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He was kind of prissy and stuck up, but he’d never been anything but nice to me. He also had a way with clothes and made incredibly beautiful pieces. He’d hidden it from everyone for a long time, but as soon as his secret came out, they jumped all over that, and now he was getting his own clothing shop.
Our family had laid claim to the entire block, and we were slowly taking over. Nobody complained, because it wasn’t like the rest of the block was all that great because it wasn’t.
I parked in front of Damien’s shop because I didn’t want to chance Rain seeing me. There was no doubt in my mind that he’d come out here to confront me about not going into work today or telling him about it.
There were very few people at the Alexander house when I stopped there, so I was a little disheartened about how many of Ariel’s husbands I was going to find in the shop with her. I wanted to actually be able to speak with her without a man stepping in and silencing me simply because they did not like what I had to say to her.
Ariel Kimber was a big girl, and she was more than capable of standing up for herself and her own bad behavior. I didn’t have anyone to stand up for me when I made bad choices or hurt other people. I always had to face everything on my own. She should have to do the same, but it was almost laughable thinking that she’d be allowed to, even if she wanted to. She was the most protected witch I had ever met.
I loved that for her, but at the moment, it kind of sucked for me.
I hopped down from the SUV and locked the doors. I kept my head down as I sprinted toward Fortunes for the Unfortunate. It was stupid because anyone who looked out the window and noticed me would obviously be able to tell it was me, but whatever, it made me feel better.
Like Rain’s shop, this one had a bell over the door that jingled when I opened it too, announcing my arrival.
“Hey, Isobel,” Tyson Alexander called out in greeting. “How have you been, girl? Rain’s been keeping you busy, and we rarely see you around anymore. Don’t let that man work you to death.” He chuckled darkly. “You know you can always quit on him and come back here to work for me. You’re always welcome to come back here, we’re family.”
I froze, standing before the counter, and I just stood there staring at him. For some dumb reason, I really wanted to cry. I knew why, but it still felt dumb because it was the second time in a week where I almost cried in front of other people.
Tyson just treated me how I expected Ariel to treat me. I had not expected this from him.
I had to clear my throat and look away from him. “Thank you, Tyson. That means a lot coming from you. I do work a lot, but with Baylie and Toby now, it’s not so bad. And, bonus, Rain only pretends to care when I’m mean to the customers, so that’s cool.”
He laughed outright. “Thatisa bonus. It’s a good thing I’m the boss and can’t fire myself, because sometimes I have the same problem. When people stop being so dumb all the time, I won’t have to work so hard to be nice to them.”
“Amen to that,” I wholeheartedly agreed with him. “Hey, is Ariel around? I stopped by the house and was told by the boys next door that she’s here.”
“Yeah, girl. She’s in the back. Go ahead and head on back there, you know the way. She’s going to be stoked to see you.”
I wasn’t so sure about that, and he probably wouldn’t be nearly as friendly to me on my way out.
I thanked him quietly and headed toward the back room.
Both Addison and Abel stopped what they were doing to greet me on my way past them. They joked around with me because neither of them took anything too seriously, but they did both tell me they wished I came back here to work.
And again, I wanted to cry. This just proved that I hadn’t been wrong in thinking these people were my family now, even if some of the others didn’t like me very much.
I found Ariel in the back storage room with unopened boxes on the table in front of her. She was digging through one of them.
I stopped in the open doorway and rapped my knuckles against the door. Her head snapped up, and as soon as she spotted me, a smile crept over her pretty face.
It seemed genuine, but what the hell did I know about her at this point? Did I really know this girl at all?
“Isobel, hey. Come on in and sit down. Tell me what’s been going on with you. I talked to my dad when he opened up, and he told me you weren’t feeling too good and that you weren’t coming into work today. If you ask me, you look perfectly fine. What is up with that?”
The thing that I always liked about Ariel was that she was just as fiercely protective of her father as he was her. If I told her I played hooky, she’d probably give me a whole lot of shit for it, then she’d be on the phone with her dad the second I left to tattle on me. I didn’t begrudge her this because their love for each other was a beautiful thing to behold.
I did not accept her invite to sit down. I didn’t want to get too close to her for fear of what I might do if she said something horrible to me. There were some things I knew Rain would not forgive, and I didn’t want to cross that line with him and break my own heart.
I crossed my arms over my chest and leveled her with a serious look. “Forget about Rain. This is about you and me, and we need to talk.”
She sat up straight, and the smile slipped right off of her face. “What the hell are you talking about? What’s the matter with you?”
I took a deep breath and straightened my spine. I didn’t want to fight with her, but she’d hurt my feelings. I didn’t really trust her anymore, and I thought I had a right to give her a piece of my mind. She also needed to know.
“I don’t know exactly what you said while you were at Romero’s house, but I know you said something about me, and it wasn’t very kind. I also know you did the same thing with Finn, and he was warned to stay away from your dad by Quinton.”
“Listen, Isobel. I don’t know—”
