“Well, why wouldn’t I freak out if I have to find out from Mack that you got fired last night?”
Liv turned around. “I was going to tell you today.”
Thea crossed her arms. “When?”
Liv matched her pose. “After I finished my chores.”
Behind her, Mack whispered to Gavin, “Chores?”
“She sort of lives on a farm,” Gavin whispered back.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me last night, though,” Thea said. “Why didn’t you call me?”
“Because I was still in shock last night.”
“So you just went home?” Thea asked it with the same level of incredulity as if Liv had announced that she’d decided to streak naked down Broadway.
“Yes. I went home, studied my bank account, and threw darts at a picture of Royce’s face. What else does someone do when they get fired?”
Mack stepped into her space. “You left out the part where you turned me down when I offered you a job.”
Liv whipped around. “Oh my God, is there anything else you want to tell them that is totally none of your business?”
“What?” Thea exclaimed. “What’s he talking about? Can someone please tell me what the hell happened last night?”
Her sister’s outburst had a silencing effect on the entire house. Even Butter dropped to the floor with a whimper. Liv sucked in a breath, glared one last time at Mack, and lowered her voice.
“Can I just talk to you alone, please?” she asked Thea.
“We’ll be outside,” Gavin said. The sound of their feet hurrying toward the back door had a cartoonish effect.
Liv followed Thea into the kitchen and sat down at one of the tall chairs lining the granite island. She watched silently as her sister stormed to the fridge and withdrew the ingredients for what looked like maybe an omelet.
“What’re you doing?” Liv asked, following her sister’s trek to the stove as eggs, milk, and cheese threatened to spill out of her arms.
“Making you something to eat.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Well I need something to do to keep from screaming.”
“Could you make me pancakes instead, then?”
Thea slammed down the ingredients and glared over her shoulder. So that was a no for pancakes.
Thea dragged a skillet out of a cupboard, plunked it onto the stove, and whipped on the burner beneath it. She aggressively cracked an egg against the edge of the counter and dumped the goo into the skillet.
“I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me this last night,” she snapped, taking it out on another egg.
“I didn’t want to worry you.”
“It’s my job to worry about you.”
Here we go . . .
Liv held back a bone-weary sigh. At twenty-six, Thea was only a year older than Liv, but it might has well have been twenty. Their parents divorced in a messy split when Liv was nine, and eventually they were forced to live with their grandmother for a while. Thea had taken on the role of big sister and mom, and even now as adults, she had a hard time relinquishing the role. Not that Liv was going to complain. If not for Thea’s support, she’d probably still be a loser with no goals, no future, and no culinary degree. So no, she wasn’t going to complain about Thea’s overprotectiveness right now.
Thea attacked the eggs with a vicious stir. “So I hope this means you’re going to finally let me give you some money?”
Liv made a yeah right noise. “Nope.”
“You are so stubborn.”
“She said as she unnecessarily beat the shit out of some eggs,” Liv deadpanned. “You know the key to scrambled eggs is low heat and a gentle folding motion, right?”
Thea glared over her shoulder. “Do not lecture me about cooking right now.”
“Then don’t lecture me about money.”
“You don’t have any money.”
“Not true. I have enough saved up to last for a couple of months.”
Thea turned off the stove and unceremoniously dumped the eggs onto a waiting plate. Then she turned and plunked the plate in front of Liv. A glass of orange juice followed.
“Do I get a fork?”
Thea practically threw one at her.
Liv ducked. “What’re you mad at me for?”
“I’m not mad at you. I’m worried. And I get angry and tense when I’m worried.”
Liv poised her fork over the eggs. “Yeah, I know.”
Thea sat down next to her. “So what are you going to do?”
“What else? Find another job.” And make sure that fucker pays.
Liv’s friend, Alexis, owned her own café. “Maybe Alexis needs some help in the meantime.”
“Thea, I’m fine. Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure everything out, okay?”