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Then again, I shouldn’t be all that surprised that even my own damn sister ghosted me. Jamie had practically kicked me out of his house, all because I refused to believe the bogeyman was no longer the bogeyman. Yeah, I might have fucked up but he did too.
Maybe it was time for me to do what Molly tried to do, stand on my own two feet. If my sister and my closest friend wanted nothing to do with me, why in the hell was I living in a gorgeous mansion with a bunch of people I couldn’t trust? I could work from anywhere. I didn’t need to be within spitting distance of the Ashby wi-fi connection to work for them. I could get my own apartment someplace in Glitz or even Vegas proper since I could afford it now. Mayhem, of course, was out of the question, but I had options.
I had choices.
Even if I didn’t like the idea of moving forward on my own, without my sister, I grabbed my laptop and pulled up a website dedicated to Las Vegas area rentals. Maybe I’d find a nice one-bedroom apartment overlooking the strip. Maybe I’d get a gym membership and join a book club, something to claim my life as mine and mine alone.
“You’re moving?” Cal’s voice boomed loudly behind me, startling a gasp out of me.
I turned and shot him a dark frown. “Don’t sneak up on me like that. You scared the shit out of me!”
“Sorry,” he said not looking sorry at all. “I called your name twice, and you didn’t answer. Does this have anything to do with Jameson?”
“Does what have to do with…you know what? No, this has nothing to do with Jamie. It has everything to do with the fact that I’m an adult and I need to learn how to get by on my own.”
Other than those first few months when Molly left for Nevada, I’d never been on my own. It was time.
Calvin laughed. “Look around, Maddie. We’re all adults, and we all still live at home.” He shrugged. “Even though they piss me off more than they don’t, there’s something comforting about having family so close. Even with all the headaches and fights, it’s nice to have them all close by. Safe, too.”
I understood all that. “Yes, but this is your family, Cal. And you stay close because there are always people trying to take you out.”
That was another factor. I didn’t want to end up in the crossfire of the many enemies of the Ashbys, as a family or as individuals.
“Goddammit, Maddie,” he roared and smacked a flat hand on the sturdy wood desk that pushed up against the window.
“I need you here for Ava. I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing without Bonnie. Or you.”
“You do know what you’re doing, Calvin. It’s time for you to decide if you’re going to raise your little girl or spend your life chasing Bonnie’s killer.”
Cal shook his head. “I need you here and so does Ava Rose.”
“You don’t need me. You need your family, and that’s not me. This isn’t my family.”
I didn’t even know how to describe my relationship with this family, but if Terry wasn’t family, then I sure as hell wasn’t.
“Bullshit,” Cal spat at me. Finally, some of the life was coming back to him, and I was happy to see that. “You might not be blood, but you are family to me. Ava knows you better than anyone. You dry her tears and play with her. You’re the one who gives her the food and toys she likes.”
He was right about that. The little girl did have a spot in my heart, another motherless child who would never be the same because of the loss.
“That’s low, Cal. Even for you.”
He let out a dark laugh. “I’m not interested in playing fair any longer. That shit hasn’t gotten me anywhere.”
I sighed, silently acknowledging it was true. “Let that work for you, Cal. I need to figure out what works for me.”
“Maddie,” he growled and folded his arms, looking more like the old Cal with every passing moment. “Give me a few months. I just need a few months to get a handle on this, so I can be the dad my little girl deserves. Please.”
“What’s a few months?”
“Six.”
I shook my head automatically. “That’s too long, and I’ll get too comfortable with this cushy life that isn’t mine. Three months, that’s all I can give you.”
It wasn’t like I had an apartment lined up yet, anyway. And since things were utterly fucked with Jameson, I could give up three more months of my life.
For Ava Rose.
“Fine, I can work with three months. For now. But I reserve the right to persuade you to stay longer if we need it.”
“And I reserve the right to refuse.”
