Page 28 of Ugly Duckling
I blinked. “What?”
“I know, I know. It’s odd,” she agreed when she saw the look on my face. “But it’s a good business. I charge like two hundred and fifty dollars a client. The family usually calls me when they are in need of a service. I go into the funeral home, or wherever the dead client is, and I get it done. It happened by accident, really. Then I started poking around on social media, and it went viral. I have requests coming in from all over the country now.”
“Wow.” I chewed on the bacon. “So you’re going to move here and have no trouble finding clients?”
“I’ll go visit some of the funeral homes around here and give out my card. Then I’ll just let social media know I’m here, and hopefully that’s all I need to do.”
“You could technically pick up more clients if you need to,” I guessed. “Since you can make your own hours. But Webber’s right. You’re not going to find anything more than shit apartments here for that price. Unfortunately.” I looked over to Webber. “I have tons of extra rooms, and this seems to be the overflow house when people need places to stay. Have a buddy and his wife, Audric and Creole, who stay here on and off so they can spend time with Lottie. Lottie’s mom, Laney, died in a car accident. They were her best friends, and Audric raised her for the first two years of her life.”
I could tell by the look on her face that she wanted more, but that was something I tried not to talk about.
Mostly because it hurt my heart that I’d missed all of those firsts.
It also pissed me way the fuck off that her mother had done that to me.
I sure did know how to pick my baby mamas.
“Long story short,” Webber said, reading the confusion on her face. “Laney didn’t tell Gunner he was the father. Gunner didn’t know that he’d even slept with Laney, who was married to Audric at the time. She and Audric had a sort of open marriage. They were just best friends who got married for the benefits of Laney’s inheritance. Laney and Audric shared no love between them. So Gunner wasn’t committing some unknowing faux pas because he slept with her.”
“I know the kind of character Gunner has,” Sutton said quietly. “I learned that in high school when he took responsibility for a child that their own mother wanted nothing to do with. Thank you for the explanation, but I think you misread the question on my face. I was more curious about how this arrangement would work, me staying with him.” She turned in my direction. “Would you even let me pay?”
Her confidence in me was surprisingly freeing.
I liked that she didn’t question my character after having learned all of that.
“Let’s talk logistics.”
Five
Some things are better left alone. Like me, for instance.
—Sutton to her ex
SUTTON
The last place I’d ever thought I’d be was at Gunner Lewiston’s—now Penn’s—house.
The name change had come somewhere after Jett’s death, and I’d never asked him any questions as to why the name change.
I’d asked Rocky once, but she’d had no clue and hadn’t cared enough to ask why.
I also never expected to see Gunner again.
I’d heard from Rocky’s parents that Gunner had moved up to Dallas a few years ago, but I hadn’t gotten much more because Gunner’s dad was estranged from Gunner, and nobody really said why.
The question was on the tip of my tongue when Webber pushed off of the counter where he’d just finished cooking us breakfast and said, “Lottie’s coming with me today.”
Gunner’s brows rose. “Why?”
“Because you need to show her around and convince her to stay.” Webber laughed as he slapped Gunner on the back, knocking him forward.
I giggled, which surprised me, because I wasn’t a giggler.
I actually didn’t laugh all that much.
Usually when you’re the butt of all the jokes, you don’t get the chance.
Hell, I’d been somewhat normal looking for a few months now—thanks to all the swelling finally going down, and the scars disappearing into my hairline thanks to my hair regrowing there—and I was only just now thinking that people laughing in public weren’t laughing at me.
