Page 111 of Heartless

“Are you going to tell me to figure it out on my own too?”

“God, no. I love my sister and she’s been helping me with Daphne, but I want her out of my house already.”

My brows shot up. “She’s here? She lives with you?”

“Yes. Go figure. Tyler did the same before he and Hannah got together. I’m the youngest and yet somehow they both ended up sleeping in my guest room.”

“She’s selling her apartment in New York,” I said, just to have the confirmation.

“Yes. She decided to stay. Which is great. I have a free babysitter but I also would like to have sex with my husband on our kitchen table if the mood strikes, you know?”

I grinned at her. “I do. And I would very much like to help you with your problem.”

Clem grinned back. “I was hoping you would say that.”

Then we came up with a plan and I headed back to The Gem.

The empty walls and shelves in the Blue Diamond gave me peace I didn’t expect to feel. My therapist always reminded me not to rush things but I needed change. That need felt both urgent and at the same time a long time coming, so I arranged for Ryan, Jessica, and I to meet the next day for lunch in one of the restaurants in town, away from curious staff members.

Once I took care of The Gemstone, I was going after Madison.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Madison

Being your own boss rocked and sucked at the same time, depending on the day, and that day it sucked. The office above me had a burst pipe that resulted in my ceiling leaking, which resulted in me having to put a pause on wedding planning and concentrate on damage control.

So I busied myself strategically placing buckets and towels all over the slippery floor, then I wiped dry everything I could and covered it with plastic sheets to prevent it from the moisture.

The scent of dampness and stagnant water hung heavy in the air the entire day and I sure I was sure I smelled like an old bathroom rug.

The thing that aggravated my situation was the fact that I had no place of my own to go and was still sleeping in my sister’s guest bedroom. That house my mother had found through Georgehad four bedrooms and three point five bathrooms. I was a thirty-three-year-old, single lady. Even considering buying that property was too depressing.

And yet I had to find something and move out. The last time I spent so much time with anyone prior to my entanglement with Parker was when I was still living with my parents.

As per usual, the thought of Parker caused a sharp pain in my chest. This was one of those moments when I took my phone out and stared at his last text, thinking about how to answer him after two months of silence.

Maybe that was the night when I’d finally come up with something that didn’t sound stupid or pathetic. I could ask Clem how she managed to win back Lucas after being a massive pain in everyone’s ass all those years ago. She probably wanted me to leave her house as much as I wanted to, so she would spill.

Madison Hartley got what she wanted in life, right? Why wouldn’t I get a happy ending with Parker if I really wanted one?

And I wanted one. Spending so much time around my family and especially Daphne had slowly changed me. I got the appeal of having a family now. All you needed was the right person. And I knew who my right person was.

Feeling overly confident, I whipped out my phone and brazenly sent off a text to Parker.

Me: Hi.

Then I waited. He read it but he didn’t answer. I could see that he was online and yet he wasn’t typing anything.

Why did I send that text? I should have waited to talk to Clem first.

I flipped my phone with the screen down over my legs. A moment later it started ringing. I almost jumped out of my skin but when I looked at it, it was my sister.

“Hi,” I answered and realized I sounded breathless.

“Hi,” she paused, probably because of my labored breathing. “Is everything okay? You sound weird.”

I didn’t want the driver to hear all about my embarrassing move on Parker, if anyone could even call that idiotic text a move, so I lied. “Yes. Everything’s fine.”

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