“Yes, you, big brother. You act all big and bad, but I know better. I remember how you were with Melody and then after she left what a miserable SOB you’d been.”
That was more about losing the baby than losing her, but I couldn’t tell him that since he hadn’t even known there was a baby.
“Don’t get me wrong. I like Skylar.” Billy lifted his arms gesturing to where she was talking to my sisters, her sister, and Nadia. “Hell, everyone does. But what do you even know about her? She shows up in the middle of the night with a kid and no job.”
“It’s fine.” I understood where my brother was coming from, but her business wasn’t mine to tell.
“What if she just takes off one day? What if you wake up and they’re gone? I don’t want to see you hurt like that.”
I appreciated that my brother was worried, especially since I knew I wasn’t his favorite person right now, but he didn’t need to be.
“I’m fine,” I repeated.
And I was. At least, that’s what I was telling myself. If that really happened, if I woke up one day and they were gone…I’m not sure what I’d be.
CHAPTER 29
Skylar
It was two hours before Luna’s bedtime, but she was already sound asleep. I’d come in to check on her after my shower and found her passed out on her bed surrounded by her new toys.
I thought about waking her up so she could take a bath but figured she needed the sleep more and the bath would be there in the morning.
Plus, I knew that I had a third-degree coming from Ashley, and I figured I’d get it over with.
I walked out to the screened-in porch and exhaled, resigning myself to the interrogation I was about to be subjected to. If it was going to happen, it couldn’t be in a better space. Oldies were playing from the Bluetooth speaker and the Edison bulb lights Hank had strung gave the room a cozy, inviting vibe.
“Where’s Luna bug?” Ashley asked from the sunroom couch that she was snuggled up in the corner of when I opened the door and stepped down into the room.
“She’s asleep. It was a big day.”
“Good, then it’s grown-up time. Sit,” Ashley commanded as she handed me a full glass of wine she must have poured for herself. “You’re gonna need this.”
“I can get another glass.”
“Way ahead of you.” She lifted the bottle and another glass from the floor and started to pour another glass.
As soon as I took my first sip and the tart liquid hit my lips and traveled down my throat, I knew my sister was right. A glass of wine was exactly what I needed. I closed my eyes and savored the tingly sensation that always followed any alcohol consumption I partook in.
I was a serious lightweight. When I was a kid I’d get buzzed from the recommended dose of cough medicine. As a teen, I got drunk off of two wine spritzers. As an adult, my sweet spot was a single glass of wine.
My body was just starting to relax when I heard Ashley demand, “Talk.”
I opened my eyes and knew it was time to tell my sister everything that I’d been tiptoeing around. I figured I’d start with the death threat, since well, it was the most serious. “Okay, his parents called the other day and said—”
“Parents? I thought his mom died a long time ago and his dad just passed.”
“You know Richie’s parents are alive and…” I was halfway through the sentence when I realized she wasn’t asking me about Richie.
“I was talking about Hank. But fine, let’s start with Richie. What did Mr. and Mrs. Denial have to say when they called?”
It had frustrated Ashley that Mr. and Mrs. DiNardo hadn’t believed me when I’d told them about their son’s addiction.
“They said that Richie called and told them that he needed fifty thousand dollars or he was going to be killed,” I whispered the last word.
I knew that there was no way that Luna would hear me, but it was habit.
“Do you believe him?”
“Yeah.” After seeing the condition of the condo, I did. Whoever had trashed my place, was serious.
“So what are they going to do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Has he called you? I mean, since you moved?”
“Once. He left a message explaining that he stole my debit card and emptied my bank accounts.” I thought there was a possibility that he might call today since it was his daughter’s birthday, but he hadn’t.
Ashley sat up straighter, “He did what?”
“He’s sick, Ashley.”
“Don’t.” She held up her hand. “Do not keep excusing his behavior. He needs to be accountable for what he does. You need to call the police.”
“Shh,” I shushed her, worried that Luna might overhear my sister since the volume on her voice was turning up.
“I thought you said she was sacked out.”
“She was when I left her, but that doesn’t mean anything. You know she’s like a ninja.”
“Fine.” Ash lowered her voice. “But you know I’m right. You need to call the police.”
“About the break-in?”
“About all of it.”
That wasn’t going to happen. Ashley knew me well and must have seen that this was not something that was up for debate.
“Fine. I’ve said my piece. Now on to happier topics. Mr. Hank.” She wagged her brows.
“Just Hank.” It was weird hearing Ashley call him that.
“When are you gonna hit that?”
“Hit that?” She really did have a colorful way of phrasing things.
“Would you rather me say fuck?”
“No!” I threw a pillow at her.
She easily deflected it and didn’t spill a drop of wine from her filled to the brim glass in the process.
“That was impressive,” I commented.
“I’m a wine ninja.” She took a sip. “Seriously, though, what is going on? I want to know everything.”
I took another sip of wine and proceeded to tell her just that. Everything. Even the kiss.
When I finished, she was smiling so wide I thought her face was going to split in half. “I knew he was a keeper. Luna’s birthday party was even better than when Pacey bought Joey the wall.”
“Are you talking about Dawson’s Creek?”
“Is there any other Pacey and Joey?” Ash responded in what I was pretty sure was a rhetorical question.
Ashley had recently discovered Dawson’s Creek on Netflix and was obsessed with Joey and Pacey. I knew that the characters were played by Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson. I’d had a crush on Joshua Jackson since I’d seen him in The Affair. Cole Lockhart was all sorts of yummy. But I hadn’t seen Dawson’s Creek.
“So, he buys her a wall?” I didn’t get the significance.
“Don’t say it like that, you have to watch it to get it.” She shook her head. “The point is, Hank is even more romantic than Pacey, and let me tell you, that is a high bar, my friend.”
A high bar set by a fictional character on a television show, but I didn’t want to point that out.
“So, back to the original question, what are you going to do about it?” Ashley asked.