Page 27 of Contentious

“I think I was in shock, even though Kaidan had warned us.” Their mother had been living with Kaidan during the week since Kate’s home in the Palisades was lost to the wildfire last year. Kaidan had picked up on a vibe that’d reminded her of when their parents had been together and happy. She’d mentioned that at their last group dinner, shocking her siblings with the unimaginable news. “I didn’t want to believe it when she said it, and I sure as hell didn’t want to believe it when I saw it with my own eyes.”

“What did you see, exactly?”

“I’d driven Isla to her ex-husband’s wake. She decided to go in by herself, so I went to Hendry’s to chill for a bit. I’d been there awhile when I saw a dog that reminded me of Snowball, and then I realized it was Snowball, with Mom and Dad following her, holding hands. They walked up the path to the parking lot, so caught up in each other they never knew I was there.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah, it was surreal, to say the least.”

Carson stretched to alleviate the tension in his neck. “I wonder how TMZ found out about it. I wouldn’t put it past either of them to have leaked it, hoping to force us to deal with them.”

“They wouldn’t do that,” Julian said.

“You don’t think so?”

“Nah, someone must’ve seen them and cashed in on the scoop. It’s not like they were being coy about it, holding hands in public.”

“I’m so fucking pissed about the whole thing,” Carson said, “and I don’t want to be. I want to go back to thinking they only speak to each other when they have to.”

“Same. I liked it better when they were keeping their distance. How do you go from the shit they used to say about each other to holding hands on a beach and laughing like they haven’t a care in the world?”

“That doesn’t just happen. It’s probably been going on for a while now.”

“Yeah.” Julian dangled a pen between his fingers.

“It’s weird to hear you telling Isla you love her.”

“Not to me it isn’t.”

“I don’t understand anything lately.”

“I’m sorry if I’m upsetting you. It’s not intentional.”

“I don’t want you to think I’m not happy for you, because I am. It’s just…”

“I know. I get it. I’d feel the same way if it’d been you.”

“And now Griffin has a kid, and that’s all he wants to talk about, and Mom and Dad are back together, and what the fuck is happening?”

Julian laughed at the face Carson made. “I believe life is happening, and it’s upsetting the natural order of things for you, which has you thinking we’ve all lost our minds.”

“That about sums it up.”

“I wish I could say something that would make it make sense for you, but you need to experience it to understand why someone like me would do a complete one-eighty on all my life rules to spend as much time with her as I possibly can.”

“I suppose so. Suffice to say it makes zero sense to me.”

“Maybe someday it will.”

“I sure as fuck hope not.”

Julian laughed at Carson’s emphatic statement. “Tell me the truth about Cresley. What’s up with you two?”

Carson rolled his eyes. “We’ve already covered this. Nothing is up! I gave her a ride.”

“You went out of your way to give her a ride, and she told me you’re personally watching things at her house and her son’s school.”

“That’s my job, Julian, to keep an eye on our clients when they’re being harassed by an unstable ex.”