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“If you insist. But seriously, you know I wouldn’t have posted that video without talking to you about it, right? I know I can seem a little callous, but I would have talked to you. It was nothing to be ashamed of. You were smart and quite heroic, and your butt looked good.”
“Ally.”
“I’m serious. Your glute routine is on point. If it hadn’t been for the nosy reporters screwing with Major’s dad, it would have been a great thing to have happen. But I barely remember what Grandma was like, and I do feel for him. Don’t tell anyone, though. I’m not supposed to have feelings that have nothing to do with acting.”
“I promise to keep it between us.” She sat down beside her sister, Duke hopping on the bed between them and looking longingly at the Danish that her sister was putting away with gusto. There were a couple of things Ally might be able to clarify. “Hey, Major and I were talking this morning.”
“I’m sure you were.”
“I’m serious.” Something about the conversation was bugging her. Major had seemed very insistent. “We were talking about how expensive it is to keep his dad in the assisted living home. He pointed out that a full-time nurse would be thousands of dollars.”
Ally shrugged. “Maybe. I mean when I think about it now, I know that’s completely one hundred percent true. Health care is wretchedly expensive, as you will discover when you get the bill for your ankle not-injury. But it was also like a thousand years ago. Maybe it’s worse now. Whenever I watch the news, it’s always worse. And if you listen to anyone who is over thirty-five, the world is going to hell in something called a handbasket, and not a designer one.”
“That’s a good point.” It had been almost twenty years ago. Health care could have changed a lot in those years. “Thanks. I needed to hear that.”
Ally’s eyes narrowed. “Why would Grandma’s medical bills worry you? Do you think Mom used your money to pay them?”
According to her mom, she hadn’t. “At the time I wouldn’t have made enough. She would have to have put away fifteen percent by law, and then she had to pay taxes and my tutors and all the other stuff.”
“Would it have been so bad? If she had used your money to pay for Grandma’s care, would that make you mad? You know I’ll pay you back for the tutor.”
She’d stepped in it. Ally had a chip on her shoulder. Before she could move, Brynn reached out and held her hand. “You don’t ever have to. You couldn’t go to regular school because I was working all the time and Mom had to be with me. And honestly, I wouldn’t have wanted to be alone. If she paid for Grandma to be comfortable with my money, I would be perfectly happy with that. I wish she’d spent more so we would have had a nicer house.”
Ally’s lips curled up. “We have a pretty sweet house now.”
“Yeah, because I turned eighteen and bought it behind her back,” Brynn reminded her sister. “No, I don’t regret sharing that bounty with my family. I was just . . . I don’t know. Something about it bothered me, but I’m being weird.”
“Because your mind is foggy with sex.” Ally’s grin faded, turning into something akin to horror. “In this bed. Where I’m lying. Ewww.”
Her sister jumped up and started yelling about cooties. Brynn threw a pillow her way and prayed Major didn’t take too long.
* * *
* * *
Major followed Diane Pearson over the big green yard and wished he’d bundled Brynn up and taken her back to his place. Then they would only be dealing with town gossip, which he could handle. His nosy neighbors finding out his girlfriend stayed the night would have been far better than dealing with his girlfriend’s freaked-out mom.
It probably wasn’t a good thing that he was thinking of Brynn as his girlfriend. He was getting in too deep, but then he’d known he would.
“You know a very important director is going to be staying here next week. The whole crew will be here, and they will bring a lot of technology with them. Do you think the wildlife will band together to steal all of their equipment as well? Should I tell them to up their insurance?”
Yep. He wished Zep was here dealing with this mess instead of him. He’d put in a call to Zep when he’d gone to his truck to get his radio, but it had gone straight to voice mail, which meant he was either sleeping in or on another job. “I’ll talk to the animal services department about setting up some traps.”
She stopped, turning on him. “Traps? Like bear traps? You know those can be lethal. I didn’t ask you to kill the poor creatures.”
