Chapter 33
Family – not necessarily the people related to you by blood
Leia
My heart clenches. I can’t breathe. The man I fell in love with thinks I’m trying to trap him into marriage. First Charles and now Fender. I sure do know how to pick ‘em.
My eyes itch and tears threaten. But I can’t fall apart. Not in front of Isla. She doesn’t deserve to be a witness to her mom’s drama.
I suck up my tears and promise myself I can fall apart with a bottle of wine later.
I hurry to throw away the pregnancy tests Fender left on the kitchen counter. Once I’ve disinfected the area – I peed on those sticks – I go to find Isla.
“Did you pick a color?”
She holds up several bottles. “I want to do a different color for each toe.”
“Sounds fun.”
There’s a knock on the door and a smile breaks out on her face. “Maybe it’s Fender. Maybe he changed his mind.”
Damn Fender for making my daughter fall in love with him.
I force a smile on my face. “Let’s go find out.”
It’s not Fender at the door. Thank goodness because there’s only some much pretending I can do.
“Hi, Feather,” I greet the gossip gal.
“I was wondering if I can borrow Isla,” she says in response.
“Borrow me?” my daughter asks.
Feather puts on a sigh. “I have a problem and I think you’re the only person who can help me.”
Isla taps her chest. “Me?”
“I’ve been experimenting with various ice cream flavors, but I can’t pick which ones to put in my store.”
Isla’s eyes widen. “And you want me to help?”
“It would mean eating a lot of ice cream. Are you up to it?”
“I am!” Isla pulls on my shirt. “Can I go, Mom? Can I?”
I nod and she screams.
“Go get a bag,” Feather says. “This may take all night.”
Isla runs toward her room and Feather captures my hands. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry about what?”
She nods toward the house next door. “We thought he was a good pick.”
I don’t bother asking how she already knows about the breakup. I wasn’t exactly quiet when I kicked Fender out of the house after all. And this town considers eavesdropping a skill to hone.
“You thought wrong. He’s a…”
I trail off when I hear Isla return. “Ready!”
“Have fun,” I say after I quickly check her bag to make sure she packed more than books and stuffed animals.
They walk off hand in hand with Isla talking a mile a minute about what her favorite ice cream flavors are. I wait until I can’t see them anymore before I let out a breath and allow the smile to fall from my face.
I’m shutting the front door when Virginia and Indigo rush up my sidewalk.
“Sorry, we’re late,” Indigo says. “But we needed supplies.”
“Did Feather pick up Isla already?” Virginia asks.
“What’s going on?”
Indigo bustles me inside the house and Virginia closes the door behind us.
“Cash called. Fender’s destroying the rental house.”
“Asshole,” I mutter.
Virginia grimaces. “He didn’t react well to the pregnancy scare?”
I snort. “Not well? That’s putting it mildly. He lost his freaking mind and claimed I’m trying to trap him.”
Her brow wrinkles. “How are you trying to trap him? You’re not pregnant.”
“But I didn’t tell him the second I found out I was late, which is proof I’m trying to get pregnant and trap him into marrying me so I can live the life of leisure.”
“Um…There might be a reason he flew off the handle,” Indigo hedges.
“Yeah. Yeah. I know all about the Vicki situation.”
“Vicki situation?” Virginia looks back and forth between me and Indigo. “Who’s she?”
I’d love to tell her every single part of the story, but – despite what Fender thinks – I do keep my promises.
“Suffice it to say, she screwed with Fender’s head,” Indigo says.
“Yep. And he accused me of being her.”
She gasps. “What?”
“Yep. I’m a conniving little bitch apparently.”
“If you were conniving, you would have made sure he never saw those tests,” Virginia points out.
“Great. I’m a conniving little bitch who sucks at being conniving.”
“We should prank him,” she says and my mouth drops open. “What? I can prank someone.”
“Except she’s never actually pranked anyone,” Indigo whisper-shouts.
“What ideas do you have?” I ask Virginia because the only idea I have right now is to sneak into his room while he’s sleeping and turn him into a eunuch. But I can’t go to jail. I’ve got a kid to raise. And there’s a possibility causing bodily harm to an ex-boyfriend doesn’t send the best message to her.
“We have to hit him where it hurts,” Indigo says.
“What does he love?” Virginia asks.
Not me. I thought he did. He convinced me he not only loved me but my daughter as well. I’m such a fool. I should have never let a man near Isla. How am I going to explain to her she’s not allowed to spend time with Fender anymore?
