He pauses and meets my gaze, his eyes dark and… hurt. “Don’t shut us out because of your fucking grief. We’re family, so start acting like it.” His jaw clenches as he glares at me. “Jordyn is hosting a family dinner this week, and you better be there or I will find you and drag your ass to my house myself. Or worse. I’ll send my wife.”
Then he storms out, slamming the door behind him.
Fuck.
Standing in the quiet of my living room, I glance down at myself, still dressed in black slacks, dress socks, and a dark gray button-down shirt. I couldn’t even be bothered to change into pajamas last night because I was so fucked up.
And once again, I’m paying dearly for it.
Scraping a hand over my face, I groan. Screw this. I’m going back to bed. Maybe my head will finally explode, and I won’t have to deal with this shit called life again.
CHAPTER 2
Quinn
UNEXPECTED VISITOR
“Spike,you need to get your shit together. We live in the desert. Why are you wilting? You should be thriving.” I shake my finger at him for good measure.“Thriving!”
The small, round, prickly cactus doesn’t respond, but he never does. None of my plants do. Maybe I should adopt a cat. One that no one else wants. At least maybe I’d get a meow or something when I talk out loud.
Shaking my head, I drip water into Spike’s dry dirt and sigh. How is it possible that I can’t even keep such a tiny, supposedly easy-to-grow plant alive? I water it. I move it around my apartment to get optimal sunlight. I even sing to it. Yet it’s definitely on its way to the grave. I know this because it’s the sixth cactus that I’ve adopted from the discard pile at the local succulent store. One day, I’ll rescue one of these little things successfully. Or I’ll end up in tears and give up on cacti and move on to trying to save succulents. Or cats.
Cats are judgy, though. Right? And honestly, I’ve had enough of that. Dogs love unconditionally. Unfortunately, I can’t have any animals. I work way too much. Besides, I would have to take it for a walk every time it needed to use the bathroom. Thatwould suck. I’m less of anexercisetype of girl and more of anextra frieskind of girl.
The sizzle of water boiling over the edge of the pot snaps me out of my bumbling thoughts. I grab the pot and pull it off the heat for a second while adjusting the temperature. Once I have that done and the noodles are cooking again, I look inside my fridge, trying to decide whether I want to stick with my garlic buttered noodles or spruce things up for fun and add a little shredded cheese. Why not live it up? Life’s too short to wait for a special occasion for everything.
On the counter, my phone sounds, so I plop the butter and cheese down and answer it as soon as I see who it is.
“Hi, Mike,” I say. “I know I’m late on this month’s dues. I almost have it.”
Mike huffs. “You know I wouldn’t have an issue with you being a little late, but you still owe three months of dues, and now you’re late…again. I can’t keep your mom here if I’m not getting paid to take care of her, Quinn.”
Blowing out a breath, I drop my shoulders. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“You took responsibility for your mother’s care, and you’re not doing a very good job keeping up your end of the deal. I let her stay here, even though she was a year behind, because you said you would get her account all caught up,” Mike snips.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I press my fingers to my forehead and try to breathe slowly. “Right. I know. And again, I’m sorry. I really am working to get caught up. I’m waiting for a check from one of my jobs.”
“When do you get paid by them?” he demands.
I swallow and look down at the floor. “I should be getting it in the mail any time. I expected it a week ago.”
The tension is so heavy that I can feel it weighing on me even down the phone. This guy freaking hates me, and I don’t knowwhy. I’ve never done anything to hurt him, but ever since I got the call from the care facility, saying that my mom was about to be kicked out, he’s been nothing but rude. Sometimes, I wonder if he has a stick up his ass or if it’s just his shining personality. Unfortunately, I really need my mom to stay in that facility, so I keep those thoughts to myself.
“I’ll give you three more days, Quinn, but I’m charging an additional one hundred dollars a day for being late, starting on the first. As of today, you’re up to six hundred dollars in overdue fees.”
My mouth falls open as I drop the wooden spoon I’m holding. Is he serious right now?
“Wait, what? Is that written in the contract because I don’t remember reading it.” I went over that thing twice to make sure I didn’t miss anything. I knew there was a fifty-dollar late fee, but there was nothing about a daily accrual in the terms and conditions. I can’t… Fuck. I can’t afford that.
“Neither was the part where I let your mother stay here for a year, even though I could have thrown her out on the streets. You can come get her if you’d like to take care of her.”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I swallow and shake my head, even though he can’t see me. That isn’t possible, and he knows it. My mom needs around-the-clock care, and I juggle three jobs. There’s no way I can take care of her.
Or if I’d even want to.
Deep down, I love my mom. I always have. But when I got the call from the care facility asking for money so she could stay living there, I almost told them to shove it. As far as I was concerned, my mom had been dead to me for the last eight years.
