“Elizabeth!” Michael hissed.
Zoey shot straight up, pushing the box into my chest. Her eyes were glossing and her lips quivering, but she braved a mask. My Ni?a didn’t do the crying act. For her, it was a sign of weakness.
“I can now buy my own car. I can even now pay for a place for JR and me to live. I can pay my own utilities and insurance. I could even solely care for my mistak—” Her lids fluttered. “I can take care of all of my responsibilities alone. I don’t need big brother anymore.”
My uncle, Stan, caught my attention in my peripheral. When I turned to glimpse at him, I saw the shaking of his head. He was warning me to not match her animation. Ironically, I knew I had no choice. Zoey was still angry from my time with her when Quincy passed.
“Elizabeth Ardell!” Sarah shrieked, launching from her seat on the sofa. “You will not—”
“I can do it all on my own! If you need to replace me as the little sister, Ruth can always use a punching bag who comes to her rescue after each blunder. As for me, I’m done.” She stomped out of the room and up the stairs before I could even respond.
That shit fucked with me all night. I didn’t leave as any man with good sense would have. I couldn’t. I had to stay with Jordan and answer for why his mother threw a temper tantrum on Christmas morning the way she had. I did leave the following day. I promised Jenna I’d be at her place that morning. I was late because Jordan woke up with a fever and headed straight to my bed. After giving him a bath to cool his body temperature and waiting until Sarah and Zoey got his meds and foods set up, I finally left just after eleven in the morning.
On my way to Englewood, all I could think about was how Zoey still didn’t speak to me that morning. I watched as Sarah took the lead in taking JR’s temperature after his bath, and fired off orders for Zoey to get a concoction ready in the kitchen. When Sarah was around while Jordan was sick, it was her show. Zoey and I were her assistants. It was a rough role to play at first when Jordan was a newborn, but we quickly adjusted to it. I understood that since Zoey gave birth prematurely and seemingly without a traditional partner in the house, her mother felt more protective of Jordan. She cared for him as if he were her own. Michael said she was even more rigid with Jordan than she’d been with her own daughters. I didn’t sweat it. The more love given to my son, the better for him. These were interesting dynamics in this family. I had no experience with family dynamics because of the lack of experience with my own.
But that damn Zoey… Why wouldn’t she just talk to me? Why was she so damn angry that she couldn’t even look at me?
When I arrived at Jenna’s house, I rang the doorbell. Maggie opened the door and rolled her eyes, leaving me to catch it. I wasn’t in the mood for her shit. I was operating on little sleep and the shit Zoey had my head spinning in. I sauntered into the living room where I saw Jenna sitting on the couch with her feet tucked underneath her and holding herself. She turned to look at me with glossy eyes similar to Zoey’s last night. The only difference was that Zoey fought to keep the tears at bay. Jenna let them fall freely.
She swallowed then wiped her eyes. “You didn’t call.”
I angled my head to the floor, once again measuring my tone and words. “You knew I’d be here.”
We’d spoken about me coming this morning when I left Alpine.
“You said first thing.”
What the hell? Were we getting that technical? I glanced at my wrist. Damn. It was, in fact, after noon.
I exhaled. “Jordan woke up with a fever. I gave him a bath and didn’t leave until his mother and grandmother got things under control.”
Jenna quickly rose from her seat and rushed over to me. “Oh, my god. Is he okay?” Her eyes were big, anxious. Sincere.