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She didn’t want to be saddled with a salon if Ashlynn were guilty.
Shit.
Swallowing hard, she forced herself to stay calm as she met her sister’s steady gaze. “I did not have anything to do with the fire at Lavish Locks. The last time I was in there was the day Becky asked me to come in and get my last check. When I got there, she handed me a box of crap and most of it wasn’t even mine so I gave it back.” Her stomach was churning and unshed tears stung her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. “I am 100% innocent in this and if anyone would talk to me about this so I could clear my name, that would be awesome.”
That seemed to make Billie relax. “Why hasn’t Reid done anything? I would think with him working for the fire department, he could explain that Becky’s crazy and maybe direct the investigation somewhere else.” She paused. “And you’d also think considering it was an old building, it could have just been that the electrical stuff just crapped out.”
“Um…Reid can’t really get involved because his captain knows we’re dating. We talked briefly about it last night and it was super obvious that he wasn’t comfortable. I just don’t know if he wasn’t comfortable because he knew it was upsetting to me, or if it was because this doesn’t look good for him to be dating someone they consider a potential arsonist.”
Billie mumbled something but was cut off when both of their phones dinged with an incoming text.
Levi: Dad’s here
Ashlynn looked up and caught the same confused look on her sister’s face that she was certain was on hers.
Billie: Um…what?
* * *
Levi: He came up with Patrick to surprise us, so…
* * *
Levi: Surprise!
* * *
Ashlynn: But why? He hasn’t shown up here in years! Why now?
* * *
Levi: Seriously?
* * *
Levi: I think now that the proverbial cat is out of the bag, he felt like he finally could come visit
* * *
Billie: Which cat? His illness or the situation with Mom?
* * *
Levi: Can’t he just come and visit without all these questions?
Putting her phone down, Billie looked at Ashlynn and sighed. “Sometimes I hate how much our brother is clearly Team Dad.”
“Agreed. But then again, right now I’m leaning more toward Team Dad than Team Mom, that’s for sure.”
“You really need to work on that. She’s our mother and…”
“And he’s our father. Are you telling me you’re not even the least bit conflicted after the whole revelation? Like you’re not even a teeny tiny bit mad at Mom for messing up our lives that way?”
Their phones dinged again.
Levi: Jade’s offered to have everyone for dinner at her place tonight if you’re free
* * *
