I wasn’t going to apologize for that because he attracted the worst people.
“Interesting.” Rohan kept his gaze on the asshole teenagers standing in my kitchen as I leaned into him. “I’m assuming his mother has a key?”
“Yes.” For fuck’s sake. “Yes, she lives down the street about a mile. She...I think she has a key for emergencies, but I didn’t think she’d ever used it. I never even thought about it.”
Just seeing Eric and his friends pouting with their arms folded across their chests had my knees going wobbly. “Why...why would they do this to me?”
Nothing made sense.
I was the one who paid for his football stuff and to make sure he got to go on his senior trip. I hadn’t even called the cops when he’d tried to steal my car last year. I’d just helped pay for one for him because I was an idiot.
Sure, he might not like me, but my sanity was useful.
“We’ll figure that out, but first, I’d like you to call your sister.” Rohan’s voice was calm and firm as he reached one hand around behind himself and gave me a hug. “Then we’re going to get to the bottom of this.”
Yes. He’d figure out what was going on.
Phone.
I had to call Missy.
Bringing up my contacts list, I hit the button for Asshole and it started to ring. One. Two. Three. “I’ve got things to do. What?”
Her angry bark had me finally starting to see where Eric had gotten his lovely personality from, and suddenly I was just tired. “Your son broke into my house. Come get him before I call the cops.”
Disconnecting the call, I pressed closer to Rohan. “It won’t take long. She won’t want the police called.”
“She might not get a say in the matter unless I like the answers these assholes give me.” Rohan’s deep voice got squeaks from the wimpy teenagers standing in my kitchen shaking. “Talk. One at a time and politely.”
The three boys exchanged glances before one of the shorter asshole friends with some kind of floppy haircut broke first. “You were a dick to his mom. You deserve it.”
Rohan scoffed. “Yeah, right. Try again.”
Eric got cocky once his friend cracked. “She told me what you said about her and Mary. You’re a dick. Making you think you were crazy was a small price to pay.”
What?
“It was easy too. Some Goodwill plates and leftovers and your brain melted.” His cackly laugh had my spine going straighter.
“I...she’s...” How did I explain to Rohan how crazy our relationship was? “She was the golden child growing up and it’s only gotten worse.”
Understatement of the year right there.
“She...she keeps dropping my niece off for me to babysit but only when Mary has the plague. She’s given me the flu three times in the last couple of months.” The only time I ever saw the kid was when she was sick. “My doctor was starting to worry because I couldn’t get well, and then she brought the baby over again right after I’d been on these crazy meds.”
So I might’ve been a bit rude.
“Runny nose and a cough. The kid doesn’t even go to daycare. I pay to make sure Missy can stay home with her even though Mary’s dad is a deadbeat.” He was beyond deadbeat, but I wasn’t going to point that out in front of Eric, even if they weren’t related. “I was so tired of being sick and getting so behind on work, and she wanted me to take the baby overnight again. I snapped.”
“You’d been sick for at least a month by that point, Knox. I remember that and now some of your venting makes a lot more sense.” Rohan tightened his hand around me as much as he could, given the odd angle. “You’ve spent the last six months sick. I was amazed when I saw you and you weren’t coughing at the very least.”
Yeah, that had felt good.
“She got angry with me when I said I wouldn’t watch Mary. She hasn’t been speaking to me.” It hadn’t even occurred to me that that was when the gremlin activity had started. I’d just been enjoying my peace and quiet. “She...she was angry that she had to watch Mary on her own, but I couldn’t do it anymore.”
I’d been so tired of being sick.
“You can only help family so much. If the kid isn’t in daycare and is sick this much, she needs a specialist.” Rohan’s logical response had me wondering why I hadn’t thought of that first.
