Page 84 of Whiskey Proposal

“It’s washed and on my bed. Come on.” She tosses the hose and sprints for the house.

My stomach drops. I haven’t entered the house yet. I rise. I can do it. I can walk right inside. It’s not the place I grew up in; it’s Brooks’s home now. Only the trust requires paperwork for it to be official.

“Yeah, Bunny. Sure.” I follow her.

It’s a building. They’re only memories.

My dad’s voice drifts through my head. “Let’s go for a ride, Emmie.”

Then my mom’s. “I’m not taking her! I’m trying to get away, goddammit.”

“What am I going to do with her?”

I stare at the front door from the base of the stairs. Hutch was right. He didn’t know what to do with me. One moment, he was the best dad a girl could ask for. Then he was barely a roommate.

I haven’t been inside since.

Come on. It’s just a door.

My feet don’t move.

I’m not seven. I’m not a fourteen-year-old girl either. I’m a woman with my own company. I’m married.

The last thought doesn’t get me to budge. My breathing rate picks up.

I won’t be married for long. I had a family once, and when this is over, I’ll be alone again. Alone in Denver and alone in my apartment.

My inhales sound wheezy.

Brooks pushes out the door. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll tell Hill that you need to get ready for the dinner tonight.”

That slaps me out of my stupor. “The what?”

“Dinner?” He leans on the railing to my right. “What should I bring? Fuck, I should buy something. I don’t make salads and shit. I’ll just buy some cookies.”

His words jumble in my head until they click with Lane’s question this morning. “At Cruz and Elodie’s?” He nods. “I’m not going.”

Confusion creases his brow. “You’re not?”

“Lane didn’t mention that?”

“He said it was like a block party.”

“Of course he did,” I snap. I told Lane I was not going. I couldn’t do another happy family gathering. I couldn’t see what I wouldn’t get. But Lane never said he was inviting Brooks and Hillary.

He looks around sheepishly. “I know we’re the only ones in their neighborhood, but I thought it’d be good for Hillary to get out.”

Guilt twines through my insides. “She doesn’t want to leave here?”

There was a time I didn’t want to either.

“She’s loving it, Em. You should see how much confidence she has. There’s only been two meltdowns since we moved in.”

“Wow, that’s amazing.” Yet I’ve hardly noticed, all wrapped up in my own shit. She’s my family and we’ll only be in the same zip code for a little longer. “I can take her somewhere tomorrow. Maybe the library.”

“She loves that place. It’s open in the afternoon.”

“Okay. Well, have fun at the party.” I won’t hold them back. I’m the girl who can’t open that front door. “Maybe don’t bring cookies since one of the hosts is a baker.”