“I’m in trouble, aren’t I?”
I breathe out a sigh. I didn’t think I’d be having these kinds of conversations at this point in my life, especially without the help of a partner. But I love her like a daughter, so I guess this is the natural progression of things.
“You shouldn’t have punched him, but he shouldn’t be given the right to keep bugging you about sensitive topics.”
She gives me a small laugh as we continue walking down the road. “You were kind of scary in there.”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I’ve never seen you like that. You’re calm in a lot of situations, but that was a weird calm. Like you were a viper getting ready to strike her.”
Laughing, I say, “I wouldn’t have touched her physically, but you have rights as a student. I was merely trying to get some attention for them.”
“How come you stopped being a lawyer?” she asks. “You were obviously really good at it.”
I try to push back the flood of memories that hit me. “There were a lot of good things about it. But there were also a lot of not-fun things.”
“Mom says you had the perfect life and let it crumble to dust.”
After a quick glance at Lila, I can tell she’s asking out of curiosity rather than trying to be rude. If anything, I’m more annoyed at my sister for phrasing my life like that, and so casually. She knows what I went through, and yet it sounds like she thinks I was the major factor in the breakup.
Sure, there are two sides to every story, but what I went through wasn’t easy, and I still feel the pain of it even now, months later.
Letting out a long breath, I say, “Sometimes how things look on the outside aren’t always what they seem. I had a boyfriend who dumped me when I received a promotion over him, and then the company we worked for pinned some things on me. It was time to take a step back and move on with my life.”
She raises an eyebrow. “Are you sure running a coffee shop is moving on?”
Her tone makes me laugh out loud. “Leave it to you to call it how you see it. I like the coffee shop. I just wish I were better at getting the word out.”
I’ll do more research tonight. I’ve always been good at the research part and then the compiling. I’m just not the best at promoting myself without feeling like a narcissist. Another side effect from dating Curt. But I won’t complain about that, seeing as how we’ve made this all work here.
The future is bright, even if it’s cloudy right now.
“What are we going to do with you for two days?” I say, bumping her with my hip. She almost falls because she wasn’t expecting it.
“Let me rot on the couch and watch TV the whole time.”
“That would only add fuel to the fire. You’ll work with me in the shop. Maybe you can be my marketing ploy. We can make a sign you can wave at all the cars coming down the street. Or we can buy you a costume, and you can hand out flyers.”
She rolls her eyes. “I’d rather clean the bathrooms than do that.”
I tip my head to the side and look at her. “That can be arranged.”
Lila looks like she’s going to go off on a rant, but I pull her to me in an extended hug. She tenses, like she’s about to pullaway, but a moment later she’s relaxed against me, wrapping her arms around my middle.
“You know you can always talk to me about anything, right? Anytime you need to talk, I’m here. And your mom too.”
She snorts and pulls back, wiping her hand under nose.
“What was that for?”
“My mom doesn’t have time for me anymore.”
“That’s not true. She’s going through a lot. The only reason she took this job is to pay off some debt, so you can have everything you need.”
She gives me a small smile, and I feel a little better about the situation. I’ve had several thoughts about my sister’s presence in her daughter’s life over the past few weeks, but I’m supposed to be the neutral party.
“Just know your dad was the best thing to happen to your mom. And he loved you like crazy. Your mom loves you too.”
