Page 26 of Pulled By the Tail
“Sorry,” she muttered. All her emotions threatened to bubble over, a toxic mixture of self-pity and heartbreak. People left her. That’s what happened to her. Her father. Her mother. Kevin. And now this clown. Anger was so much easier to process than this misery.
“I want to stay logical to get through this, but your suggestion that I hook up with your brother was incredibly hurtful. I’m not a…” she searched for the correct word but settled with, “a party favor for you to pass around. I don’t think I like you very much and I think we need to speak with a lawyer.”
The little-boy-mischief-maker facade vanished and for a moment, Quil was just Quil, vulnerable and uncertain. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”
“How long did you wait before you replaced me?” She wanted to ask why Fiona, what drew him to her, and how he could so easily forget the commitment he made to Georgia, but those questions remained unspoken.
“Three months.”
Right around when his messages stopped coming.
A throat cleared behind them. Talen stood at the foot of the stairs. From his expression, he had clearly heard everything. Just as well. Georgia wasn’t in the mood to repeat herself.
He pointed toward the kitchen. “Tea. Food. Then we read this blasted contract.”
Talen
“I’m notan expert in contracts, and this was written in Terran first, then translated,” Talen said. He highlighted a passage in the contract.T. Achaval.“But the contract used the Terran spelling of Quil’s name. How Quil could have signed something so sloppily written, I’ll never know,” he said.
Quil grumbled in protest. “I don’t read Terran.”
“It’s in English,” Georgia said. “And why does that matter?”
“Because in the Tal language, Tranquility and Talen are nothing alike. They use entirely different letters.” He leveled his gaze on Quil. “Which means this liar here knew enough English to find a loophole.”
Found out, Quil shrugged. “The contract is not specific. It says ‘T. Achaval,’ which could be you or me. Really, the outrage shouldn’t be why I exploited a loophole but who put the loophole there in the first place. Celestial Mates has a lot to answer for, if you ask me.”
Talen cuffed Quil behind the ear. He squawked in protest and rubbed the side of his head.
Bright dished out crispy pieces of smoked bacon and toast, moving down the table one by one. When she reached Quil, she passed him by, sniffing loudly.
“But I’m hungry,” he complained.
“Make your own. I only cook for good kits, not spoiled brats,” she said coolly. When she finished topping off mugs of tea and ignoring Quil’s groans of hunger, she prepared a cart for the dining room. Quil jumped up to help, opening the door and pushing the breakfast-laden cart.
“We need a lawyer to get this mess annulled,” Georgia said. Dark circles hung under her eyes. She looked like she hadn’t rested in days.
He admired the sure way she handled the three disgruntled guests. He made a note to talk with Charl about starting work later when they had guests in the house. More than the easy way she defused the tense situation, he enjoyed watching her lay into Quil. His brother deserved every word, but she had never been overly harsh. Her hands had trembled as she spoke, betraying her true rage, but she never resorted to name-calling. This female intrigued him.
“I agree. We need a lawyer. I’ll make some calls,” he said. The nearest town, Drac, was large enough to offer most basic services. The nearby mines powered the economy and the population steadily grew.
“Are you done? I’m bored, honey bear.” Fiona scooted her chair closer to Quil.
Quil looked toward Talen before answering. “I have to go into town with Talen and Georgia.”
“Drac is boring too. There’s nothing to do there.” Fiona rolled her eyes. “Let’s go to the city, just you and me. We haven’t had any time together.” She not-so-subtly touched Quil’s tail at the base. He jolted upright.
Talen focused on his tablet, pulling up contact information for lawyers in Drac. He did not need to see his brother get his tail pulled.
“I must attend this meeting—”
Fiona brushed the tip of Quil’s tail against her lips and he suddenly lost the ability to speak.
“Soon. I will book us something as soon as possible,” Quil said, taking Fiona’s hand and herding her out of the room.
“Well, that was gross,” Georgia said caustically.
Talen’s laugh caught him by surprise. “And I’m sorry this happened to you.”
