Her grandmother put the phone on speaker and she could hear her father talking to her sister from that end, then Sandy’s response in front of her.
“If you aren’t home by tomorrow, I will pack all your possessions and leave them on the front porch. You’re on your own.”
“What!” Sandy screamed. “You can’t throw me out.”
“I can and I will,” her father said. “I’ve had enough. Grow the fuck up. Get your ass home.”
Her sister crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “I can’t believe you’d let your grandchildren be on the street.”
“Oh, they won’t be homeless,” her father said. “But you will be. Don’t test me.”
Her father hung up after that and she heard her grandmother tell her father, “It was the right thing to do.”
“I should have done it sooner,” her father said. “Let me talk to Saylor.”
“Hi, Dad,” she said. Sandy whipped her head toward Saylor. The tears were falling out of her sister’s eyes, but she didn’t care. She’d seen those fake tears enough in her life.
“I’m sorry, Saylor. Sorry for so much, but really sorry this happened.”
“So am I. It needed to be done. I had a lot of things to say to her I never did before.”
“Good for you. We’ll keep Sandy away from you, but your mother and I would like to meet your boyfriend sometime.”
“She’ll stay away because nothing she says or does will ever hurt me again. I appreciate the support, but I made my stance clear and I mean it. I’d like you to meet Rowan too,” she said. She moved over to the glass doors and saw the kids laughing at Logan’s antics, Rowan bouncing up and down with Dutton in his hands and the baby throwing his arms up to do it again. “He’s a great guy.” She hung up with her father and turned toward Sandy.
“Where am I supposed to go now that you got everyone to turn against me?” Sandy snarled.
“You did everything to yourself like you always have,” she said quietly. She didn’t want to feel guilty over this, but Sandy was family. Aileen was wrong, there was no love for her sister and she didn’t know if she could ever find it after this. “Rowan already secured the hotel. I’m texting you the information now.”
“It better be a nice one with a pool.”
The tip of her tongue came out to say something, then she pursed her lips, shook her head and pulled cash out of her pocket.
Not letting her sister hurt her anymore also meant not engaging or being baited.
“Five hundred dollars. More than you need for the night here and gas home. Consider it the last you’ll get.” She opened the glass doors and called down to Rowan and waved him up. She couldn’t look at her sister again. Maybe there’d be a time, but that time wasn’t now.
Her sister took the money and stuffed it in her pocket.
“You’ve always been a bitch that had to get her way.”
It wasn’t worth responding to that. The only time Saylor got her way was when she paved it herself.
Rowan came in with the kids, she showed them the bathroom, gave them hugs, then watched as they pulled away ten minutes later. Logan followed to make sure they showed up at the hotel.
“How are you feeling about everything?”
“Drained,” she said. Her body felt more wrecked than it had when she’d had that low blood sugar surfing.
“Can I ask what happened? I didn’t expect her to leave like that. I thought for sure I’d be carrying her out of here kicking and screaming.”
She laughed. “You might have been if my grandmother hadn’t told my parents what was going on. I think I finally got through to her she’d crossed the line. But it was nice to havesupport. My father called and told her that if she wasn’t home by tomorrow, he would pack her possessions and leave them on the porch.”
“They were going to kick her and the kids out?”
“Not the kids. Just her.”
“Wow,” he said. “Do you think he actually would?”
