Hand in hand, we went back downstairs and found the agent in the kitchen. Her face lit up when she saw the happy look on our faces. “So what did you think?”
“We love it,” Lucy told her honestly. “And we’d like to make an offer.”
“Oh…” The woman’s face completely blanked over. “I’m so sorry, but the house has already been purchased.”
“What!” Lucy cried. “Why the hell would you show us this damn house if it was already off the market?”
The Realtor licked her lips nervously. “Well, Annabell
e Brockman asked me as a favor. The deal for the house was finalized two weeks ago, but she said she would still appreciate it if I showed you the house. The new owners are unable to move in just yet, so they agreed to let me show you.”
Disappointment filled me, but surprisingly, I wasn’t mad. I just regretted making Lucy admit she liked the house so much now that we couldn’t buy it.
“It’s okay, Lu. At least we know what we’re looking for.” I tried to soothe her on the drive back to the apartment.
“But you loved that house,” she muttered.
I caught her hand and kissed her palm. “There will be other houses. Besides, you weren’t really ready to move yet. Right?”
“I would have for you. I don’t care where we live as long as I get to fall asleep beside you every night.”
My earlier disappointment completely faded in the wake of those words. “We’ll find the perfect house, I promise you.”
Chapter 8
Lucy
My phone rang as we were on our way out the door. Like I had every day since the last time I’d seen my mom, I stiffened and hesitated to look at the screen. I hadn’t taken any of her calls, and she hadn’t left any voice mails, so I had no idea what was going through Mom’s head. But I knew exactly what was in my own.
I was sorry for blowing up.
I wasn’t sorry.
But I really was.
I wanted to call and scream at her, because I didn’t understand what was going on with her. Because I felt abandoned by the one woman I had always been able to count on from the time she became my guardian after our mother died.
I wanted to show up on her front step and beg her just to hug me.
I wanted her to forget everything I said the morning I’d had to confess my darkest secret. I wanted to erase her reaction from my mind and heart and go back to how our relationship had been before it all blew up.
I wanted her to give a damn about what was going on with me now. I wanted her to ask if I was okay and realize she was destroying me a little more every time she called and only wanted to talk about that fucking list that seemed to be her only obsession.
I wanted my mom back.
The phone didn’t stop ringing, and after Harris gave my hand that held the phone a little nudge, I finally glanced at the screen. It wasn’t my mom, but Kin. She was in Virginia with Jace and the rest of her family for Thanksgiving. Jace’s adopted mother and Kin’s stepdad were hosting the dinner together this year, so they were all on the East Coast for the week.
Swiping my thumb over the screen, I lifted the phone to my ear. “How goes it?”
There was a long, frustrated-sounding sigh exhaled into the receiver. “It blows,” she muttered in a half whisper, and I wondered where the hell she was and what the crap she was doing. “Something is definitely up with Alicia. Jace is still being all secretive, and Gray is actually the lesser evil out of everyone right now because things are tense. He’s the only one not giving me a fucking ulcer right now.”
“Angie and Caleb are even giving you issues?”
“Ugh, they’re worse than the others. Angie is all pouty about something she won’t talk to me about. And my gentle giant stepbrother is vibrating with rage for some damn reason he won’t tell me about. But he keeps looking at his phone like every five seconds, so I’m wondering if this has something to do with a girl.”
“I’ll ask Jenna what’s with Angie,” I promised her as Harris opened the door to the passenger side of his car for me. He kissed the top of my head before I got into the car and shut the door. “We’re on our way to Lana’s now, actually.”
“No, don’t,” Kin urged me. “I don’t know what’s going on, but every time someone mentions Jenna, Angie starts crying. And as much as I want to know what’s going on, I don’t want to upset her more than she already is. We can sort her out when we get home next week. It’s Caleb I’m worried about. He’s out here with Carter more often than with Ange and me, so I don’t really know what’s up with him. I need to focus on him right now, and knowing my stepsister, her drama would take up every second of the day to sort out.”