Chapter 20
Blue’s cell phone rang as she drove home.
“I’m not talking to you, shithead,” she said when Lynx’s face appeared on the screen.
“Yeah, well, after the grilling that Mom and Dad just gave us, which they never do, just FYI, we’re not feeling that good either. But that’s not why I’m calling.”
“I do not accept your apology,” Blue said.
“I’m not offering one. He had it coming.”
“I had sex with him willingly!”
“Stop!” Lynx hissed. “We do not talk about the act in regard to ourselves. You know that!”
“So what, you’re celibate and haven’t stuck your—”
“One more word, Blue Jay McAllister, and I’m going into your room and doing something you will hate.
” The words came out a low growl. “Now, if you’ll shut your big mouth for a second, I’ll have time to tell you that Mom is just pouring your old work bosses, or whatever they are, cups of passion fruit wine, and it’s the old stuff that’s really strong. ”
“Fuck! Why did you let that happen? We have a coffee machine—”
“Finch and I were painting the interior of the cottage. Dad said it was penance for being idiots. Not that I agree with him.”
Parents, Blue thought, putting her foot down on the gas pedal. They could still reduce you to a child in seconds, even if you’d left home and were respected and excelled in your chosen field.
“Well, just make sure it’s only a single cup. And get in there and lead the conversation, or Mom will have them in kaftans and aligning their chakras before you know it!”
She cut the call and drove toward her family home. She was soon turning into her driveway and pulling up beside the rental that their unwelcome guests must have arrived in.
She ran inside and found them all seated around the kitchen table.
Sebastian Cavanagh sat beside her father, and beside him was Shannon, her boss at Cavanagh Sale. Wedged between her mother and Finch was Christian, Sebastian’s brother and the company vice president.
All looked as comfortable as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, which was one of her father’s favorite sayings, and fit the situation perfectly.
“Blue!” Sebastian saw her first, and got out of his chair so fast, it rocked backward.
She was used to seeing these three in their natural habitat, and clearly being out of it wasn’t easy on any of them. The tension radiating from them, even considering they were drinking potent wine, was thick in the air.
“Why are you here?” Blue said, crossing her arms.
“Now, Blue, it’s nice of your old work friends to come all this way to pay you a call. It shows they respected you,” her father said.
“Remember what I told you about someone stealing my designs, Dad?”
Her father nodded.
“Well, these guys”—she pointed to the two men—“allowed that to happen because it was their niece, and then they told me to get over it.”
“Now, that’s not quite true, Blue,” Sebastian said, throwing around his smile that usually got him whatever he wanted, even if it didn’t reach his eyes.
“All right, how about you tell us what the truth is, then?” Blue said.
She felt Lynx move to her left side, and Finch got out of his chair and took her right. Her parents watched their children and then turned with narrowed eyes to look at their guests.
“Well, Layla really didn’t mean to cause trouble—”
“She stole my sister’s designs. To me, that’s clearly theft,” Lynx said.
They might be annoyed with one another, but when the lines were drawn, McAllisters always had one another’s backs.
“Blue, Layla is willing to apologize, and I know you’ll do the right thing and accept,” Shannon said, speaking for the first time.
“The hell she will,” Finch said in a growly voice.
Shannon was a beautiful woman, but she paid a lot of money to ensure she stayed that way.
Blue had heard people call Shannon high-maintenance a few times, but for all that, they’d never had trouble between them before the Layla business.
In fact, Blue had always just done her job and caused no problems. Yes, she spoke up when she thought it was required, but she’d never crossed anyone in a position higher than hers had been. It seemed all that had changed now.
“I’m not willing to come back to work for a company that accepts what Layla did and in fact throws its employee, who had served them loyally for years, under the bus. That is not how I was raised.”
Shannon laughed, which just pissed Blue off.
“Don’t be silly. This isn’t your life anymore. You won’t survive here—not after a career we’ve helped you build in New York.”
“That sounded like a sneer to me,” Lynx said with narrowed eyes. “We don’t like people sneering at us or our hometown.”
Shannon waved a hand about, dismissing her brother’s words, which just made Blue angrier. She could dismiss him, but no one else could.
“Those designs you’ve already drawn belong to Cavanagh Sale, so you need to hand them over to us when you return to work,” Shannon added.
“No,” Blue said, folding her arms.
“Well.” Meadow got out of her seat. She then began collecting the still-full glasses from in front of her guests. “I think this conversation is done with. I don’t want you in my house anymore after what you’ve done to my Blue. Hamish, you see our guests out now.”
The shock on the three New Yorkers’ faces had Blue wanting to smile. They weren’t used to being treated with anything but respect.
“Blue, we want to discuss this rationally, alone,” Sebastian said, recovering first. He was not happy about the way he was being treated. Clearly he thought because he’d been born into money and raised in New York’s elite society, he was worthy of respect—turns out he was wrong there.
“She has made her stance clear,” Finch said. “You need to leave.”
“I saw what looked like some kind of cafe in your town, down at the end of the main street. We’ll go there to talk,” Sebastian continued, as if her brother had not spoken.
“Some kind?” Blue asked softly.
“Stop this, Blue. This is not you. You don’t want this life,” Shannon said, getting out of her chair. “We’ll give you a raise, and we can put this petty grievance you have aside. Now bring the drawings you’ve done and come back to New York at once.”
“I have the paperwork for the raise on your salary,” Christian said, speaking for the first time.
