Why did I come home again?
I took a sip of the melted ice cubes in my glass and tried to prepare myself to go back inside. Dad would be in a shitty mood for the rest of the day, and I’d put money on the fact that Mom had already locked herself away in her room. And after my spat with Maggie, I knew she’d do her best to be in my face the rest of the time I was here just to see how many buttons she could press before I broke down and left.
However, I was determined to get the real story out of my sister before I left.
If anything, so that I knew how to patch things up with JoJo in order to get my life back on track.
15
Rebecca
The weekendwith my family passed in a blur.
I hardly saw Dad since the garage practically owned him, and every time Mom smiled at me, I swear a little more light drained from her tired eyes. Maggie kept shooting me looks and avoided me like the plague, which was a stark contrast to her personality.
Which only made me more curious as to what happened between her and JoJo.
Nevertheless, my family didn’t argue, and I took that as my little sliver of peace. The time came for me to get back on a flight to go back to California and Mom drove me to the airport, but little did I know that she had packed me a “surprise” in my carry-on.
A surprise in the form of healthy snacks.
“Now, you don’t have to spend your hard-earned money on all of that airport junk food,” she said as she patted my thigh.
I tried to find the good in it. “Thanks for thinking of me, Mom.”
She squeezed my knee. “I’m always thinking of you, even if you don’t believe it.”
My gaze found hers. “You can always come visit, Mom. You don’t have to bring Dad and Maggie. You can sleep in my bed and I can sleep on the couch; it’ll be like a girl’s weekend.”
She giggled. “Ah, I miss our girl’s nights.”
I took her hand within mine. “Me, too.”
She swallowed hard before she cleared her throat. “Anyway, stop eating all of that junk food. I’m not around to let out your skirts and dresses anymore.”
And there it is.“I’ll do my best.”
I leaned over and kissed her cheek, then I walked around the back of the car and pulled out my carry-on. I didn’t need much whenever I took a weekend trip somewhere: a couple changes of clothes and my miniature toiletries were all I really needed. I waved Mom off before I went into the airport, and seven hours later I found myself exhausted as I stumbled into my apartment back in L.A.
Only to hear my work phone ringing off the fucking hook.
“Come on,” I groaned.
I dropped my bag and walked over to my bed. I snatched the phone off my bedside table and saw that I had eleven missed calls from JoJo. My eyes widened as I picked up the phone call. Holy hell, why in the world hadn’t he called me on my personal call if it had been emergent?
“Where the fuck have you been?” he glowered as he picked up the phone.
I blinked. “Home, Mr. Ryker. This was my vacation weekend.”
“And you didn’t think to take your damn work stuff?”
I shook my head. “No, because I was on vacation, and it stipulates in your company’s bylaws that anyone on vacation isn’t allowed to work because of the new business audit laws in place.”
I had practically memorized that damned thing in case I had to throw it back in his face. But apparently, he didn’t like that.
“I know what the damn book says,” he growled, “what I want to know is why you didn’t take them just in case.”
I shrugged. “You have my personal number. Why didn’t you call that?”
