“I was fine,” Garrett insisted.
“You’re crazy,” Greg shot back. “All the cold and not enough food affected your brain chemistry.”
“I’m not the one who put their girlfriend in danger. Penny is perfectly safe with me,” he retorted. “Of all of us here, I’m the one with a stable relationship with a woman who’s not a lunatic.”
“Meghan’s not a lunatic,” Hunter said.
Garrett made a disgusted noise. “You’re not dating Meghan. You screwed it up, and you screwed up all my best efforts to put you two back together, so you can just sink. The worst is that Parker has devolved into copying your bad habits.”
“Parker’s not a child. You can’t blame Hunter for his mistakes,” Greg said, his voice dripping with derision. “At a certain point, Parker, you have to be responsible for your own actions. For someone who likes to remind everyone how many PhDs you have, you seem to lack an incredible amount of common sense.”
Clang! Clang!
Remy stood in the doorway to the dining room with a pot and a wooden spoon. My younger brothers crowded around, watching us argue.
“I made smoked brisket,” Remy said.
“I’m not hungry,” I said.
Remy came over and draped a large arm around my shoulders and guided me to a seat. “Best cure for heartache is barbecue.”
Garrett glared at me all through dinner. “If you hadn’t screwed up, Penny would be here. Now she’s in Manhattan. I’m personally affected by your bad decision. You are literally just like Hunter.”
“Stop,” Mace said. “People didn’t give you a hard time when Penny dumped your ass.”
“She never did. We had a miscommunication issue.” He sniffed. “Josie’s gone, too, and I know you’re mad at Parker as well. Stop acting like you aren’t.”
“I don’t like this food!” Davy said and crossed his arms. “You should have had Sadie make it.”
“See,” Garrett said. “Now everyone is upset.”
62
Sadie
Hushed whispers outside the bedroom door filtered into my nightmares, and I woke with a start. For a second, I thought I was at Parker’s condo. Then I remembered—my father, Parker’s father, Moonbeam—who was Parker’s father’s wife and not my father’s girlfriend. All of them had expected me to just marry Leif too. I had hoped it was a terrible dream.
Parker knew.Kaitlyn knew, so Parker must have known, right? It was confusing. I didn’t want to think about it. I just wanted to leave.
“I never should have gotten attached,” I muttered.
“Sadie?” Jasmine knocked on the door softly and opened it a crack. “You awake? Erika’s here with your things. We’re going to take you to Manhattan.”
“What am I going to do there? I can’t afford to live in Manhattan!” I started crying. “Sorry.” I sniffed.
“You’ve had a rough day,” Jasmine said, offering me a tissue.
“You can stay with me,” Erika said, rubbing my back. “I’m not going to leave you high and dry.”
“You have roommates in New York City,” I countered.
“My lease is almost up. Then you and I can find a place together.”
“I don’t have a job.”
“There’s lots of jobs in Manhattan. You can be a waitress, work at a magazine, or find a nonprofit job.”
“I have debts.”
