged again, and my heart ached for him as I reached to touch his arm in comfort. Ever since we got together, Seth’s mom bullied him into a lot of decisions he didn’t want to make, and it was so hard to break that. “You’ll figure it out, Seth. You’re more than capable.”
In that moment, Mateo came jogging out of the lobby in shorts and a faded graphic t-shirt, and my brows rose at the two service jackets hanging over his arm. The conversation between my would-be sisters-in-law stumbled to a halt, and he swiped his hand through his lush, styled hair before I suddenly remembered how to work my mouth.
21
Mateo
“At least you upgraded, Lucy.” I almost choked when Jessie chirped her opinion, and her brother shot her a glare as the other girls burst out laughing. The sushi place was surprisingly empty for the lunch rush, and I sat back as this woman scanned me from across the table. “I’m allowed to say that because Seth’s my little brother. It’s no wonder he’s a bit of a mommy’s boy, but hopefully that’ll end now. Everyone’s got a breaking point.”
“Ah, thanks? Honestly, I don’t really have an opinion on that. My mother died when I was a toddler, and my father never remarried or anything.” He’s a cranky, old bastard.” That got some stifled laughter, and I picked up a piece of sushi off my plate with my chopsticks to wave it dismissively. “I also have two older brothers, so I can only imagine how much worse it is to have two older sisters.”
“Oh-h-h!“ Jessie tinged pink, and I smirked a little as the atmosphere leveled out above my head. Her husband wrapped his arm around her chair, and Seth tossed me a thankful look from the other side of the huge amount of food we’d ordered. “You opened yourself up for that one, Jessie. Anyway, I was talking to Auntie Marissa this morning and she said that Mom said that she’s going to try to get everyone to pay her back for this trip because the wedding didn’t happen. Normally, that’d kinda be a somewhat okay thing to do, but, I mean, we’re in Hawaii, damnit. This is a three-day vacation that some of our rela
tives never could do on their own for whatever reason. It’s not like we had to go back early or something.”
Seth’s oldest sister’s declaration earned disdainful hums from around the large, circular table, and I propped my elbow on the top to hold my cheek on my fist. I couldn’t help but wonder how these girls turned out so great when their mother was so crazy, and I glanced over at Lucy sitting next to me chewing a tuna roll and staring into space. Both my dogs were under the table, happy to receive any scraps that people deliberately gave them, but Marshal didn’t have the luxury of having access to restaurants.
“You know, I just realized that none of my family, but my mom is here.” Speaking up quietly, Lucy scrunched up her nose as she swallowed roughly, and I frowned under furrowed brows. “Mikayla had to buy her own ticket, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.” Her best friend sat on her other side, and Lucy grabbed her drink to sip as Mikayla flipped her hair bad-bitch-style. “Whatever. I had enough money to do it, so it didn’t matter. I wasn’t gonna let either of you be the maid of honor, no offense.”
“None taken. You’re the best friend— we’re just obligated being Seth’s sisters. To be fair, though, it was probably the easiest maid of honor duties ever. I managed to keep a handle on my wedding, barely, simply because when I rage, I’m respectful about it, and employees don’t like being spit at. Mom tried to change the flavors of the cake by going there before they opened and banging on the door. I got the call and told them to not care and the call the cops any time she steps on the premises. I got a free mini cake for being polite.” Jessie’s little story came to an end, and she cast me the most interested glance possible; the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I wondered if she knew how intense she was. “How’d you two meet?”
“I took a beating for Lucy.” My confession got everyone’s attention instantly, and Lucy grabbed my hand under the table to squeeze tightly. Jessie’s lips parted in shock while I silently debated exactly how much to say without opening up for questions. “We were double booked at the hotel, so she got her room for free. That’s technically how we met. When she won the jackpot on the five-dollar machine, some dude ran up and said she stole his machine, he wanted the jackpot, whatever. He got kicked out and waited for her to leave, and I happened to be in the lobby at the time.”
That was close enough to her story, I thought. It wasn’t like Lucy told these people anything substantial, anyway. She went soul-searching and won some money, the end. Case closed. I could see that Marissa knew I was lying, but she didn’t point it out in front of everyone.
“Why didn’t you ever take a beating for me, huh, Jack?” Marissa, Seth’s oldest sister, turned to her husband with a mock glare, but he was totally unphased, the chilliest guy I’d ever seen.
“I take beatings from you, Mar. That’s got to be good enough.” He took a swig of his beer with a slight, teasing smirk on his face, and she huffed loudly. “I remember the day we met. I was the sous chef, and your mom took you to my place for your eighteenth birthday. She demanded to talk to me personally about her food, and you were so embarrassed.”
Ah, that explained it. Every single person that had ever witnessed one of Meredith’s tantrums had probably been so obviously disgusted that the kids realized it wasn’t how they wanted to be.
“Really? What’d she say? More importantly, what’d you say?” Mikayla spoke up, taking the attention off Lucy, and I tangled our fingers under the table comfortingly. She picked out a piece of tuna from her roll to feed it to Ketchup, and Sriracha headbutted my leg jealously.
