Never Doubt Me: Judge Me Not #2(54)

To end the weird conversation, I say, “This is really none of my business.”

“I know, but I have one more thing to say about my behavior.” Missy glances down. “I just don’t want you and Kay thinking I am someone I’m not. I mean, I know you and I hooked up, but like my night with Nick and Tony, that wasn’t really me. I had snorted a ton of coke the night you and I—”

“I know,” I interject. How could I forget the packet of white powder in her bag?

“I was doing a lot of things back then.” She sighs. “Things I now wish I hadn’t.”

“Listen, Missy,” I reply gently, “you don’t have to keep explaining yourself to me. Trust me, I’m no saint.”

She smiles sadly. “Thanks, Chase.”

“For what?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know. For not judging me, I guess.”

“I have in the past,” I admit.

“That’s okay. I probably deserved it at the time. But I don’t want that rep following me around forever, especially after this baby is born.” She touches her abdomen again. “I already told Kay that I don’t want my kid thinking bad things about me. I want to be the kind of person he or she can respect. Like, I want to be a good mom, you know?”

“I’m sure you’ll be a great mom, Missy.”

When I say it, at first I think I’m just being nice. But then I realize I mean it. I think maybe Missy getting pregnant happened at just the right time, before she sank too low to recover. Now she’s away from drugs and getting her life in order.

And, like all of us, she definitely deserves this second chance.





Chapter Twelve


Kay


When I return to the farmhouse and walk into the hallway, the first thing I notice is the silence.

You can almost hear a pin drop.

I immediately assume Will has already left, taken off to God-knows-where, and that my plan is a bust before it has even begun.

But then I hear noise from the living room, like someone tapping at a keyboard. Sure enough, when I go in to see who’s here, I find Will seated at the computer.

I breathe out a sigh of relief. “Hey, Will.”

Will spins in his seat. “Kay, what are you doing home?” He’s clearly startled, but his tone quickly turns sarcastic. “I thought today was the big, important junk sale.”

“It’s a rummage sale,” I snap, bristling at his smart-ass attitude.

He laughs, turning back to the computer screen. “Yeah, like I said, a junk sale.”

I choose to ignore Will’s snide remark. He’s still pissed at Chase, and the world. He’s just taking it out on me since I’m the one here.

I take a step closer to where he’s working on the computer, and when he notices, he quickly closes the window he’s viewing.

“What were you doing?” I question.

“Nothing,” he mutters, before snatching up a piece of paper lying in the printer tray.

Quickly, he jams the paper into what appears to be a boarding pass–type folder, leaving me to conclude Will has made some sort of change to his ticket to fly to Vegas.

“Will,” I begin, sighing. “You know you can’t go back to Vegas until your mom returns from her cruise.”

“Yeah, I know,” he remarks nonchalantly. “Don’t worry, Kay, everything’s cool.”

I start to reply, but he talks right over me.

“Why, again, are you home before ten o’clock in the morning?”

I ignore his question. “I’ll only be here till lunchtime,” I say. “Then I’m heading back.”

Despite my attempt to be vague as to why I’m at the house, Will figures it out.

“Oh, let me guess,” he snipes, “my brother is taking the afternoon babysit-Will shift.”

“Hey, it’s not like that.”

“Oh, but it is.” He holds up his hand and stands. “Save it, Kay. I’m going up to my room.”

He brushes past me, and not two minutes later, loud music is blaring from his room. Will must really be pissed; the whole house reverberates with heavy bass.

“Ugh,” I mutter.

I try my best to ignore the music, busying myself with washing dishes Will left in the sink, dusting in the living room. I also try to call Cassie a few times, but big surprise, she doesn’t answer. I attempt to read at one point, but find it impossible with the loud music. So, basically, I end up spending the remainder of the morning trying to ward off a headache that is threatening to bloom.

Thankfully, noon rolls around and Chase comes home.

“Jesus,” he yells over the music as he walks into the kitchen. “What the f*ck?”

I’m seated at the table, head in my hands. I glance up and say loudly, “Don’t worry, you kind of get used to it after a while.”

Chase shakes his head. He walks back out through the dining room and into the hall. I get up and follow him.

He yells up the stairs, “Hey, Will, turn that shit down some.”

I place my hand on his shoulder.

He turns to me. “I’m gonna kill that kid, I swear.”

The music continues, loud as ever, and his eyes meet mine.

I shrug. “Maybe we should check on him?”