Virginia wraps an arm around my shoulders. “I’m sorry, Leia. It was a stupid question.”
I wipe the tears spilling from my eyes away. “No, no. You’re right. A prank should be against something he loves.”
“He’s obsessed with food,” Indigo offers. “We could raid his refrigerator.”
“There’s no way we’re going to be able to sneak into the house. The entire band is over there now.” Virginia points to next door. Since there are no curtains, it’s easy to peer into the living room where the entire band can be seen.
“We could lure them away,” Indigo suggests.
“And how are we going to lure them away?”
She shrugs. “We can set off fireworks in the front yard and sneak into the back door when they go outside to investigate.”
“Where are we going to get fireworks at this time of year. Autumn is around the corner,” I remind her.
“We can build our own,” Virginia suggests. “There must be a book in the library about how to create explosives.”
My eyes widen. “The library has books about explosives?”
Her shoulders deflate. “Maybe not.”
“I guess we move onto Plan B.” Indigo holds up the bags she’s carrying. “Drink wine, eat tons of junk food, and watch trashy movies.”
She sets her bags on the coffee table in the living room and starts to empty them. She pulls out chocolate, potato chips, bags of candy, several bottles of wine, a few cans of beer, and three pizzas.
“While trashing Fender,” I add.
“I have a great vocabulary.” Virginia smirks. “I bet I can think up at least fifty words for jerk.”
“Don’t forget liar, untrustworthy, sneaky, rat bastard, contemptible, idiot, fool, jackass.” I pause to inhale a breath.
Indigo hands me a glass of wine. “Here. This’ll help.”
I gulp the wine down before collapsing on the sofa. “What am I going to do?”
“You’re going to get over the idiot and be all the stronger for it,” she says.
“While living next door to him?” I huff. “How am I going to get over him when I see him every day.”
“He won’t be here all the time. The band starts their tour soon,” Virginia says.
“Isla was barely manageable the week Fender was gone for the press release. She’s going to be inconsolable now he’s gone for good.”
I hold out my glass for more wine. Indigo fills it up and Virginia hands me a cracker topped with cheese.
“Hangovers suck,” she says.
“I can’t believe I thought Fender was different. But he’s exactly the same as Charles. Men are unreliable.” I wave my wine glass at Indigo and Virginia, and the wine splashes over the edge onto my t-shirt. I ignore it. Who cares about a t-shirt now? “Except your men. They’re the exception that proves the rule.”
Virginia snatches my glass from me. “Maybe we should get you a sippy cup.”
“A sippy cup? Why would I have a sippy cup in my house? I don’t have a toddler anymore. Isla’s nearly a teenager and I’m never going to have children again.”
My bottom lip trembles. “I’m never going to have another child.”
Virginia rubs my back. “I thought you were relieved you aren’t pregnant.”
“A son with Fender’s green eyes,” I whine before the tears burst from my eyes and I stop all pretense of trying to keep it together.
“He broke my heart. He broke my daughter’s heart. I mean, not yet.” I use the bottom of my t-shirt to wipe my nose. “She doesn’t know yet but her little innocent heart is going to break. Crack! In two. Never to recover. Never to trust a man again.”
“Maybe wine wasn’t the best idea,” Indigo mutters before shoving a piece of sausage at me. “Eat this. It’ll make you feel better.”
I stare at the piece of meat. “This will make me feel better?”
“I’m not good at consoling people. If you met my mom, you’d understand.”
I inhale a deep breath and force myself to get it together. I can’t lose it. I have a daughter to care for. I need to be an adult here.
“My mom’s horrible, too.”
Indigo rubs her hands together. “You think so? Let’s compare notes.”
Virginia raises her hand. “Excuse me. But I’m pretty sure I win in the horrible mother lottery.”
“My mom forced Cash to break up with me and we lost each other for eleven years,” Indigo blurts out.
“My mom disowned me when I got pregnant and I haven’t heard from her since. She’s never met Isla.”
Indigo throws her hands in the air. “Fine. You win.”
“You forgot about me.” Virginia clears her throat. “My mom didn’t believe it when my step-brothers tortured me.”
I glance around at my friends. “We have some shitty moms, but we’ve got each other now. No matter what, we have each other.”
They wrap their arms around me. Their love and friendship fills me up and soothes over the rough edges of my heartbreak. I’m still devastated but with these two women by my side, I can power through anything.