“Ally, don’t—”
“There’s nowhere to go with this,” I hissed, and he shut his mouth. “We’ve been around this and around it and it leads nowhere. I have no f**king clue why you worked so hard to get in there with me when you didn’t want me. But you did. Now, you need to move on. Because I’m me. And if you can’t accept me as I am, then we’re done.”
After that, I moved slowly to the door, through it and to my car.
Ren didn’t follow me.
* * * * *
I walked up to my childhood home in Bonnie Brae and walked right through the front door without knocking (seeing as it was my childhood home, this wasn’t rude; and anyway, they were expecting me).
Lee’s Crossfire and Hank’s 4Runner were at the curb, so I knew the gang was all there.
When I got inside, I found they were all hanging in the living room.
Dad, Hank and Lee had beers. Mom had, what looked to my practiced eye, a margarita in a regular glass.
I could use a margarita, sans the margarita mix, of course.
But I didn’t have time to ask. I wanted this done. I wanted to get back to Ren’s. I wanted to get my shit. Then I wanted to get somewhere no one could see me and have a complete mental collapse.
It didn’t escape me when I walked in that no one with two eyes in their heads would not click that we were a family. We all had the same hair, even Mom and Dad. Hank and I had whisky-colored eyes while Lee had chocolate brown, but other than that we were all tall and lean. The men had more bulk, but we all had the same frames.
I’d always liked this. Even as a kid. Belonging to this family. Belonging to these people. And knowing no one could mistake that they were a part of me.
And also knowing what I knew was in them when their eyes turned to me.
Whatever this was going to be changed the instant every single one of them got a look at me.
They knew.
They knew inside I was bleeding.
“Honey, are you—?” Mom started, and I straightened my shoulders.
“I suspect,” I cut her off to start, “that part of the reason I’m here is because you’re not happy I’m with Ren Zano. So, in order not to waste anybody’s time, I’ll let you know that doesn’t factor anymore because before I came over here, I ended things with him.”
“Jesus,” Hank muttered, studying me closely.
“Ally—” Lee started.
Dad and Mom just stared at me.
As for me, I kept talking.
“The rest, so you can target your comments, I got fired from Brother’s two days ago and decided to start a private investigations agency. This is why Ren and I are no longer together. He’s violently opposed to that idea and wants me to consider a career as a barista before I move into my tenure as a stay-at-home mom.”
Dad’s eyes moved to Lee and Hank.
Mom’s mouth got tight.
I kept speaking.
“I’m not down with that. He’s unwilling to see my point of view. So that’s done. What’s not done is the fact that Daisy is looking for office space to rent and I’ve tentatively taken her on as my receptionist.” I looked to Hank. “And you may or may not know, but Roxie has started designing a website for me.” I looked to Mom. “And Ava is mocking up logos. So it’s all a go. I’ll be sitting down with Daisy after Luke and Ava’s wedding to organize a business plan, and shortly after we’ll be actively recruiting clients.”
I took in a breath and kept going.
“I intend to get licensed eventually, and Darius is approaching Sylvie Bissenette so I can work with her and acquire the hours I need to approach the Licensing Board. Until that all takes off, I’ll continue to work at Fortnum’s with Indy.”