Something Real (Whiskey Men, #2)(43)

I grab the food and meet her outside the fence of the dog walking area. “I can’t move, Carrie.”

She opens her mouth, and I shake my head. “No, hear me out. I can go with you and help you get settled, but I have to come back. I can’t leave Ford and Ollie.”

Her mouth drops open. “You mean your hot boss and his kid?”

I nod, biting on to my lip. I want to say that they’re so much more than that, but I keep my mouth closed, expecting her to be upset.

She tilts her head to the side. “He didn’t tell you?”

“He didn’t tell me what? Who didn’t tell me?”

“Ford! Friday morning he and his brothers met Philip at the distillery plant. He was interviewed by Ford’s brothers. They offered him the job on the spot. He gets a company car, he’s making more money, and we get to stay in Whiskey Run!”

I hold my hand up. “Wait! Ford didn’t interview him?”

She bends down and picks up Fluffy. “No! He told Philip that he would hire him on the spot just to keep us in Whiskey Run. He told him”—she laughs—“he told him that he really needed us to stay in Whiskey Run and to not fuck it up. Isn’t that hilarious?”

I nod as my mind goes a million miles a minute. On Friday, at Ollie’s school party, he knew. He knew then that Philip and Carrie were staying. So why?

I throw my head back. “Oh God. What have I done?”

She comes at me. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“I fucked up, Carrie. I mean, I really fucked up.”

She puts an arm around me. “What did you do?”

I start to cry, and she holds me tightly. Fluffy is freaking out being squashed between us, and she puts him on the ground. “Whatever it is, we can fix it, Lily. What’s wrong?”

“When you sent that text, I thought you were telling me you were moving. I thought that you wanted me to go with you to Georgia. I pretty much told Ford that he was a one-night stand and I didn’t want to be with him.” I pace in the grass. “What did I do?”

Carrie blocks my path, and instead of compassion, there’s anger on her face. “Lily, stop and listen to me. I’ve told you over and over I’m fine. Yeah, I’m a baby sometimes, but only because you’re like a mom to me and sometimes I need a mom, but listen. You can’t keep doing this. You can’t put your life, your dreams, your wants on hold because of me. It’s time for you to get what you want now. You deserve it.”

I’m nodding my head, knowing she’s right. There’s fear building up inside me but something else too. I’m excited and eager for what my life could look like. I just have to be brave enough to go after it.

Carrie takes the bag of food from my hand. “Now all you have to do is figure out what you want.”

I hug her tightly and then pull back. I look at her, seeing a grown woman in front of me instead of my little sister, and I nod my head. “I have to go. I’m going to get what I want, Carrie. Wish me luck!”

I turn around and jog back to my car.

“What about the food?”

“You and Philip enjoy it. I’ll call you later.”

“Good luck!” she calls after me.





Ford





The last thing I feel like doing is being on for a party, but there’s no way I’m going to let Ollie down. I got here early to set up and decorate a little. I’m not a decorator, but hopefully it’s passable. I go out to the car to grab the cake when some other kids show up. The moms all step in to help me, and for the first time I appreciate their butting in.

“Everything looks great!” Tommy’s mom says. “I’m sorry you couldn’t make it for dinner. I never did get a reply to my text. Maybe we can get together this week.”

I shake my head. “I’m sorry, I’ve been pretty busy with work and everything. If you ever want the boys to play together, I can make that happen.”

I point across the room where some of the kids are gathered around the birthday cake. “I better go and make sure the cake is safe. I’ll catch up with you later.”

I walk away as fast as I can, and when I get to Ollie, I can feel the shift in the room. Just like every other time that Lily is around, I feel it. I lift my head and mentally prepare myself to see her. She’s standing in the doorway with the camera hanging around her neck, and she has a wrapped present in her hands.

She comes toward us, and Ollie intercepts her. “Lily! You’re here! Don’t forget we have to play dodgeball and you’re going down.”

She high-fives him. “I’ve been looking forward to it all weekend, and you forget it, because if anyone’s going down, it’s you.”

He throws his head back in a laugh, and all his buddies do too. She walks over to the gift table and sets down the present before coming toward me. I can’t help it; I’m sure she sees it in my eyes anyway. “You look beautiful.”

Her eyes light up, and I realize now that she’s closer, her eyes are a little puffy as if she’s been crying. I’m about to ask her about it when the party coordinator comes in. “Okay, so who’s ready to jump?”

The kids all start screaming and jumping up and down.

She calms them down. “Okay so first we jump for an hour. Then we’re going to come back in here and eat some cake, and Ollie—the birthday boy—is going to open presents, okay?”