“Petty?” Lynx said in a hard voice.
Blue knew then she’d have to take them outside if she wanted to say what she needed to without interference.
“You all”—Blue looked around at her family— “stay in here, and I’m going to talk outside with them. Do not follow,” she added.
Happy to be leaving, the Cavanagh West folk followed her silently.
They all walked out of the room and down the hallway with its mismatched colors on the walls and drawings that were now old and faded.
This place was another world from the one in which she’d lived in New York and almost an alien planet to the three people behind her.
Stepping outside, Blue inhaled deeply before speaking to the three people now standing in a line before her. “You all need to leave now. I’m not coming back to New York, and I’m not designing for you—”
“If you try to work for anyone else, we’ll sue you,” Christian cut her off. “Give us the designs if you insist on not returning, and we’ll work out the rest when you’re not being childish.”
Blue heard the murmur of voices and knew her family was listening.
“Oh, you’ll sue me, will you?” Blue asked with a calm she was far from feeling.
“Sebastian didn’t mean that,” Shannon said quickly. “We want the designs, but we also want you working with us again, Blue.”
“No. Now leave,” she said, looking to the driveway as she heard the crunch of tires approaching.
They started talking over one another, throwing threats around. Blue listened and watched her sister’s car pull into a park beside the van. Doors opened, and out got Leah, Birdie, Hudson, Ally, and Sadie, her niece.
Sadie ran to the house, and up the stairs on her little legs, and Blue picked her up, hugging her close.
“Hey, baby, you go on inside and see your grumpy uncles and Dow Dow and Mishy, okay?” Sadie had picked her grandparents’ names, and they were happy with her selections.
“’Kay.”
“Are you all good there, Blue?” Leah asked, reaching her with Hudson. Her eyes went from Blue to the New Yorkers.
“Yeah, go on in. I’ll be there soon, Leah.”
Everyone but Birdie did as she asked. Her sister slid her arm around Blue’s waist and stayed.
“Who are you?” she then demanded, looking at the three people who were clearly not locals, before Blue could introduce her.
“They’re from New York and just leaving. I got this. You go on inside,” Blue said.
“No,” Birdie said.
“This is a private conversation,” Sebastian said, glaring at her.
“You don’t get to look at my sister like that,” Blue said. “Have some respect when you’re standing on my family’s land.”
“Blue, we can work this out. I need you for the fall catalog. No one can design like you,” Shannon said before Sebastian could speak. If she was going for a conciliatory tone, she missed the mark by a mile. The woman sounded angry.
“You might want to adjust that tone,” Birdie snapped.
“Who are you?” Sebastian demanded.
“I’ll be your worst nightmare if you don’t start treating Blue with respect and listen to what she’s trying to tell you.”
Her sister was usually the calm one, but clearly living with Sawyer was rubbing off on her.
Sebastian laughed at Birdie’s words. “You don’t threaten me.”
“Well, you just carry on with what you’re doing, and we’ll see about that. Because the next person to arrive will be my husband, and he’s not as nice as me.”
“That’s enough, Birdie,” Blue said, impressed even if she was angry. Her sister didn’t usually stand up to bullies, and she could see now that’s exactly what Sebastian was.
“Call your sister off, Blue,” Sebastian said dismissively. “This conversation does not involve her.”
“Stay!” Blue said to her brothers as she heard the door hinge squeak behind them.
“We’ll pay you more,” Shannon reminded her, trying to bring the conversation back on track.
Blue’d had enough. She was tired and irritable—never a good combination for her.
“Okay, we’re done here. I’m not coming back to work, so you all need to leave, and don’t return. I’m grateful for what I learned at Cavanagh Sale, but I won’t work where I’m not respected again.”
“What she said,” Birdie added.
Sebastian opened his mouth, but Blue cut him off.
“Nothing you say will change my mind. Leave now.”
“You heard what she said. Leave, or our brothers will be out here, and between us all, we’ll throw you off the property,” Birdie said.
“This is not done, Blue,” Sebastian said.”
“It is. Now go.”
Finally, they did, climbing back into their rental and driving away. But she knew this was only the beginning of them trying to get her drawings because when Sebastian Cavanagh wanted something, he usually got it.
Not this time, buddy.
“Thank you,” Blue said, hugging her little sister close and then just holding on.
“You doing okay?”
“Peachy.”
“Now I know that’s a lie,” Birdie said, cupping her cheeks.
“Did you hear that our idiot brothers went after Jay and bruised his face?”
“I did hear that, and let me tell you, Sawyer is not happy about it. He thinks of Jay as his little brother, like Dan,” Birdie said.
“I’m tired, and there are too many people in this house, Birdie.” Blue sighed.
“I know you are, but it will get easier. You can come live with us if you want to.”
“No, thanks. You have Sawyer and a child, and no offense to Sadie, but I doubt it’s any less noisy. Especially if all those Dukes pop in and out.”
“There is that. Now let’s go in and drink and eat, and we can chew out Lynx and Finch some more.”
They heard the sound of running feet, but Blue’s money was on Birdie catching her brothers.
“Love you, Blue Jay.”
“Love you, too, Birdie,” Blue said, kissing her sister on the cheek.
“Unlike my Neanderthal brothers, I know it takes two to create a child.”
Blue really did need to move out of here and find a place. She just had to work out where she wanted to live and how she was going to support herself and the baby—and then there was Jay.