Page 89 of Bad Situation

Eli: I’m in a hurry. I’ll try and call later.

I frown. How can I be pissed and anxious at the same time?

“Jen.” I look up and Cam has Cara on his shoulders. Her chin propped on top of his head and her legs are swinging. “I sent Jordy to the barn with Dad to saddle up. You comin’ or not?”

“No.” I stand and reach for Cara’s foot and give it a shake. “I’m going to hang out with Paige and let her tell me all about the resort you stayed at in Hawaii. I think I need a vacation.”

Cam cocks a brow. “You’re a workaholic. If you think you need a vacation, you probably needed one two years ago.”

My brother takes his family home tomorrow and this is my last chance to see them. I let my emotions land on the side of being pissed but fake it for my niece. “Get your ride in and, when you get back, I’ll beat you at Uno. We’ll make up all kinds of funny rules.”

Cara grabs her daddy’s cheeks. “Giddyup, Daddy.”

My brother does not giddyup. He shakes his head and saunters out just the way he came in.

Me? I don’t answer Eli even though I’m desperate enough to know what’s so important in Chicago or why I’m not important enough for him to tell me. No, I toss the only line I have to my lover on the sofa and head to the bar that my mother hates but my father loves.

I don’t care what time it is or what my mother will say when she sees me drinking before dinner. I need wine or, who knows, maybe even vodka.

Because I really needed Eli today but that’s not going to happen. And I have no clue why.

Chapter 25

Intense

Jen

“We’re drinking before dinner?”

Ellie glides into the media room with Griffin on her hip and my eyes widen. She’s all smiles and sunshine and glitter. Pretty much the opposite of me right now, but I haven’t seen this look on Ellie’s face in … well, a long-ass time.

I’m already into the bottom half of my bottle of merlot while trying to remind myself that I’m a badass and don’t get my feelings hurt, especially by men. Especially by a man who carries a badge and can seem to get me hot and bothered by his mere existence within a two-mile radius. Since he’s in Chicago right now, I’m pretty much the opposite of hot and bothered—he’s left me icy and wilted. Right now, I’m trying to find my badass at the bottom of this bottle of wine.

I grabbed my very pregnant sister-in-law and told my mother that she needed to rest after the long flight from Maui. Paige started to argue that she slept on the plane and was completely comfortable in the private jet, but the second I laid my eyes on her, she changed her tune.

Was I proud of myself for threatening a pregnant woman with just the glare of my boring brown eyes? No. But I knew that if we stayed with my mom to help with dinner, I’d get the third degree about Eli—or more specifically, the lack of Eli’s presence and, even more importantly, the reason for it.

Since I had no answers myself and I didn’t have the energy to create any decent lies, I escaped my mother and took Paige with me.

“You’re awfully chipper,” I rebuke my little sister. I should be happy for once that she’s not sad, mad, or just plain blasé about life. She sets Griffin down on the floor and he beelines directly for the fringe on the area rug. Ellie grabs my wine bottle off the coffee table and takes a big gulp. “Hey, that’s mine. Go get your own bottle.”

She frowns at me before looking over at Paige and her expression turns back to chipper to the power of ten. “You look so good! Did you have fun?”

Paige is lying with her feet up and rubbing her beautiful baby bump. Her lips tip on one side and you can see the private thoughts run through her head. “It was perfect. We did nothing besides lie in the sun and—”

“Nananalalananala.” Ellie puts her hand up and shakes her head quickly while drinking more of my wine. If she finds my badass at the bottom of that bottle before me, I’ll hogtie her. “We don’t need to know what you did with our brother. We can see he can’t keep his eyes or his hands off you, you have a baby on the way to prove it. But I’m glad you had a great time. Jordy and Cara have been so sweet with Griffin this week. They’re going to make great siblings.”

Paige smiles and I can tell she already loves our nephew and niece as her own. “As much fun as we had, we missed them. They’re excited about the baby, which is a relief.”

Ellie smiles at Paige before turning to me with her face set to world-domination and self-satisfaction. She needs no help finding her badass, so I sit up and snatch my bottle back.

“I have news,” Ellie announces.

I hitch a brow as I fill my glass. “I don’t have it in me to guess so please put us out of our misery and share.”

Ellie was the queen of Twenty Questions when we were little. It was exhausting.

“I just came from the closing.” She grins big and looks similar to me when I get a new pair of shoes. Her eyes get big and she announces, “I bought a building!”

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