it for the hundredth time.
Once I’d asked Locke if he could do something to help her. He’d just stared at me for a whole minute, blinking slow, before finally responding, “Ember’s a parasite.”
“How could you say that?” I’d asked, shocked.
“Because we’re all thinking it.”
I didn’t think she was a parasite. I just thought she needed help. The persistent kind of help. Well, the forceful kind of help. Like maybe Megan should put her foot down and tell her she had no choice but to get a long-term job for the sake of her daughter. For God’s sake, she’d even offered to put Ember through nursing school!
But I digressed.
The dramas just never ended with her.
I was rightfully worried.
It was around lunch time when the doorbell rang, and I raced to answer. I opened the door to Jem and Lily. Lily had balloons in one hand, smiling up at me. She was a brand-new teen, nothing like the little girl Conor had seen last. Jem had a couple boxes of pizza, looking surprisingly refreshed.
I let them in, smiling. “Looking good, Lily.”
She was wearing a pretty autumn dress and black tights. Her blonde hair was gathered high. She was so freaking beautiful, I was sure the guys were chasing her.
“Thanks, Charlotte, you look amazing,” she replied, giving me a warm hug.
God, she was a sweetheart.
Jem shook his hand into Lily’s hair. “Not liking her updo, though.”
Lily protested, whacking it away before glaring at him. “It took me forever to put this up, Jem!”
He just smirked in response before planting a swift kiss on my forehead. “You, on the other hand, look perfect, Char. Not the wreck I’m used to seeing.”
I laughed and pushed him back playfully. “Probably because I haven’t seen you lately.”
“Ah, burn,” Lily exclaimed, pinching Jem before scurrying away from him.
“Yeah, so funny,” he sarcastically replied. “Now where’s the big guy?”
“In the family room.”
“Great.”
As I watched him lead Lily to the living room, I heard heels approaching. I turned back to the front door just as Ember climbed up the steps. She had giant sunglasses covering half her face, but it didn’t hide her hang over. She looked skeletal in her tight designer clothes, probably five pounds lighter than the last time I saw her…oh, two weeks ago when I was dropping Penny off at her ritual sleepover.
“Hey,” she greeted, half-awake.
“Hi.” I widened the door for her and watched her enter, magically balancing on the pointy heels she was in. “How’s it going, Em?”
“Fine,” she simply answered. “Where’s my brother?”
“Family room.”
“How’s he doing?”
“Good.”
“I hope you haven’t run your mouth about me.”
My mouth parted in surprise. What the fuck? “What are you on about?”
“You heard me. My past isn’t his business.”
My eyes narrowed. “Kind of a narcissistic thing to say, Ember.”
She raised a thin brow. “How?”
“It’s not about you. You haven’t been a topic of conversation.”
“Keep it that way.”
I heard Jem’s loud greeting, and she followed the sounds of excitement, but not before slamming a cake box into my hands for me to take. Oof. Jesus, she was in a bitchy mood today. I glared at the back of her head as she sauntered down the hall, not bothering to take her heels off…and they were so, so pointy.
RIP floorboards.
By the time I entered the family room, Conor had his arms around Lily. He even held the balloons in one hand. It was really fucking cute. Penny was sitting on the sofa, smiling. Jem had set the pizza boxes down on the coffee table and was already chatting away to Conor, and Ember…
Ember was sitting on the couch, still wearing her sunglasses, yawning. When it was her turn to greet him, she stood up and hugged him in that customary way you hugged a great uncle you barely saw.
Did she not care?
Or was she pretending?
“Looking good, Conor,” she noted in a monotone voice. “Prison did you well.”
He kept a pleasant smile on his face. “Maybe you should try it out, Em. You look like you might need it.”
I sucked a breath in.
Shots fired already?
I winced, watching her reaction. To my surprise, she broke out in a smile and slapped him on the shoulder. “You’re a jerk.”
He caught her hand and pulled her back to him, swallowing her tiny body whole with his arms. This time she sagged into them, burying her face into his chest. I didn’t know why she was hiding herself, until I saw her shoulders shake.
She was crying.
Conor kissed the top of her head, his eyes reddening as he