“I am worried,” she hedged. “When I walked in on you and Vanessa, among other things”—she shared a nervous laugh—“you were laughing, playful… happy. And it didn’t seem like it was just because you were buck-ass naked with my fiancé’s ex-wife either.”
He held up his hand. He didn’t really want to think about the fact that his baby sister had caught him ass in the air in his living room.
“Can we never speak of that moment again?”
“Fine by me,” she responded. “I just was trying to say that aside from the awkwardness of the moment, you were genuinely happy. I want more of that for you.”
He shook his head. “Cindy, you don’t have to say this just because Adam was busting your chops.”
“I’m not. This isn’t about Adam. This is about wanting my brother to be happy and Vanessa makes you happy.”
He couldn’t argue that point. Vanessa did make him happy and living without her for the last two weeks had been absolute torture.
“Don’t let me be the reason you don’t reach for what you want. I’m not saying things won’t be slightly weird with you dating my ex’s ex. If she treats you right, I guess I can forgive her for her previously poor taste in men.”
Something warm filled him from the inside out, spreading through his being so quickly he barely had time to notice what it was. It wasn’t until his sister smiled at him that he could finally put a name to it. It was pride. He was proud of the young woman sitting next to him. Proud to be her brother, proud to have had a hand in raising her, and proud she was stepping into her power as the master of her own destiny.
He’d probably always worry about her well-being. She was his little sister, after all. Only in that moment, he realized he didn’t need to be a helicopter parent anymore. Cindy was truly ready to live her own life. It was time for him to let go and find his own path. And he knew exactly where that path would lead.
Vanessa.
“She might not want me after all my antics.”
Cindy shrugged, giving him a lopsided grin. “Oh, don’t worry about that. I’m going to give you the perfect thing to help you tell her how much you care about her. Because I know if I leave it up to you”—she pointed an accusatory finger at him—“you’ll fumble it up.”
He looked up to the ceiling, shaking his head as he took stock of his current situation. “God help me,” he lamented. “I’m actually desperate enough to take advice on my love life from my baby sister.”
She clapped her hands together, rubbing them as a sinister smile blossomed on her lips. “You’ll thank me later.”
Chapter 22
“Are you sure about leaving all this stuff?”
Vanessa looked up from the box she was tossing her toiletries in to see Cree waving her hand to span from one side of her bedroom to the next.
“Cree, this house was never a home. I have no attachment to anything in it except my clothes, shoes, toiletries, and a few family heirlooms in the kitchen and dining room. Everything else can stay. Fortunately, the buyer wants the place as is, furniture included.”
Janae sat down on the empty end of the supple leather ottoman sitting at the foot of the four-poster bed.
“Girl”—she sat back against the footboard, folding her arms as she gave Vanessa a loving smile—“when you told us you were doing this, I gotta say, I didn’t believe it. You’ve always seemed so attached to the life you had with Karl, I was actually worried you were having some sort of mental breakdown.”
Vanessa could certainly understand why. Two years was a long time to swim in your pain.
“I promise you, my mind has never been clearer. This really is the best thing for me.”
Janae tapped her foot against Vanessa’s, sharing a mischievous smile with her. “Is this because of the sheriff? You and Michael patch things up yet?”
Vanessa’s heart pounded hard inside her chest like a big drum, its vibrations reverberating throughout the walls of her body. Two weeks and the sound of his name still lit a fire inside her.
“Not yet. I need to close this place up first. Once I do, talking to him is the next thing on my agenda.” Her answer was intentionally vague. She loved her girls and could share anything with them. Save this thing between her and Michael… they needed to figure it out before they let other people in.
“Vanessa,” Cree moaned as she moved closer to the bed. “I still don’t understand why you walked away in the first place. He asked you to stay.”
Vanessa sealed the box and placed it on the floor before taking a seat next to Janae and scooting over and patting the remaining space for Cree. “Karl was so subtle that I barely recognized his control issues. For a long time after it ended, I wondered what was wrong with me that I didn’t see what he was doing to me until it was too late. I don’t think Michael is like Karl. I just couldn’t put myself in a situation where I was losing my agency again. It wasn’t until I came back home that I realized the fact that I was able to walk away meant that I was a very different woman from the one who married Karl. As much as it hurt, I needed to know I was different the second time around too.”
“Does that mean you’re gonna try to work things out with Michael?” Janae might have asked the question, but a brief glance at Cree showed Vanessa that Janae wasn’t the only person waiting anxiously for her answer.
She raised her arms, wrapping one around each woman’s shoulder and tugging them into a tight hug. “Again, Michael and I need to talk and figure some things out. In the meantime, I’m finally coming to terms with my old life and getting ready for the next phaseof my new one. And with my Savvy, Sexy, and Single ladies by my side, I’ll get through this just fine.”
