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He breaks into my apartment and fixes things. He left me a brand new blender, for God’s sake, of course I noticed!
“I mean,” Tiggy pauses for effect, “he has a woman living in his apartment in Back Bay with him.”
I freeze, holding the packet of coffee in my hand. Paddy has awhat? Okay, I’ll give it to Tiggy. This is more exciting than I initially thought.
“What?” I gasp, gaping into the middle distance. “Who is she?”
“I don’t know.” Tiggy sounds like she’s lost in thought. “Seamus won’t tell me.”
Changing on a dime, she sounds like she’s pissed off. Pregnant Tiggy is moody as all get out, and Seamus bears the brunt of it, poor man. It’s a good thing he’s head over heels.
A good thing for her because I wouldnothave thought Seamus freaking Fitzpatrick would put up with that kind of behavior from a woman. Any woman apart from Tiggy would probably have found herself buried somewhere in a shallow grave.
“We’re having a girl’s night,” Tiggy announces, drawing my attention back to her. “At Oracle. You, me, Fiona, and Paddy’s secret girlfriend. I’m going to bribe Niall or Ronan to bring her to us.”
“No, you’re fucking not.” I can hear Liam’s outrage in the back of the call.
“Yes, I am, Liam. I swear to God, Liam, you'll be sorry if you tell anyone about this!” Tiggy is yelling at him now. I’m pretty sure I have been forgotten.
“Let me know the details, Tiggy,” I call into the phone, hoping she hears me.
“I will, girl,” she yells back. “Liam! You donotwant to cross me. I’mpregnant!”
The line cuts out, and I roll my eyes. Those two are worse than siblings with their bickering.
I quickly finish shopping, deleting my mother’s voicemails without listening. If I wanted to hear what she said, I’d answer one of her calls.
Wrangling my grocery bags, I manage not to drop anything on the ten-minute walk back to my apartment, which I’m rather proud of. Usually, I lose at least one piece of fruit.
Shoving everything away, I shower and rush for the bus. I make it with half a minute to spare, so I’m officially not going to be late for work today. I guess the universe owes me one.
Sliding off the bus, my footsteps falter. The universe has it out for me, after all. Making the bus was just lulling me into a false sense of security.
All I see on the sidewalk between Oracle and me is coiffed hair, a Gucci purse, Jimmy Choos, and a Dior coat.
“Darling.” My mother hugs my stiff form. “You’ve not been answering any of my calls.”
My eyes dart over her shoulder to the BMW parked in front of Oracle. Is it empty? I can’t see through the darkly tinted windows.
“Did you come alone, Mother?”
She sighs heavily, stepping back and brushing my hair out of my face as I flinch away from her hands.
“I did. Hart said you would come to us if you wanted to see us. But there is an election coming up, Mellie. We need to present a united front as a family. It will be good for Hart’s image. I know you miss him, but your father wouldn’t want you turning your back on Hart. I have no idea what happened between the two of you, darling. You were always so close when you were younger. Whatever it is, I wish you would come to dinner so the two of you could sit down andtalk.”
Her hands flutter again as I step back, avoiding her touch. “He so very much wants to make things right between you, darling. You need to stop being so stubborn. I’ll set the table with an extra place setting this Saturday.”
She is rabbiting on while I stare at her, bile rising in my throat.
“IworkSaturdays, Mother,” I bite out. She waves a hand dismissively.
“They can give you a day off just this once. Your stepfather isHart Remington,for goodness sake.”
My body locks down. Niall. I need Niall. I need to see his green eyes. Oh my God, I knowexactlyhow he felt after killing Tahlie when he needed to look in my eyes.
“Excuse me, Mother.” I brush past her. “I’m late for work.”
“Darling!” she calls after me, sounding exasperated. “Darling! Don’t walk away from me! I’m your mother!”