“Ah, Meredith had eaten about three-quarters of her food before complaining about it. It’s a standard practice to try to get discounts or comps while still enjoying the food. The waitress was in tears, so hysterical that she eventually threw up in the bathroom over it. We sent her home, and some rich asshole with a spider tattoo crawling up his neck gave every single member of the staff a four-grand tip.” My breath hitched and I tensed, briefly before remembering none of these people knew who I was. Jack continued on as if that wasn’t more than an interesting side bit to his story, and Lucy smoothed the bristling hairs on the top of my palm with her thumb. “My then-boss lets the waitresses deal with their own customers because he’s not the kind of guy who’ll take the customer’s side anyway. So, I’m standing there listening to Meredith, and Mar is just melting deeper and deeper into the booth as Meredith gets louder and more aggressive. At one point, she even stands up, but I’m six-foot-six, so it’s whatever.”
“Oh, my God, stop.” Covering her face in embarrassment, Marissa sunk into her chair, but her husband ignored her as he took a drink of his beer. The tension in me slowly dissipated, and I took a huge, stabilizing breath before reaching for my own beer to wash down the sourness on my tongue.
“It gets worse, as you can imagine. I’m pretty chill, so after she exhausted herself, Meredith’s panting and spitting a little and her lipstick is sticking to her teeth, and she yelled for the manager. Keep in mind, this is a two Michelin Star place with wait staff practically in tuxes, and even us cooks have a uniform. It’s not some hokey diner, and the food is far from cheap. At the time, our cheapest steak was like fifty bucks. Skipping out on a meal ends up being two hundred dollars, easy, especially because she was letting you drink the thirty-dollar margaritas.” Jack cracked a smirk when Marissa groaned in foreboding, and the entire table hung on his words even though they all probably knew the story. “I didn’t want to embarrass Marissa because I wanted to get in her pants, so I just told Meredith that she could pay for her meal and leave or I’d call the police, she can pay, and get dragged out. I found out Meredith likes to call bluffs that day.”
“How’d you end up getting married after dealing with that?” I couldn’t help the question, and that’s when Jack’s smile stretched to reveal deep, diamond-cutting dimples. Marissa was practically under the table at this point, and my brows rose as anticipation thickened my blood. “I doubt she would’ve taken that laying down.”
“Oh, she didn’t. This is where it gets bad. She, for some reason I still haven’t figured out, filed an order of protection against me personally. She didn’t read the signs that we have video and audio surveillance at that restaurant, so I brought it in when I contested the order. The judge watched about fifteen seconds of Meredith completely destroying this girl and denied the order and went absolutely ballistic on Meredith. Turns out, that chick was the judge’s niece.” My jaw nearly hit the table, and there were some gasps of surprise, as if everyone was hearing that part for the first time. No doubt, it was an egregious twist in the story, and Jack smiled over at Marissa with fondness and affection as he continued. “Marissa was so impressed and star-struck, she decided to go to law school. She actually came up to me and wanted to piss her mom off, and I wasn’t gonna say ‘no’. Come to find out, she’s really very sweet.”
“Shut up, Jack.” Grumbling as she shoved a piece of fish in her mouth, Marissa scowled darkly, and I was just stunned. That was one hell of a story, for sure.
“Every time I hear that story, it gets better and better.” Mikayla sighed wistfully, and I realized this was the first time, maybe ever, that I’d hung out with people that weren’t paid to be around me. And they were good people despite the circumstances. No one questioned me, where I came from; everyone around the table was just relieved the drama was finally over.
What a mind-blowing concept . . . friends.
22
Lucy
A soft tap on my shoulder tore my eyes off my phone, and I glanced up to find my mom standing in front of me with a somber look on her face, but anger and betrayal swirling in her eyes. Mateo’s plane wasn’t due to land for another hour, but everyone else had already gotten their stuff and headed home. I assumed my mom had, too, to try to avoid the situation, but obviously, I was wrong.
I turned back to my phone screen to scroll through the news and weather, but she sat next to me stiffly. Out of the corner of my eye, I could
see my mom frowning, and I pulled my headphones over my ears. As if that wasn’t a clear enough indication, I twisted away from her, and Marshal shuffled to readjust himself against my feet.
The flights from Honolulu to San Diego had been awkward— Seth sat with me and Mikayla sat with Meredith, but that didn’t stop her from talking the whole time. On the second flight out of San Diego, Seth told the pilot and all the attendants that if she opened her mouth before the plane got off the ground, they could kick her off immediately. Surprisingly, Meredith didn’t want to chance that scenario, but once we were in the air, she locked herself in the bathroom until we landed in Nashville.
Then, promptly, she got arrested again.
During the total eleven hours of flights, my mom had ignored me, and we hadn’t been seated together. Seth and I had talked about his future, and I knew she heard me say ‘I want to be friends’. I thought that wasn’t inappropriate given the circumstances. Seth agreed before going on a brutal tirade about desperately wanting to be a photographer, complete with tears and more than a few tissues.
The whole journey made me so sad for him.
My thoughts were interrupted when my mom pulled my headphone away from my ear, and I tensed as the fine hairs on my cheek bristled. Smacking her hand away, I glared hotly at her as her aged, long face twisted in hurt, and her gasp rang loudly through the terminal. It was ten p.m., and the few people that were milling around were trying their best to get to sleep. Few eyes turned to us, and I twisted to put my back to my mom fully.