Page 44 of The Right Kind of Wrong

Blake left out any other information that she’d learned from Monroe herself. None of that was hers to tell.

“Right. She mentioned being Maisie’s aunt when I met her. I didn’t realize that Maisie was Dean’s daughter, though.” Holland pursed her lips, and Blake thought she was going to say something more about Dean, but instead, she added, “How’s she liking class?”

Blake softened. “She’s only been to one so far, but I think she really enjoyed it.”

“So, it sounds like you’re becoming chummy with the Lockharts?” Holland asked. From anyone else, the question would have sounded like an accusation.

Blake knew that, with Holland, it was just a statement of fact, so she didn’t try to come up with a safe answer. “They live next door. And it’s just been . . . nice. Spending time with people who are outside of the Duvall bubble, I mean.”

“You mean this bubble?” Holland pointed out toward the yard.

Blake laughed. “This is Duvall-adjacent, much to my sister’s chagrin. I’m pretty sure she’ll never forgive me for no longer living in Dominion Ranch. She just loved casually telling people that’s where she was headed for the day.”

She didn’t miss the side-eye that Holland gave her. “People with money aren’t better than anyone else. They just have more money. Simple as that.”

The way she said it made Blake think that Holland had learned that at some point in her own life, though she didn’t ask for details.

And maybe she would have, but at that moment, Noah, her ex-husband, walked into the backyard through the side fence with his very pregnant new wife, Alexis.

“You’ve gotta be shitting me,” Holland said from next to her, and Blake had to stifle a groan.

Blake didn’t have the chance to appreciate Holland’s camaraderie. Her insides were too busy turning to rock, which made it hard to move. This was really fucking inconvenient because the desire to flee was overwhelming.

Holland seemed to sense this because Blake felt a steadying hand on her forearm. “I was just about to head out. You want to go grab a drink?” Holland asked, shifting her position so that she was blocking Blake’s view of Noah and Alexis, who were being welcomed into the throng of people like the messiah appearing after the Resurrection.

She blew out a breath through her nose and willed her stomach to uncoil. “Please.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Monroe was not, under any circumstances, taking her SUV into the shop because she was hoping to run into Blake while she was there.

That would be silly and needy and completely antithetical to the independent streak she’d spent twenty years honing.

In her defense, though, she truly had heard a strange sound coming from the engine during their drive home, and it was probably a good idea to get an oil change. She didn’t know when her mom had last had it done, and breaking down on the side of some country road in almost hundred-degree heat was not her idea of a good time.

Plus, Blake had been texting her regularly since Thursday, so it was a little weird that she hadn’t heard from her yesterday, when they’d returned from Austin.

And it wasn’t her fault that she noticed Blake’s car still wasn’t in the driveway when Monroe had finally tapped out for the night and headed to bed.

Still, she was trying to be true to her own self-imposed word and not come off too overbearing.

Clearly, she was doing an amazing job at that.

Just like Blake told her last week, the next day had come, and Monroe had woken up to greet it.

Then another one. And another one.

Maisie had slept like a rock last night, but she wasn’t thrilled to have to go to daycare today, after the revelry of the weekend.

At least they were moving at the pace of two steps forward, one step back instead of the opposite.

She’d just dropped Maisie off at daycare, the first day she would spend without her since their blowup, and suddenly, the idea of going home to a room full of half-finished paintings didn’t sound nearly as appealing as popping into the garage to see if Blake was around.

Blake had wanted to be updated, after all, per her own offer.

Gah! What was happening to her?! Monroe dropped her forehead against the SUV’s steering wheel in confusion and defeat.

It had been so long since Monroe had had someone to lean on that the whole situation was making her feel a little crazy. Sylvia would have never held her while she’d broken down like that or sought her out to provide comfort, except to tell her to throw herself into her art. And her mom . . . Well, Monroe had never wanted to be something that Kendra would need to worry about. Her mom had enough worries, with Dean and then Maisie, that Monroe only ever wanted to be a source of help, not stress, where Kendra was concerned.