Page 94 of Tempt Thy Neighbor

I seeher.

“Now open your eyes and look at me and tell me you’re not madly in love with that girl.”

I don’t open my eyes.

She chuckles softly beside me. “Yeah, that’s what I thought, kid. So fix it.”

I finally peel my eyes open and look at her. “How?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know, but you better figure it out fast because the longer you stay away from her, the longer she has to stay mad. And you don’t want to give her more time to find more reasons to be angry with you.”

Fix it.

Fuck.

How the hell am I going to do that?

She pats me on the shoulder and rises from the couch.

“Hey, Alma?”

She turns back to me. “Hmm?”

“How did you know I didn’t even want that promotion?”

She shrugs. “Call it a gift, but I can just see that you don’t love what you do. I don’t think you’ve ever loved what you do. It’s a job your father picked for you, and just because you’re good at it doesn’t mean you have to do it.”

Shit. She’s completely right.

“What did you do?” I ask. She lifts her brows, not understanding. “After you left the family, I mean—what did you do when you no longer had someone dictating your life?”

“Well, since I was pregnant, I didn’t have the luxury of taking time to figure out what to do other than take care of my baby. But when your cousin was about ten, I finally had the breathing room to figure it out. So I took time. For myself.Withmyself. With the ones I loved. And I figured out what made me happy and what I wanted to do.”

“How did you know what it was?”

“I don’t think anyone ever truly knows. It’s just something that finds you along the way. And when it does, you’ll know if it’s right or not.”

“Do you ever miss them? The family?”

She lifts her shoulders. “Sometimes. Sometimes I miss the brother who used to put Band-Aids on my scraped knees and steal my dolls. But then I remember they never loved me like I loved them, and at some point I just realized that was okay. Just because they’re blood doesn’t mean they’re my family. We get to choose our families. And Holland? She’s your family. So you better choose her before it’s too late.”

A coffee cupis all but slammed in front of me by Darlene, who glowers down at me.

“Here,” she says, dropping two glasses of water too.

I try to give her my usual flirty smile, but I know it doesn’t reach its full potential.

“Oh, do you feel like shit because you messed with our girl’s heart?” Darlene scoffs. “Good.”

“How do you know about that?”

“Because I make it my business to know things about my favorite customers. Besides, River and Dean have been down here no less than ten times in the last week to stock up on pie and cookies. I know heartbreak snacks when I see them.”

She’s staying with River and Dean. It didn’t cross my mind that she would be anywhere other than the apartment, but it makes sense she’d go to her brother’s.

“Have you seen her?” I ask.

Darlene shakes her head. “No, which is likely an indication she’s really messed up. So whatever you did, you better fix it and soon.”

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