“Is something the matter?” My sister Grace pounced on the opening. “Is the food not to your liking after months of stale, dive bar pretzels and soggy nacho chips?”
“Spend a lot of time in dive bars, do you?” I shot back. “I’ll have you know, Sin and Tonic was rated one of the best in the city for its food and drink.”
“Sin and… what?” Jacob’s mother asked carefully.
“Sin and Tonic.” I lifted my chin and met her eyes head-on. I wasn’t ashamed. “It’s the bar I—”
“Alice.” My mother shot me a warning look and shook her head imperceptibly.
I pressed my lips together. It seemed that the last few months were supposed to remain a dirty little secret. Well, whatever. I’d apologized. Hopefully, that was enough to mend bridges so my parents and Jacob’s parents could get on with all that business merger nonsense. Now all I had to do was get through this dinner and go back home to—
My thoughts halted.
Could I even go back to Evan’s place? Did he even still want me there? He’d been spending his days at his mother’s. We hadn’t had a chance to talk. Was this like the last time we’d fought, when he simply needed some time to cool down? Or was this it? Was this the thing that broke us up?
If it was, I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. Where I was supposed to go. I technically had enough money for first and last’s month rent, but just barely. It would eat all my savings and I’d have nothing left for groceries or other needs until my next paycheck. And even then, I couldn’t continue paying rent on a part-time bar salary, even with tips.
I swallowed through the lump in my throat.
That didn’t leave me with many options.
I snuck a look at my father. He seemed pleased. That was a good sign. I looked at my mother. She didn’t look displeased, which was the most I could have hoped for.
I couldn’t believe I was even contemplating it, but coming home for a little while, even just a few weeks… It couldn’t be so bad, could it? Just long enough to figure out what I was going to do. Aside from the apology, my parents hadn’t asked anything else of me. They hadn’t yelled, or made threats, or given me ultimatums.
Which was more than I could say of Evan.
His words kept echoing in the back of my mind.
Maybe you shouldn’t be a part of my life.
I squeezed my eyes together to stop the onset of stinging tears.
“Alice?” my mother prompted. “Are you feeling all right?”
I opened my eyes and blinked them a few times. I stood from the table, surprising everyone.
“I’ll be right back,” I said. “I need some fresh air.”
I made my way down the hallways and out onto the veranda through the French double doors in the parlor room. Hundreds of thoughts were swirling through my head.
Even at their worst, my parents had never told me to get out. If anything, they wanted me to stay. Sure, they’d cut off my credit cards after I’d run off, but that was because it normally would have forced me to come back. They’d tracked me down and sent Grace to Sin and Tonic to bring me home.
After everything I’d done, they’d invited me to a family dinner and only asked for an apology in return.
As for Evan…
I exhaled a breath and rubbed at my tired eyes.
The minute things got tough, he shut me out.
My phone rang, startling me. It was Mason. Dread filled my stomach as I remembered those spreadsheets he’d asked me to look at. I had done my best, but I still wasn’t sure I’d gotten all the calculations right. What if he was calling to chew me out for messing things up? What if he was calling to fire me?
Grimacing, I answered the phone.
“Hey Alice, listen, I know you’ve got the night off,” Mason started without preamble, “but I just had a thought and I wanted to run it by you.”
“Okay…” I said doubtfully. “What is it?”
“You know all those numbers I’ve been asking you to look at?” He didn’t wait for my response. “I handed it all over to our accountant to look over the books. She was extremely impressed. She asked if I’d hired a professional bookkeeper.”
“So I did a good job?” I asked, hopefully.
“You saved my ass, is what you did,” Mason said. “Last year I had to pay thousands to get my books in order. This year our accountant says you basically did half the job for her.”
I hadn’t messed up. Relief, and then elation, filled my chest.
“I’m glad I was able to help,” I told him. “I can keep doing the bookkeeping if you want me to.”
“I had a better idea,” he said. “Did you know Lizzy’s dad is an accountant? I bet if she asked, he’d talk to you all about how to go back to school for that.”
”I don’t know,” I said doubtfully. “I don’t know if I’m that good.”
“That’s why you go to school for it,” he said reasonably. “They teach you how to be good at it. What do you say?”
“You really think I could do it?” I asked.
“I know you could,” Mason said confidently. “So, am I setting up a meeting with you and Lizzy’s dad?”
Without letting myself think twice, I answered.
“Yes,” I said. “That’d be great. Thank you.”
“Are you serious?” I heard Lizzy wail in the background. “I did everything I could to avoid that fate, and now she’s walking into it with open arms!”
Mason chuckled as he hung up.
I stared at my phone.
Accounting school. I could learn to be an accountant.
A smile grew across my face.
I could have a real career, doing something I actually enjoyed.
“Are you okay?”
I startled at Jacob’s voice as he walked out to join me on the veranda. He must have come looking for me when I didn’t return.
“I’m fine,” I said. “I’ve just got a lot of thoughts going through my head right now.”
