Which led her right back to that Snapchat photo. As if there wasn’t enough on her plate, she had to wonder if Gavin had seen that somehow. Or worse, if the guys on his crew had seen it. He hadn’t mentioned it, but he probably wouldn’t, since how would that come up in conversation?
Hey, have you seen that embarrassing picture your little brother took of me checking out your butt in the market and sent to his friends?
That would be awkward.
Cait went into her bedroom-slash-storage-room and sat on the edge of her bed. She just didn’t have the energy left at the moment to go downstairs and hang out with her mom. Overhearing Cait’s conversation with Carter might lead her mom to some introspection and she didnotwant to interfere with any emotional lightbulb moments she might have.
She pulled out her cell phone and called her sister, instead. It had been a while since they’d talked, and she missed having Michelle close.
“Hey, Cait. Everything okay?”
“Yeah.” It seemed like an odd way to answer the phone, as if she wouldn’t just call her sister to chat. “You busy?”
“Always, but I have a couple of minutes. How are Mom and Carter?”
Cait decided not to tell her she would know how they were if she ever called or messaged them. “They’re doing okay. Good days and bad. Christmas was tough, but we’re past that now.”
“I wish I could have come home for the holidays, but you know how it is.”
“Sure.” She didn’t know what it was likeback seatbe there for family that needed her, actually.
“Is Mom any better?”
Cait caught her up on the last few weeks—how they were starting to donate Duke’s things and Carter’s grades slowly coming back up and today’s pot roast. It felt good to talk to her sister about it—to share the emotional load with another family member.
“What do you want me to do, Cait? I’m in Texas, for chrissake.”
She actually recoiled from the phone in her hand for a second. “I’m not asking you todoanything.”
“You’re telling me all these problems, which I don’t even have time for, so what is it you expect me to do?”
Listen.“Nothing. I just needed somebody to talk to for a few minutes.”
“And now we both feel like crap, but there isn’t even anything I can do about it because I’m halfway across the country. How does that help?”
Michelle was right. It wasn’t helping anybody. Especially Cait, since she was not only aggravated with her mother and her brother, but now she could add her sister to the list. “I guess you’re right. Let’s talk about Noah instead. How’s he doing?”
Her sister might not have had time to hear about their mom and brother, but she had a good twenty minutes to spare talking about her son. Cait didn’t mind. She welcomed it, actually, since it seemed like Noah was the only member of the combined Tasker-Hill family who was totally happy at the moment.
And this was temporary. Her mom was going to get her feet under her and Cait would be able to move on with her life. And when that time came, she wanted to still be on good terms with her sister. Maybe Michelle wasn’t able to be there for her now, but if Cait pushed, she wouldn’t be there for her at all.
That had always been one of the biggest differences between them. When something was a problem, Cait rolled up her sleeves and faced it head-on. Michelle put it in a box and slid it under the bed to deal with later. Or maybe never.
“Give my love to Mom and Carter,” Michelle told her as they closed out the conversation.
“Sure. Tell Paul I said hi, and kiss Noah for me.”
After they disconnected, Cait lay back on her bed and stared up the ceiling. She needed to get out of the house. It was time—well past time, actually—for her to have some Cait time.
Before she could talk herself out of it, she pulled up Gavin’s name in her contact list and hit the button to send a text message.
Were you serious about letting me use your apartment?
Chapter Eight
“What if she goes through your drawers?”
Gavin snorted. “Then she’ll see my clothes.”
