“Wow,” I mumble and take a drink of milk. Her husband has been screwing around, and she’s only hurt. I’d want to set the world on fire.
“What are you going to do for Christmas if you don’t come to Aspen? We could do Paris. I’ve not spoken to Theo about it yet, but we can make it happen.”
“I’m not sure. I may do something with Hayley. She’s going to her dad’s in Arizona, and I’ve always wanted to go.”
“That could be good for you. You should go.”
My brows shoot up. “Really?”
“You just broke-up with your boyfriend and who knows when you girls will see each other again.” She’s right. “We’ll still have time to go to Paris. I can fly to Arizona after Aspen and we could leave from there.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Did you ever talk to Doc?”
“Yeah. It was no big deal. He said my iron was low, but I was still within the normal range.” The lies keep rolling off my tongue. The more I say them aloud the easier they come. I’m lying to everyone to keep my secret, and I hate it. I miss Killian. I miss the apartment. I keep telling myself it takes time, but every minute of every day I’m not with him only makes my heart crave him more and my desire to go to him is intense.
“Oh. Good. See I told you that you weren’t taking good care of yourself.” Mom smiles at me. She has no idea her daughter is such a liar.
I grab another cookie and get up from my stool at the kitchen counter.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to call Hayley and find out when her flight is.”
“Okay, but you aren’t getting out of dinner tomorrow.”
I roll my eyes. “Fine.”
Up in my room, I dial Hayley but don’t get her. I send her a text instead and hope and pray that I’m doing the right thing. I want to call Killian, but I have to stay strong and keep my distance.
It’s for the best. I keep repeating the words in my head hoping that I’ll start to believe them.
**
“Liri, this is Tanya. Tanya, this is Liri.” I give the redheaded vixen a smile, but it’s only natural for me to think she’s a skank for going after a married man. I don’t know anything about her, but I hate her already. She broke-up mom’s marriage. I know Theo is to blame too but cheaters make me sick. Theo guides his mistress or whatever she is into the dining room, and I follow behind them awkwardly. “Didn’t know you’d be joining us, Cooper.”
“I helped Liri move her stuff home.” He smiles real proud that he was there when Theo wasn’t and his attitude is rubbing me wrong. Has everything always been a competition between them?
“Did you and Killian end things?” Theo didn’t know. Did Mom even tell him I was moving?
“Yup.” Thanks for the reminder. Not that I need one. I’ll have a permanent reminder in seven months. I hope our baby has his smile and dark eyes.
“She’s wanting to go to Paris,” Mom reminds him.
“I’ll handle it,” Uncle Cooper butts in.
“Liri’s my daughter. I think I have it under control.” The vein in Theo’s neck is pulsing.
“And you couldn’t show up to help move her home because you were busy taking Tanya and her sons to dinner.”
My stepfather glares at Cooper and the tension between them is thick. They angrily fill their plates with pasta and poor Tanya seems like she doesn’t know whether to crawl under the table or run away. “No one called me. If Liri needs me all she has to do is call.”
I butt in because this is going downhill fast. “Um…actually I don’t want to go to Paris. I received an offer to be an illustrator at a publishing house in Chicago.”
“CC Larson,” Cooper says grinning at me.
My stomach sinks. Did Cooper get me the offer? “You did that?”