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The fact that she’s unknowingly suggested a move right out of Cassie Ann’s playbook is concerning. The fact that I’m quickly losing control of this situation is even more so.
It’s time to pull out the big guns.
Swerving over into the passenger drop-off in front of the main terminal, I shift into park and turn to face my sister. “Please, Mel. Looking after Nora and the cat is going to be hard enough. I don’t know if I have the bandwidth to look after you, too.”
My sister snorts. “Good thing I don’t need looking after, then.”
I arch a brow. “This from the woman who regularly calls me at midnight to come help her look under Chase’s bed for monsters?”
Mel wrinkles her nose. “Nighttime adulting is scary. I kick ass and take names during the day. Night is more complicated. And I’m just trying to give you ample opportunity to be a part of your precious nephew’s life.”
“Which I love,” I say. “I love him, and I love you and if anything happened to you, I would never forgive myself. My entire life would go down the toilet. There would be no reason to get up in the morning. The guilt would eat me alive.”
Nora sighs. “If anything happened to my brother because of me, I would feel the same way, and we’re not even twins.”
Mel’s expression softens. “I know. Me, too. But I hate the thought of running away, Matty. And of you spending money you don’t have on me.”
I pull in a breath to assure her I have plenty of cash to pay for the flight, but she cuts me off with a hand in the air.
“The only way I’ll do this is if you let me pay for the flight with credit card points,” she adds. “I have a ton saved up since travelling with an infant or toddler makes my head want to explode. I’ll get the flight, leave town, and come back on Monday, on one condition.”
“Name it,” I say.
“You have this sorted by Monday afternoon or I’m going to the police,” she says, her no-nonsense gaze locked on my face.
“Done.” I’ll either have it sorted by then or Wimpy and Rex will have put me in the hospital with a few broken bones. In the second scenario, hopefully Mel can be convinced to heed my warnings about the Sweetwaters and stay out of this, but that’s a bridge I’ll cross when I come to it.
Mel nods. “And you have to date Nora. Assuming she still wants to date you after all this.”
“No, thank you,” Nora says, scrolling through her phone. “I appreciate the support, but I like to stalk and take down my man prey on my own without outside manipulation. Like a lioness, hunting the savanna.”
Mel laughs and an unexpected grin curves my lips. Nora and I don’t have a future, but I can’t deny that I like the thought of her hunting me like a lioness.
Like it far more than I should…
“There’s a flight to Miami, connecting through Chicago in two hours,” Nora adds, her focus still fixed on her cell. “It should be nice and toasty down there, even in November, and I’ve heard the art deco part of the city is fabulous.”
“I’ve never been to Florida,” Mel says, collecting her purse from the backseat. “But I’ve always wanted to visit a place where they eat alligator. I’ve been dying to see if it really tastes like chicken.” She holds her bag up in the air. “You’re lucky I grabbed this on my way out of the kitchen. I need you to swing back by the catering office, by the way. Make sure everything is locked up and they didn’t steal anything.”
“Will do,” I say, making a mental note to ask Al to help me out with that.
Fuck. Al. I have to get in touch with him and let him know what’s going on—the sooner the better. If he’s still waiting for me at the truck stop, he’s no doubt starting to wonder what’s taking me so long.
“Okay, well…” Mel pauses with her hand on the door handle. “I’ll see you guys in a few days, then. Please, be careful. Please, get out of this mess before it gets any worse. And please, fall madly in love and start seriously dating so Matty won’t go to South America. Because I’m a selfish jerk who isn’t sure she can survive without her brother for an entire year or more while he lives in a van thousands of miles away.”
“Love you,” I say, instead of what I know she wants to hear.
Being apartwillbe hard—we’ve never spent more than a week apart since the day we were born—but it’s for the best. I need time and distance from Bad Dog. Time to figure out who I am without a job at the CIA, without a clan of loving, but pushy, McGuires surrounding me at all times, and without a community I’ve been a part of my whole life.
“Love you back,” Mel says. “Bye, Nora. Keep an eye on him for me and good luck.”
“Bye, Melissa,” Nora says, waving as Mel swings out of the car and heads toward the sliding glass doors leading into the terminal. When she’s nearly to the row of check-in desks, Nora turns back to me, “So what’s the plan? Back to the treehouse?”
I shake my head. “I don’t think so. Not with another storm rolling in tomorrow morning. The stream we had to cross to get onto the property has a tendency to flood. We don’t want to end up trapped there.”Especially not when I have to get this mess cleaned up by Monday afternoon, I add silently. Aloud, I say, “I need to make a couple of calls. I’ll pull over at the diner by the exit and do that while you order food for the road, okay? I’m not sure where we’re headed, but it will probably be a bit of a ride.”
“Okay. I’ll get Clyde settled in his carrier when we stop, too,” Nora agrees. “His tummy seems to be doing better, and I don’t think I can wrangle a cat and eat waffles at the same time.”
I grunt. “Waffles. Brave choice.”
