“She’s no longer a resident,” explained Judd at the front desk. Pity filled his eyes as he cleared his throat. “And, ah, she said to tell you to…” He leaned closer and whispered, “Eff off, if you ever showed up.”
I stared at him, mouth gaping nearly as wide as the wound in my heart. I blinked back tears. “She…she…did?”
Judd pressed his lips together, seeming unsure how to proceed. “Ms. Lindell wasn’t popular with the residents or the staff.”
I shook my head. This made little sense. Marian was myfriend. I didn’t have many of those—and by intention because I’d learned not to trust from my parents. They’d been damn fine teachers.
“She was arrogant… Difficult,” he added after a moment.
Understanding bloomed as I reconsidered my previous thoughts about the woman I’d long considered a friend. Apparently, her jealousy was stronger than her loyalty. Maybe I’d always been a means to an end for her. “You mean she was an entitled bitch who threw temper tantrums when she didn’t get her way.”
Judd raised his eyebrows and studied me for a long moment before he looked away. “She’s no longer one of our residents because of a campaign by other condo owners who believed her attitude wasn’t a good reflection on the building.”
“Wow,” I whispered. Sounded likethatwas why she’d moved. Nothing really to do with me. I pressed a hand to my stomach as I stared around the opulent lobby. How had I been so wrong about Marian? Why hadn’t I seen her as others did?
I must have asked those questions aloud because Judd reached over and patted my shoulder twice. “If I may, Ms. Hayes, you’re much better off without that, er, drama in your life.”
I nodded and somehow made it back out to my car, my head a jumble. Judd’s words looped through my mind as I drove home—to the house where Marian had bullied me into shaving the popcorn bits from my ceiling. Instead of helping me, she’d needed to “take a call,” then grab a drink, and then use the restroom. She’d left me with the gallon of paint and a roller.Shit. I’d spent multiple hours on a ladder, alone, doing a project I hadn’t wanted to take on, to appease a woman who’d never truly cared for me.
Once inside, I sat in my living room, staring up at my smooth ceiling. I did like it better. How it had gotten there…the hurt would lessen with time. I was used to being hurt, to being betrayed.
It seemed Marian was like my father—a liar, a manipulator. She’d used me, just like my father had used my mother. Not that my mother was a saint. She’d let me down too many times for me to remember, always chasing the next man who’d take care of her. I’d been an afterthought throughout my teen years, and my mother would never see me as anything other than the burden my father had dumped on her.
Maybe the problem here was me. If I couldn’t trust my mother or a woman I’d known for years, it didn’t seem wise to trust Cormac.
Chapter22
Cormac
Iknocked on Keelie’s aluminum door, hearing the hollow reverberation inside. Anticipation sliced through me.
After our scorching phone sex, I’d been looking forward to touching her, kissing her. Loving her. Now,finally, I’d get my chance.
I heard her moving around inside, and then she opened the door. I’d planned to kiss her senseless, but one look at her swollen, bloodshot eyes, and all thoughts of seduction fled.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said, monotone. “I don’t feel great, and I’m not interested in company right now. Thanks for stopping by.”
She moved to shut the door, but I shoved my foot and hand forward, grasping the edge before it could fully close.
“Hey, you can talk to me,” I coaxed.
“No, I can’t.” Her chin wobbled.
My heart ached. Keelie’s sadness felt different from my many years with Shannon’s tears. My ex had cried at commercials, if her nail polish smudged, if I returned home late, if I lost a game, if she was angry with me, if she lost an argument… I always thought that was weird because then she went into rhetoric—arguing—for a living. But she’d explained that she needed a chance to release the tension she carried from work. I’d secretly thought she manipulated me.
But Keelie was trying to kick me out, not get me to do something for her.
“Don’t push me away,” I implored. “I want to help.”
She tipped her head back and met my gaze, her eyes filled with hurt. My breath caught.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. You…you travel a lot. You won’t be around if I have a problem, so I shouldn’t lean on you.”
Fear gripped me.Not this. “Yeah, I travel. Too often. I don’t like that part. And you’re right. I won’t be here to hug you like this.” I reached around the door and wrapped her in my arms. She melted against me in increments, her body shuddering as she finally nestled her cheek to my chest with a soft sigh.
I hated her grief but holding her like this felt right.