“I understand,” he said. “You’ve been away from all this for a while; it must be difficult to get used to again.” He side-eyed me. “Especially the amuse-bouche.”
“It was a single cherry tomato!” I said, indignant.
“I could have eaten a handful more,” he nodded in agreement.
My tense shoulders relaxed.
Even though I’d never loved him, Jacob wasn’t a bad guy. I shouldn’t have run out on him the way I had.
“I just want to say again, I really am sorry.” I turned to him. “I panicked at the moment and didn’t know what to do, so I just ran.”
“I have to tell you, it was a blow to my pride,” he admitted. “Being stood up at the altar is probably every guy’s nightmare, along with getting rejected after proposing in public.” He lifted a shoulder. “But I’m glad you came back. All that fresh air did you good.” He gave me the once-over. “You look great.”
“Fresh air?” I asked.
“At your great-aunt’s cottage,” he said. “I don’t know how you were able to live without a cell signal for that long. Personally, I wouldn’t have been able to do it.”
My great-aunt’s cottage. So that was the story they were telling people. I’d run away to go live in the woods like a hermit. I supposed that was better than admitting I’d shacked up with a stranger and was washing dishes at a bar.
“Right,” I said. “Fresh air does wonders.”
“I suppose you’re going to get back to planning now that you’re home?”
“Planning?” I asked. What other stories had my parents been telling people?
“The wedding,” he said. “Our mothers are already fighting about table centerpieces again. I don’t know why we can’t re-use the ones from last time, but they’re both adamant it has to be different.”
“Wait.” I held up a hand to stop him. “What?”
Jacob gave me a grateful look.
“So you agree?” he asked. “You think we should just re-use the decorations? We ne
ver got to use them the first time, might as well not let all that work go to waste.”
“Are you telling me,” I began very carefully, “that our parents are planning a second wedding for us?”
Jacob looked at me oddly.
“That’s why you’re back, isn’t it?” he said. “You needed some time alone to get rid of your jitters, I get that. But now we can start moving ahead with things again.”
My vision went white and staticky with shock. Then I saw red.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I screeched.
Jacob’s face went slack. I never swore like that. But certain situations called for strong language, and this was one of them.
I gritted my teeth and stomped back into the dining room. I didn’t care if Jacob followed or not.
“What did you tell them?” I demanded, glaring at my parents and pointing to Jacob’s. “Did you tell them the wedding is still on?”
“Now, Alice,” my mother said, letting out a nervous laugh and using a sickly sweet tone. “We can talk about this later, after—”
“No.” I shut her down. “We’ll talk about this now.” I turned to Jacob’s parents. “What exactly did they tell you I’ve been up to these last few months? Whatever it was, they were lying. You know what I’ve been doing? I’ve been shacking up with a—”
My mother flew from her seat, hands waving wildly, her eyes round with panic.
“There’s no need to make a fuss,” she said hurriedly. “We can discuss this rationally. You know how important this wedding is for all of us.”
“For all of you,” I hissed. “I’m not going to go back to being under your thumb and pretending to live a lie just so you can do some fucking business merger.”
“That’s just about enough, young lady,” my father boomed.
“No, I’ve had enough,” I said. “You never cared about what I wanted. You only ever cared about yourselves. I’ve had it. I’m done.”
I turned my glare on all of them.
“I’m going to live my life the way I want.” My tone was resolute and final. “And if you can’t accept that, then I don’t need you.”
I turned on my heel and stormed out of the dining room, down the long hallway to the front foyer.
I couldn’t believe my parents had done this. They had tricked me into coming home, making me think they wanted to reconcile, all the while they’d been scheming behind my back.
Did they really think they could get me to go through with it? How in the world had they expected me to agree to marry Jacob again? Did they think I was just going to go back to being the obedient daughter I used to be?
Forget it. I didn’t need this, and I didn’t need them.
“Alice, wait!”
Jacob came running down the hallway just as I yanked open the front door. I paused.
Had Jacob been in on it? Or had they convinced him I really did want to go through with it this time?
I turned to face him, my expression stony and arms crossed.
“What?” I asked. “I’m not going to apologize this time. I’m done with being tricked and used.”
“What did you mean,” he began, panting a little from running. “What did you mean when you said, living a lie?”
I uncrossed my arms, feeling a little guilty.
“I’m sorry, Jacob,” I said gently. “But I can’t marry you.”
“Why not?” he asked, baffled. “I’m a good guy. I treat you right.”
“But I don’t love you.”
He still looked confused.
“So?” he asked.
Now it was my turn to look bewildered.
“I’m not going to marry someone I don’t love,” I told him. “I like you as a person. We got along well. Our relationship was perfectly fine. But you do realize the only reason our parents wanted us to start dating was because of their business merger, right?”
“Well, yeah,” he said, a little chagrined now. “But just because that’s the initial reason doesn’t mean we weren’t good together.”
“We’ve never even had sex,” I said bluntly.
He flushed faintly.
