Page 29 of One Quick Obsession

“I think she just wanted to keep it quiet. She’s a brilliant mechanic, and a wonderful person, and I’m glad that she kept it to herself. Honestly, I was afraid someone else would see and it would become gossip fodder. Mom would hate that. She always despised when people spoke about her whenever Dad went to jail, or when people would whisper about her bruises.” My fingers tightened on the stem of the wineglass, and I forced myself to relax slightly. “But if you see Allie before I do, tell her thank you. She’s the kindest person.”

“Of course I will. And she is kind. I didn’t mean that I had expected her to gossip, only that I wish I would’ve known so I could have helped.”

I shook my head. “We got it handled this time. I just don’t know what we’re going to do next time. Even a simple checkup today was nearly too much. And Sheriff Brothers was walking by on our way out and helped me get her into the car to take her home.” I lowered my voice. “They had to use a sedative on her, and I nearly broke down.”

“Scarlett. You have so much on your shoulders. I’m glad others were there to help you, but there has to be something we could do to help your mother. Is she seeing a therapist?”

I nodded and took another sip of my wine, this time it was more of a gulp. “Yes, but I don’t think it’s helping. Not the way that she wants. Or selfishly, not the way I want.”

“It’s not selfish for you to want your mom to be able to function as a member of society and be happy.”

“It sure as hell feels selfish because I don’t want to have to be forced to take half a day off work just to get my mother to the doctor and feel like I’m kidnapping her in the process.”

Isabella opened her mouth to say something, but the waitress came at that moment.

“Welcome to the Rustic Cage. We’re so glad that you’re here. I see that you’re sharing a bottle of wine, are we waiting on another member of your party?” she asked.

The Rustic Cage was a new restaurant in town that Theo Cage owned along with his business partner that I didn’t know. Theo was one of the Cages who rarely came to town, and he owned a high-end restaurant called The Teal Door in Downtown Denver. He was a brilliant chef and had wanted something similar in Cage Lake since so many of his siblings were spending time here and even moving here. Theo didn’t cook here often, as he had hired a chef to run his menu, but the place was reasonably priced, and I loved sending resort guests to the restaurant on the days they weren’t eating in our restaurant.

Isabella looked up at the waitress and smiled. It was nice to have another person take over answering questions and dealing with organizing. We were both Type A, and yet we took turns in taking over. “Yes, we’re waiting on Harper and Ivy. They should be here soon.”

“My name is Jackie if you need anything. I’ll be back in a moment when they arrive. And honestly, I’m really excited to see Ivy again. She’s been out of town for the past couple of weeks.”

“That’s our friend, constantly leaving Cage Lake for other forests.”

Jackie winked. “But she always comes back. I’ll get you guys some bread while you’re waiting.”

“With the amount of wine I’m about to drink, I’m going to need that bread,” I said softly, and Jackie gave me a nod, a bright smile, and hurried off presumably to get our bread.

I turned to Isabella and drained the rest of my wine. “I didn’t know Ivy was coming.”

Isabella, the wonderful friend that she was, immediately filled up my wine glass from the bottle left on the table. “She didn’t know she was going to be able to either. But she’s on her way. She just needed to finish showering, as she arrived less than an hour ago. Harper should be here soon, though when she called to let me know that she was on her way, Dorian was behind her, and there was giggling.” Isabella shuddered. “Things I don’t need to know about my brother.”

“Knowing the two of them, she could be here any moment, or in an hour,” I said dryly.

“I don’t need to know details,” Isabella said, holding up both hands.

Guilt swept over me when I realized that I hadn’t told her that Hudson and I had kissed. Or the fact that we kept bumping into each other, and that heat I wanted to ignore continued to be there.

I shouldn’t mention it at all though, because it wasn’t going to lead anywhere. Hudson was just as ornery as always, and it wasn’t as if he wanted me like that. Maybe for a night, but Hudson wasn’t meant for long-term. He had even said as much to me before.

Hudson Cage wasn’t for me, and that kiss would never be repeated. Whatever overprotective urge he had within himself would be over soon, and neither one of us would need to think about it again. The fact that he was my neighbor, and his sister sat right across from me, meant nothing. And if I kept telling myself that, it would make sense eventually.

“I’m late, I’m late, sorry!” Harper said as she bounced into the dining room and took one of the empty seats on either side of Isabella and me. “I’m seriously sorry that I’m late.”

I smirked as I poured her some of the wine. “What made you late?” I teased.

Harper blushed.

Isabella rolled her eyes. “Seriously? I don’t need to know these things.”

“What do you mean?” Harper asked far too innocently as she pulled her dark hair from her face.

“I realized I just poured you wine without asking if you wanted it,” I said with a laugh, knowing that the wine was already getting to me. I was a lightweight and probably shouldn’t have even had two glasses of wine. But I had taken a rideshare here and would do the same back home. Yes, the rideshare was usually one of two older men who were retired and enjoyed talking up a storm with the locals and tourists, but it was safer than me walking home around the lake at night.

“This wine is perfect, although, we’re probably going to need at least another bottle,” she said with a laugh.

“Already on it,” Isabella said as she waved at the waitress.