Needless to say, lunch ended with an abrupt call for the check, and we deposited poor Martha right back to the hovel we drew her out of.
I look at my handsome attorney as he speeds from the neighborhood which he grew up in.
“I don’t know why on God’s green earth you would let your mother live in that filth. But I, for one, am grateful I had a chance to witness it.”
He swallows hard, looking straight ahead, right through the road and into regret.
“Why’s that?”
“Because I’m the one who’s going to save her from that hellhole.”
His dimples dig in, and that tender spot between my thighs pulsates. “Good luck with that.”
“I won’t need luck. I’ll need you and a box of surgical gloves. Your mother is going to love me when we’re through.”
A short-lived laugh pumps from him. “She’ll be too angry to love you when you’re through.” He picks up my hand, and brings it to his lips. “But I will.”
My heart thumps once as if shooting off a flare.
Just the thought of Caleb McCarthy loving me makes the blood surge through my veins, riotous and loud, deafening my senses. The only thing I see is Caleb. The only thing I feel is his blooming affection for me.
I wonder if I could love Caleb.
I think I can.
I think I already do.
Technically it’s already toocold to host an outdoor event, but there is one last reason to party this fall, Reese and Ace’s one-year anniversary is upon us.
Brylee and I fuss over my stepsister’s makeup while Demi fashions her hair into a crown of braids.
“Easy with the blush.” Reese swats my hand. “I don’t want to look like a hooker.” She winces up at Demi. “Ooh! Sorry! No offense.”
“None taken.” Demi shrugs it off. Demi is one of the mellowest people I’ve ever met. Unlike the ever-excitable Brylee, who has been known to piss her pants like an over-stimulated Chihuahua with nothing more than a lame joke, or Neva and her regressive, hostile, I-hate-all-mankind attitude. Demi for sure qualifies as the most normal of the bunch, excluding Reese and me of course. Okay, just Reese.
“How’s this, Reesie?” I ask, handing her a mirror.
“Lovely. I’ll look perpetually embarrassed tonight. Now I know how you feel.” She hands back the looking glass, and everyone in the room stops breathing at her seemingly callous remark.
“No, it’s okay.” I try to shake it off. It was a blow actually. Reese usually doesn’t plunge the knife when I’m not looking.
“God, no!” She slaps her hands over her mouth ruining Brylee’s forty-minute perfect pout. “I meant because of that stuff you said about his mother. You said it was hard to look at and that you secretly felt embarrassed for her.”
“Oh yeah, right.” I give a hard blink. I did say that. But still, my mind went straight to the video porn starring yours truly. “Um, tonight’s actually my first time at a huge public event since the incident. I really don’t think I want to take away from your special day.” I had no intention of going all along.
“Oh no, you don’t!” Reese jumps to her feet. “There is no way in hell you’re backing out. You are the strongest, kickass person I know, Kennedy Lynn Slade.” A tiny smile tries to break free, and I twist my lips to avoid it. I secretly love it when Reese gets angry with me and tosses out my middle name like a punishment. “You did nothing wrong. Keith exploited you without your knowledge. He’s the one who should be embarrassed.” She shrinks back a bit. “By the way, Warren gave me the heads up. Keith is planning on stopping by.”
“It’s a small lake.” I shrug as if it means nothing. I’m not entirely sure why Reese still talks to Warren. That’s Reese in a nutshell, always wanting to see the good in people, even those who’ve tried to hurt her. I’m not that altruistic. “All the more reason for me to avoid the situation.”
Reese gives a quick unmitigated grin that spells out pissed far more than it does happy. “You’re coming, and you’re staying late. You have more balls than all those men who will be in attendance put together. You are not a victim. You are the champion of your cause, and you will power through this rough season of your life and come out the other end a victor.” Reese irons my robe flat with her hands. “And I, yourtruesister, will be there for you every step of the way.”
“Aw!” Brylee breaks out in spontaneous applause, inspiring Neva and Demi to follow with the ironic slow clap.
“Hug her, or I will,” Neva growls, her face done up like a Goth Bratz doll.
“Done.” I pull Reese into a tight embrace. “You’re right, Reese. You are my one true sister.” There aren’t a lot of subjects that Reese stays silent on, but Kam is one of them, and for that I’m eternally grateful. But as good as Reese is at suturing up old wounds, I’m good at scratching them until they reopen. I can’t seem to drown Kam into the recesses of my mind—instead she corks her way up day after day. She and my father are my two favorite ruminations—Caleb, too, of course, but in a far more pleasant way.
I send Reese off with Neva and Bry, promising on the life of my unborn children that I will, in fact, make an appearance. I dress quickly, not putting too much thought into it. The old Kennedy, the pre sex tape version, would have painfully labored over coupling just the right dress with a complementary pair of designer heels. My purse and accessories would have been another contention entirely. I do miss the carefree me of yesterday, and yet a part of me finds those apparel-based musings shallow and careless now.
