Page 38 of Twisted Devotion
I can write a strong-worded email to the owner of that establishment, but that will be a later problem.
“Daniella, honey, I need you to breathe.” Audrey pats her arm, and I take that as my chance to dart.
I open the door and slide through it, but not before I hear Bo’s faint voice. “Stevie, we’re not done here.”
But there he’s wrong.
?*We are done here.
I’m not coming between the two of them and Daniella. I’ve said that from the beginning.
This was never supposed to grow to what it’s become anyway. We should have never been delusional enough to think we could have gone anywhere with the three of us.
They should have told Daniella before. But it’s too late now.
Opening the door to my grandma’s house after crying the whole way here, I try to even out my shaky voice so the caregiver doesn’t know what’s going on. “Hailey, babe, you can head home if you want.”
She comes around the corner of the entryway and questions, “Are you sure? I feel like I just got here.” Then she sees the state of my face. “Oh my god, Stevie, what’s happened? Was it a mom or a baby… Actually, if it was, lie to me, I can’t handle that.”
“No, it’s the couple I’ve been seeing.” She tilts her head to the side like she wants to know more but doesn’t want to push with the state that I’m currently in.
“Now’s not the time to ask, but once it’s all figured out and you’re feeling better, I’m going to have to know what that’s all about. A girl’s intrigued.”
I chuckle lightly. “I’ll fill you in eventually.”
A soft smile forms on her lips. “She’s having a bit of a rough evening—not to pile on even more to you. But she’s asleep now and hopefully will wake up feeling better.”
“I had a feeling a bad spell was coming on. She had a couple of back to back good days. Better than I had seen her in a long time, and I soaked it up while I could. But I always manifest more good than bad.”
She places her hand on my shoulder and murmurs, “I do too, Stevie.”
I can’t think about the kindness this woman gives my grandma and me or I’ll start crying again. She is a retired bedside hospice nurse with no kids or partner, who loves what she does. And I hope she never quits because I would be lost without her and the patience she has with my grandma. Even on my grandma’s worst days, she is so caring.
The silence of the house now is something I probably need to sit in, but instead I head to my room and go replay every second of what just happened with the Taylors.
I knew the way my life was playing out was too good to be true.
* Ballerina (with The World Alive) - VOILÀ, The World Alive
CHAPTER
TWENTY-EIGHT
AUDREY
I huff at her fucking dramatics. “Daniella, no one is taking your spot as our child.”
“You two are married, or have we forgotten that fact?! This is my high school best friend. She was here so much growing up. How is this not weird to you both?” The disgusted look on her face has me questioning whether I really had a part in raising this human in front of me.
I take a breath and cut her off before she says anything else out of anger or misunderstanding. “We’re all three consenting adults, and we didn’t raise you to be judgmental like this. Plus, you don’t know the full story either.”
Daniella mutters under her breath, “I don’t think I want the full story…”
That snaps Bo into gear. “Did you come back here just to show us this picture?” he questions, and her head tilts to the side with a “are you dumb” look on her face. “If you have questions about our dynamic or what we’re doing, ask them. If it’s only going to be rude comments, you can go to your room.”
We haven’t told her to go to her room since her early teenage years, but we’ll get to the point of no return if we keep saying hurtful things to one another.
“I came to see if it was true or not, and clearly it is.” She crosses her arms over her chest and rushes out. “What, are you two getting divorced or something?!”
