Lora and I looked very much alike. We had the same gray-green eyes that we got from our mother, though hers were more gray than green, and similar lip structure. The only difference was our noses. While Lora’s was rounder and smaller, like Mom’s, mine was narrower and wider, like my father’s.
“Oh. My. Fucking. Gosh!” she squealed, looking all around. “Look at this house! The pictures you sent me a while back didn’t do it any justice!”
I slid my phone into my back pocket, smiling. “I’ve told you repeatedly to come and see it for yourself. Repeatedly, butthead.”
She gave a playful scowl. “Oh, cut it out, monkeyface! I’m serious—this is really nice!” She stepped in front of me with a bold grin. “You did good brother—getting all of this without my help.” She dropped her suitcase down and wasted no time throwing her arms around me. I wrapped my arms around her, hugging her tight.
“Don’t ever go that long without talking to me again,” she muttered over my shoulder.
I pulled back, and that’s when her eyes became wider. “Oh my gosh—what the hell happened to your eye?”
“An accident, it’s nothing. Lora, I called, texted, and emailed you constantly, but you have that shithead so far up your ass that he probably blocked my fucking number. How can you tell me not to go that long when I tried to get in touch with you so many times?”
She hissed and winced, like she was just now remembering the fallout we had. “Just be glad you didn’t change your number. Oh, and about that shithead…yeah, we aren’t together anymore.”
That caused my brows to draw together. She pushed past me and I picked up her suitcase to bring it inside. When I set it down and shut the door, I trailed after her.
“What do you mean you’re not together anymore? I mean, trust me, I’m fucking relieved, but what happened?”
She gazed around, like she was truly in awe, like she hadn’t even heard my question.
“Lora,” I called.
“What, Cane? It’s no big deal, seriously. Just wasn’t working out like it should have.”
“No big deal?” I took a few steps forward as she opened the fridge and snatched out a can of Mountain Dew.
Seeing the can made me stop talking almost immediately. Kandy had brought the sodas over and left them here.
“What? You wanted this? It was the last one,” Lora said, eyes wide.
“No. Keep it. It’s fine.” I straightened my back and tried brushing off the memories of Kandy, but the smile she always gave me when she took her first sip of soda, claiming the first sip was always the best, played like a movie in my head.
I pulled myself out of it though, focusing instead on Lora as she cracked the can open and took a few swift chugs. “You two were about to get married, right?” I asked, keeping my voice level.
“Yeah, well the wedding is off now. The fucker got caught and was arrested for possession of cocaine. He’s a fucking idiot. They searched the car, found coke under the hood.” She sighed, and even though she tried to remain defiant, I could also see the glisten in her eyes, like her heart was broken. “He’s doing serious time, Cane,” she said, staring me in the eyes. “He told me they’re talking fifteen to sixteen years max if he pleads guilty.”
“Shit.” I walked around the counter, pressing my back against the edge of it and focusing on the wall across from me. “Is that why you’re here? You want me to send a lawyer to get him a shorter sentence?”
“What?” she spat, narrowing her eyes up at me. “No! What the fuck? Why would I fly all the way here when I could have just called and asked you that, you fucking idiot!”
“I’m just asking, Lora!” I threw my hands in the air. “No need to be so upset. Shit happens and I’m here to help...though not always for Aaron.”
She placed her soda on the countertop behind her, then rested her lower back on the edge like I did. “Doesn’t matter if you send one or not, he’s out of luck. Aaron has had too many slip ups. He’s gotten rusty. When you dropped out, he got worse at it, Cane. He had no guidance or anyone to tell him if something was stupid. That’s why he was so pissed. He didn’t know what to do and had too much pride to ask for your help. And you remember when he did ask you for a favor? You turned him down.”
“Because I had to, Lora. I didn’t have a choice. You know how bad that would have made me look with Aaron as an employee of my company? He had a bad background. He was arrested too many times and the background checks are heavy. Not to mention, Aaron was trying to get one of our highest paying positions. I couldn’t have it. That would have left me sunk and I’ve worked too hard to build Tempt to lose it over his terrible reputation.”