I whip my head around and glare at my father. “She’s been nothing but a pain in my ass about this house. All because I won the bid, and she wants world domination.”
“Velma Lou….”
“Dad,” I snap back. “She does.” I turn to Finn. “Just the other day she told me”—I use fingers to show I’m quoting here—“‘I’ll get what’s coming to me.’” Or something along those lines.
“I’ll talk to her.”
“And she’s got the money to hire thugs.”
“Thugs?” My dad just isn’t getting this.
“Thugs, Dad. Criminals. Assholes.” I catch my breath and realize I’ve been holding in a whole lot of feelings. The first tear slips out and it’s followed by many, many friends. “Dad.” I choke. “I’ll never be able to fix it now.”
“You’ve got insurance.”
“For some things, but I don’t have the coverage for this.” I raise my hands and point around the entire lower level. “There’s no coming back from this.”
“Honey….”
“I mean it, Dad. I got the cheapest policy. I always do, because who the fuck would do something like this in Zodiac Hills?” I point at Finn. “It’s Mona. She’s the only one who has something to gain from this.”
“Enough,” my dad snaps. “Mona wouldn’t do this.”
“What is it with you and Mona Keres, Dad? She hates my guts,Dad. She says terrible things to me,Dad. She kicks people out of their homes,Dad. And yet, you still take her side. Always.”
“She means well.”
“Dad!”
I’m yelling now and preparing to yell some more when Bella runs into the house. “Lou Lou.” She’s panting so hard I wonder if she ran the two blocks from the bakery. “I just heard.” She looks around the entry hallway then back at me. I’m still crying so she wraps me up in her arms and cries right along with me. “It’s Mona,” I whisper in her ear. “But my dad doesn’t think so.”
Pulling away, Bella looks over at Finn who’s suddenly become a tad dumbstruck. “You need to check out Mona. She’s been a bitch to her ever since Lou won this bid.”
She’s always been a bitch to me.
“I will.” Finn nods. “I’ll talk to her.”
“Good.”
Finn directs us out of the house. I stare as one of the deputies puts up yellow crime scene tape over the front door. Like that would keep anyone out.
It won’t.
But who cares now? Just leave it unlocked. That’s when I remember. “My tools?”
“Gone.” Finn says, not making eye contact with me.
And the tears start all over again because most of my tools used to be Dad’s, and even though I don’t get what his affinity to Mona is about, I love the man with all my heart, and knowing I was using his tools, well, it made it even more special.
Luckily, my father doesn’t hold my bad mood and snapping at him against me. He knows me well enough that it was because of the situation, not because I don’t love him. I love him more than anything. “Don’t worry about the tools, darlin’ girl.”
Blubbering, I’m able to say what makes me saddest of all, “Th–They were yours first.”
“I’ll buy some more and give ’em to ya.”
I’d laugh if all of this weren’t so fucking painful. And devastating. And the worst thing that’s ever happened to me. And do you want to know who I keep thinking about? Who I keep wishing was here?
You guessed it. Chase Ryder.
