Page 35 of Safe With Me
“Whatever you want, baby.” He tipped his chin up at me. “You want to go, I’m there.”
That sounded . . . oh. The resolve in his deep voice stole my breath. And I liked having him solidly in my corner way too much.
Looking at me over a sip of coffee, Gracie quirked a brow.
My cheeks heated again. Sloughing off the awareness and my embarrassment, I moved to pour myself a cup and peek at the scones. “She’s not an addict, Gracie.”
Propped against the counter next to me, Gracie snorted. “You think? She’s addicted to attention. She craves it, and the channel feeds into that. She played Mama and Daddy off one another, Jase off other guys.”
She paused, her gaze skimming over Tate, and I frowned. He’d wanted Elizabeth, but I’d never witnessed her act on it or even display any awareness of his feelings. He gazed back at my sister, steadily.
What was that all about?
I wrapped both hands around the warm pottery. “I doubt there’s a recovery program for social media influencers.”
“I need her to hear how she’s affecting her life.” Gracie lifted a cranberry scone from the box and pinched off a bite. “I love her, too. I don’t want her to do misguided things now that she’ll seriously regret later.”
“What does this look like then?” I needed to know before I could commit. At this point, did I want to face Elizabeth? Like Gracie, I loved her. It didn’t look like she was losing much – if this mess between us was some kind of toxic competition, she was definitely winning – but Grace had a more objective position than I did. “Like one of those episodes ofInterventionwhere you have a professional?”
“I’m going to call Pastor Mike, but I think we need to tell her we love her and support her need to be creative–”
Tate’s disgusted snort coincided with my flinch.
Gracie’s gaze sharpened to a half glare. “What?”
Pushing off the door, Tate pointed at my abandoned wreath. “Her creativity? She’s using Hannah’s for her content.”
My sister eyed the wreaths, and her stance deflated. Mouth tight, she faced me. “The content she’s choosing to create and present is alienating and hurting people she loves. We need to be honest about that and set some boundaries and consequences if she breaks them.”
Now it was my turn to snort. “Daddy tried that. She came to my work and then implied to her followers, not to mention the whole town, that being barred from filming in the store and Jase ending their engagement were my fault. Exactly what consequences are going to work without her turning on me?”
A long moment passed before Gracie whispered, “I don’t know.”
“Exactly.” Daddy’s consequences had backfired on me. Now Gracie wanted to give it a go. I lifted my chin. “It’s best if I simply remove myself from the situation.”
“Wait.” Tate cut in before Gracie could. “What do you mean, remove yourself?”
“My lease is up in two months. I’m not staying here and living like this.”
“Hannah.” My name was a sigh on Gracie’s lips. Sadness pinched the corners of her mouth.
“No.” Tate shook his head, feet planted wide.
“What do you mean, no?” You have no say in what I do–”
“Honestly, Hannah, I’m with him.” Gracie laid a gentle hand on my arm and gave me a soft squeeze. “You shouldn’t have to uproot your life because of Elizabeth’s actions.”
“Life has lots of should-not-have-tos. I have to live–”
“This is what I’m talking about. This is not okay.” Gracie’s voice rose on the last word. “And she needs to know she can’t do this.”
Looked to me like Elizabeth could and already had. Grimacing over a sip of coffee – Grace’s was always so much stronger than mine – I pondered Gracie’s idea. My nape prickled under the memory of all those eyes on me last night. I’d grown defensive and hadn’t done anything to be defensive about. Having to face all of us in a family gathering could push Elizabeth, coddled and a little spoiled, into a corner.
A shiver of apprehension worked from my scalp all the way down to the base of my spine.
“What if you and I talked to her? Just the two of us?” Elizabeth loved Gracie, too, and looked up to her. A more private conversation might have more of an effect.
Tapping a fingernail on the countertop, Gracie frowned over the thought. “I could ask Lorraine or Barb to babysit and we could take her to dinner tonight.”
