Page 20 of Bottle Shock
“Yeah,” I say, still a little off balance. “Ten it is.”
“Perfect,” she echoes, writing something on a sticky note.
When I turn to leave, she calls after me, her tone full of innocence. “Don’t forget, Ledger—be gentle. This will be my first time.”
I look over my shoulder just in time to catch the mischievous sparkle in her eyes. “I think you enjoy saying ridiculous things to see what my reaction will be,” I tell her.
“Maybe I do,” she fires back, giggling.
Her laughter follows me out the door, light and unguarded—and, for reasons I’d rather not unpack, it sticks with me all the way to my car.
CHAPTER 5
Scottie
SUCH A POLITE BOY
The door jingles again just as I’m scribbling a reminder to confirm the open house time. That’s on top of the two reminders in my phone and the one on my email calendar. I tend to be forgetful about dates and times.
“Was that Gavin I just saw leaving?”
I look up to find my parents stepping into the office, hand in hand like they always are.My mom’s cheeks are flushed from the heat outside, her hair tucked beneath a wide-brimmed straw hat that looks like something she found at the farmers’ market, and my dad is carrying two paper cups that smell blessedly like fresh coffee.
“Sure was,” I say, capping my pen. “He’s my newest client. I thought I mentioned that.”
My mom’s smile grows wider. “You did. I just wasn’t sure if that was still happening.” She takes one of the cups out of my dad’s hands and passes it over to me, eyes twinkling. “He looks good.”
“Mom.”
“What? He does.” She sets her purse on my desk like sheowns the place—which, technically, she does. “It’s just nice to see him around. He was always such a polite boy.”
Dad chuckles as he settles into one of the client chairs. “Polite boy? He’s a grown man now, honey. A very large grown man from one of the wealthiest families in town.”
“Exactly.” Mom lifts her eyebrows at me meaningfully, which I ignore.
“Stop,” I say, taking a sip of coffee. “It’s not like that. We’re hardly more than acquaintances. Elyse is like a sister to me, and Gavin is her brother, so that practically makes him my…” I trail off, unable to finish the lie. I’ve never seen Gavin in any kind of brotherly way. Never have, never will.
My mom catches my hesitation—my inability to sell what we both know isn’t true—and simply smiles.
Dad laughs. “Your mother knew about the meeting and wanted to spy.”
Mom swats his arm affectionately. “I said no such thing.”
The warmth between them fills the hollow parts of my heart, and for a moment, it’s almost like things are normal again—like the world didn’t tilt sideways the day they sold my childhood home. The place where I found back the stability I’d once lost. At six years old, my entire world shattered, and if it hadn’t been for the two loving, kind people I’m lucky enough to call Mom and Dad—taking me in and treating me like their own from the very start—I don’t know where I’d be.
So while most people sell homes and move on to different places and things, that house was different for me. It was where I realized I was safe. That nothing bad could happen there.Now it’s someone else’s home, and it hurts so much to think about that I’ve avoided driving by it ever since.
Pushing those thoughts back to their sad, dark corners, I put on a smile.“You two didn’t have to come by,” I say. “Everything’s under control.”
“We know,” Mom says. “I’m nosy and I feel like I haven’t gotten to see you nearly enough. ”
Dad leans forward, elbows on his knees. “We still wish you’d stayed with us, sweetheart.”
I sigh through a forced laugh. “The condo barely fits you two and your addiction to overgrown house plants. I’m fine where I am.”
He nods but doesn’t quite meet my eyes. “Still feels strange, you being back in town and not under our roof.”
Me too, I think, but don’t say it.
