go. I make my own choices, take my own chances, and make my own mistakes. If something happens to me, it won’t be because you let it happen. It will be because it was my choice, my decision.”
“You’re wrong about that, Joanna,” Royce argued raising his voice. “I protect my own. You are my responsibility.”
“No! You are wrong. We all know the risks involved, and we choose to keep doing what we do. It’s in our blood, our destiny. Don’t continue to carry that baggage, Royce.” Joanna softened her tone, “Tara knew what she was doing. It wasn’t your fault, and you could not have prevented it.” She touched his face gently forcing him to meet her eyes. “She didn’t want you to prevent it,” she said with tears in her eyes.
Why was that bitch crying? She was the one whose heart had just shattered into a million pieces. Becki stood frozen as she clearly heard Royce proclaim, “I protect my own…” and follow it up with “You are my responsibility.”
Becki had seen quite enough, too much really. She crept toward the exit. There was no need to watch any more or listen any further.
As the woman he was falling in love with ran away, Royce dropped his forehead to meet Joanna’s. “I know Jo, but it doesn’t make it any easier. I’m working on it. I promise.”
“Let me know how I can help you,” she begged, wanting her bigbrother to be happy again.
Her offer to help sent shivers of dread through him; time to divert her attention. He straightened, tucking her arm through his. “Want to hear about a girl I met?” he asked, knowing that would get her nosiness stirred up.
“Spill it,” Joanna prompted with a quick grin.
#
Becki’s trip through the candy shop was a blur. As she shoved her car into reverse, she reevaluated her opinion of this perfect day. It had actually turned out to be a perfectly lousy day. She just hoped she could make it home before she had a complete melt-down.
She would drop the candy off at Kurt’s house, go home and have a good cry, and then get ready for work. Breathe in. Breathe out. Traffic turned out to be a nightmare on the way to Mt. Pleasant. Between construction areas and less-than-competent drivers, it took almost an hour to get to Kurt’s house. Just as she pulled into his driveway, her cell phone beeped with a text message. She stared at the message on her screen; Hope ur day is going well C U soon.
What the hell? She responded with an angry FU but then reconsidered and hit the delete button instead. Flinging the phone angrily into her purse, she snatched the sack of candy and made her way into the house.
As she opened the door, her eyes landed on the vase of flowers. They were still sitting on the table where Royce had placed them last night. She stalked to the table and picked up the offensive reminder of her foolishness. Last night had been a joke, an absolutely ridiculous illusion.
The girls were thoroughly engrossed in a movie. Which worked out perfectly, as it alleviated the need to explain why she was ruining a perfectly beautiful bouquet of flowers down the garbage disposal…one by one.
Becki turned off the garbage disposal… along with her emotions concerning Royce.
“Hi, girls,” she said, pasting on a smile. “I’ve got the goods for you!”
She loved her cousins and loved spending time with them. They always made her feel better.
Mandy had already informed her that they had lunch plans together at school next week. She had given Becki instructions to pick up lunch at the local sandwich shop by 11:30. Lunch period began at 11:50. When Becki asked if she was supposed to stay and eat with her, Mandy responded, “Sure, you are the cool cousin.”
Becki didn’t feel so cool right now. She just felt upset and disappointed.
“Yessss,” Leann said as they all ran toward the sack of candy. She stopped long enough to give Becki a hug. “Thanks,” she added.
“You’re welcome. Where is your dad?” Becki asked, hugging her back.
“He ran to the dive shop to pick up some diving gear so he could go diving with Landon tomorrow,” Clarissa answered as she dug through the sack investigating their candy options.
After making sure all the items on her list had been included, she moved over to hug Becki too, “Thanks. Are you ok? You seem a little sad today,” she said shifting her eyes to