“I thought you wanted to wait until we got married,” he mumbled.
I’d wanted to wait until I felt ready. That had never happened with Jacob.
“Tell me something,” I said. “Do you love me?”
“I—” he looked stymied, then a little shame-faced. “I could have grown to love you, I think.”
I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Jacob, but I’m not going to marry someone just because it’s good for business. It’s not fair to either of us.”
He went silent, letting out a breath through his nose. His pained expression slowly eased.
“Our parents are going to be pissed,” he said eventually.
“I honestly don’t care,” I countered.
He stared at me, then gave me a small smile.
“That fresh air really was good for you,” he said.
I returned the smile, uncrossing my arms and loosening my fists, no longer feeling like I was ready to jump into the middle of a fight.
“Thank you for understanding,” I told him. “I really am sorry if I hurt you.”
“Like I said, it was mostly my pride.” He quirked a crooked smile. “I suppose I should go back to the dinner party from hell.”
“You can pretend to be all brokenhearted and get lots of sympathy,” I pointed out.
He chuckled. “I could probably milk this for months, you’re right.”
My phone rang again. Christie’s name was on the screen. I answered with haste.
“Alice, you need to come quick,” Christie said, her voice thick with tears. “Mom’s in the hospital.”
“Is she okay?” I asked urgently.
“It was one of her manic episodes,” Christie replied. “I really think you should be here. Evan needs you right now.”
“I’ll be there right away,” I promised. “Text me the address.”
“Is everything okay?” Jacob asked after I hung up.
“I have to go to the hospital,” I said. “A friend needs help.”
“I’ll drive you,” he offered immediately.
“What about dinner?” I asked.
“Forget dinner,” he said. “You just tell me where to go.”
30
We arrived at the hospital in record time. Jacob asked if I wanted him to go in with me, but I told him it was okay. Besides, he had to get back to that dinner and try to mitigate the damage I’d left in my wake.
I texted Christie to let her know I was here, then took a seat in the waiting area. It wasn’t long before she came hurrying out. She launched herself into my arms, squeezing me tight. I hugged her back, both surprised and heart-warmed.
“Thank you so much for coming,” she said effusively. “Evan’s been a mess for days, and then everything happened with Mom, and now—” she shook her head sadly. “Come on, I’ll take you to him.”
“If you’re sure I won’t be a bother,” I said, hesitating.
“I don’t know what went down between you two,” she said, “but I do know Evan could use your emotional support right now.”
Christie led me down a maze of hallways until we turned a corner and saw Evan. He was slumped over in an uncomfortable looking plastic chair, scrolling around on his phone with his thumb listlessly. His eyes were red-rimmed and his hair stuck up in every direction as if he’d been running his hands through the strands all night. From the nervous tapping of his toe and the anxious way he chewed his bottom lip, he probably had been.
“Look who I found.” Christie tried to sound bright and chipper, but she couldn’t muster enough good cheer to fake it. She was still too worried about her mother. Who could blame her?
“Alice?” Evan’s eyes went wide as he looked up from his phone and saw me standing there next to his sister. “What are you doing here?”
“I called her,” Christie said. “Don’t complain,” she continued, cutting o
ff Evan’s objection. “I’m going to the nurse’s station to see if there are any updates.”
With that, she turned around and left us alone together.
The twist of Evan’s mouth told he was displeased with Christie’s interference, but the tense furrow of his brow eased and his eyes softened.
“I’m so sorry about your mom,” I said.
“Did Christie tell you what happened?” he asked.
“She said something about a manic episode,” I replied. “That’s all I know.”
Evan slumped against the back of the chair again. I took a seat next to him carefully.
“Because she has bipolar disorder, her depressive lows are usually followed by a manic high,” he explained in a monotone voice. “I thought that getting her back on the medication would help, but it obviously didn’t kick in fast enough.”
“What did she do?”
“Tried to throw herself out the window.”
I gasped. “What?”
He lifted a shoulder. “She thought she could fly.” He leaned forward and rested both elbows on his knees. “Luckily, I heard the commotion of her wrenching the window open before she could actually do it.”
“That’s awful,” I whispered in horror.
“She’s going to be okay,” Evan said. “They just need to monitor her until she comes down, however long that takes.”
“I’m so sorry.”
It was the only thing I could think to say. I put my hand on his knee, hoping he would at least accept this little bit of comfort. He stiffened at first, then his shoulders relaxed. He let out a breath through his nose.
“I’m the one who’s sorry,” he said.
He put his hand over mine. My heart soared at the small gesture.
“I shouldn’t have said what I did back there at the bar,” he said. “I didn’t really mean it. I was just worried and scared and lashing out.”
“I understand,” I said. “Your mom’s illness is scary.”
“It wasn’t just that.” His hand tightened on mine. “I was worried you were going to leave. That’s why I told you to go.”
That didn’t make any sense. Evan must have seen the confusion on my face.
Hot and Bothered (Sin and Tonic Book 4) Page 17
