Page 16 of Hooked
“Yeah? I thought you wanted to live here. Guess we were both wrong.”
Tayla narrowed her eyes as Emmie walked out of the café. She nearly followed her to keep arguing, but Daisy put a hand on her arm.
“Don’t,” she said. “She’s upset. You’re pissed off. Both of you need to cool down. You’ve been thinking about leaving for a while, haven’t you?”
Tayla took a deep breath. “I’ve been here over a year. I never intended to stay. I moved to help Emmie open the shop. She’s open. It’s running. She’s doing really well. She doesn’t need me anymore.”
“It’s not about needing you. It’s about loving you. She loves you. Did you tell her you were thinking about moving back to the city?”
“No.”
“So you’ve been thinking about it for a while, but she’s just now hearing about it.”
“She’s not my mother, Daisy. Trust me, she doesn’t have the functional alcoholism for it. And this is all ridiculous because I don’t even have a job offer yet. And if I got one, there’s no guarantee I’d take it.”
“You’d totally take it.”
“Okay yes, I would.” Tayla leaned closer. “Working for a company like that is my dream job. I’d be an idiot not to take it. They probably have health insurance. Vacation days. And… retirement contributions. Do you know how behind I am in retirement planning?401k me, baby.”
“I know.” Daisy’s smile was sad. “If you get this, I will be so completely thrilled for you. You’d be amazing and fabulous and perfect. And that’s part of the reason Emmie’s kind of bitchy. She knows you have a really great chance of moving out of here and leaving us for a great new job. She will be happy for you eventually because she loves you. But give her time.”
Like always, Daisy’s calm voice of reason settled her down. She was like the big sister Tayla never had. Or wanted, for that matter. She preferred being an only child.
“I do think you need to tell Jeremy,” Daisy said.
“If I get the job, I will. If they never call me back…” She looked at the menu. “Then it’s no big deal. Jeremy’s a flirt. You guys are reading way too much into our relationship.”
“Uh-huh.”
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Chapter Four
It wasThursday night and Jeremy hadn’t seen Tayla in days. He kept missing her at the bookshop and the Ice House. She and Emmie sounded like they were fighting about something, but Jeremy was determined to stay out of that. It was never a good idea to get in the middle of friends or sisters who were fighting. He’d learned that the hard way.
But the third Thursday of every month was trivia night at the Ice House, and he knew Tayla would be there. Daisy, Spider, Ethan, and Tayla had a regular team.
He stepped into the building just in time to hear the next question.
“Question fifteen!” Hugh shouted. “We’re halfway though, people. In what 1979 movie was a spaceship namedNostromofeatured?”
Jeremy rolled his eyes. They could at least make it a little difficult. There was low muttering around the room as teams wrote their answers down on their papers.
Spider shouted from the corner. “Gabe, you better put your phone away. If you don’t know that one, you’re a bigger idiot than I thought.”
“I’m texting my mom, asshole.”
“I’m watching you.”
Spider took trivia seriously. But then, Spider took everything seriously. When Jeremy had been in high school, Spider had terrified him. At least until Spider figured out that Jeremy didn’t have any romantic interest in Emmie; then they were fine.
He grabbed a pint at the bar and nearly ran into Tayla.
“Hey.” He couldn’t stop his smile. It was automatic every time he saw her. “Wow. You look amazing tonight.” She was wearing some kind of wraparound dress with pink and yellow stripes.
Tayla cocked her hip to the side and posed. “Thanks. You’re not looking bad yourself. I like the vest.”
“Thanks.” The tweed vest over a clean shirt was his one nod to dressing up that night. “Can I get you a drink?”
