Better Hate than Never (The Wilmot Sisters, #2)
Chloe Liese
For every feisty, outspoken woman who’s been called the shrew, who the world’s tried to tame.
And for those who’ve seen and loved those women for who they really are:
big hearts, brave voices, believers in a world that can be better.
And where two raging fires meet together, they do consume the thing that feeds their fury.
—WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, The Taming of the Shrew
Dear Reader,
This story features characters with human realities who I believe deserve to be seen more prominently in romance through positive, authentic representation. As a neurodivergent person with often invisible chronic conditions, I am passionate about writing feel-good romances affirming my belief that every one of us is worthy and capable of happily-ever-after, if that’s what our heart desires.
Specifically, this story explores the realities of being neurodivergent (ADHD) and living with a chronic condition (migraines). No two people’s experience of any condition or diagnosis will be the same, but through my own lived experience as well as the insight of authenticity readers, I have endeavored to create characters who honor the nuances of their identities. Please be aware that this story also touches on the topic of parental loss in the past and its impact on one’s life in the present.
If any of these are sensitive topics for you, I hope you feel comforted in knowing that only affirming, compassionate relationships—with oneself and others—are championed in this narrative.
XO,
Chloe
? PLAYLIST ?
Chapter 1: “Beatnik Trip,” Gin Wigmore Chapter 2: “Atomized,” Andrew Bird
Chapter 3: “no friends,” mazie
Chapter 4: “Doin’ Time,” Sublime
Chapter 5: “Lonely,” Mean Lady
Chapter 6: “La Cumparsita,” Sabicas Chapter 7: “Beautiful Dreamer,” Sara Watkins Chapter 8: “Mess Around,” Cage The Elephant Chapter 9: “Wishful Drinking,” Tessa Violet Chapter 10: “Hallucinogenics,” Matt Maeson, Lana Del Rey Chapter 11: “Paper Bag,” Fiona Apple Chapter 12: “Medicine,” Radio Fluke Chapter 13: “This Is Love,” The Hunts Chapter 14: “The Next Time Around,” Little Joy Chapter 15: “Between My Teeth,” Orla Gartland Chapter 16: “Punchin’ Bag—Unpeeled,” Cage The Elephant Chapter 17: “Guilt,” Mountain Man
Chapter 18: “Howlin’ for You,” The Black Keys
Chapter 19: “Move Me,” Sara Watkins Chapter 20: “Work Song,” Hozier
Chapter 21: “My Repair (Ghost Mix),” The Noises 10, Brandi Carlile Chapter 22: “Simple Song,” The Shins Chapter 23: “White Flag,” JOSEPH
Chapter 24: “Electric Love,” B?RNS
Chapter 25: “I Like (the idea of) You,” Tessa Violet Chapter 26: “Painting Roses,” Dresses Chapter 27: “Mantras,” Ellen Winter Chapter 28: “Feeling Good,” Muse
Chapter 29: “Hurricane,” Bandits on the Run Chapter 30: “Katie Queen of Tennessee,” The Apache Relay Chapter 31: “Baby Blue,” Martina Topley-Bird Chapter 32: “I Want You In My Dreams,” Edith Whiskers Chapter 33: “Summertime Sadness,” Vitamin String Quartet Chapter 34: “Cracking Codes,” Andrew Bird Chapter 35: “Honest,” JOSEPH
Chapter 36: “Freshly Laundered Linen,” Boom Forest, Phox Chapter 37: “Things We Never Say,” Bad Bad Hats Chapter 38: “You and I,” Johnnyswim Chapter 39: “You and I,” Ingrid Michaelson
? ONE ?
Kate
My life has come to this: all my worldly possessions shoved into one trusty, albeit three-wheeled and wobbly, suitcase; seven dollars and fifty-nine cents in my bank account; and zero idea of what comes next.
This is what I get for heeding my monthly horoscope.
As the stars align, your path shifts. Change creates new chances. Old wounds offer wisdom. Your future awaits. The question is: Are you brave enough to embrace it?
That damn horoscope.
Starfished on my sister Juliet’s bed, I stare at my reflection in the nearby standing mirror and ask it, “What were you thinking?”
My reflection arches an eyebrow as if to say, You’re asking me?
Groaning, I paw around the mattress until I find my dinged-up but still operational phone, then swipe it open to turn on music. It’s too quiet in here and my thoughts are too loud.
Moments later, a song from my aptly named playlist, GET UR SHIT 2GETHER, fills the room. But it doesn’t help—not even the most high-octane feminist anthem can change the fact that I am so prone to act first, think later, so easily goaded by a challenge, that one minor family crisis coinciding with a taunting horoscope, and look where I’ve landed myself.
Home, where I haven’t been in nearly two years, or stayed for longer than a week at a time since I graduated from college. Specifically, in my older sister Juliet’s room while she flies over the Atlantic, headed for a stay in the quaint Highlands cottage I’d been renting. A cottage, I quickly realized after breaking my shoulder and having to pass on my usual photojournalism gigs, that I couldn’t afford (neither budgeting nor saving has ever been my forte).
Since I had a rental cottage I couldn’t pay for, and my sister Juliet needed a change of scenery, swapping places was a no-brainer at the time. Now, lying in my sisters’ apartment, left alone to contemplate my choices, I’m not so sure.
As if she knows my thoughts are spiraling, my phone lights up with a text from Beatrice, my other older sister and Juliet’s twin. I can feel her happiness in a few simple sentences, and a wave of calm crests through me, a reassuring reminder—I made the right decision in coming home. Not only did it enable Jules’s much-needed escape, but it freed Bea to reunite with her boyfriend.
BEEBEE: Hey, KitKat. I’m really sry for dashing off so soon after you got here. I know you get why I needed to talk to Jamie right away, but I’ll come back tonight & we can spend time together, OK?
I bite my lip, thinking through how to respond. Neither Bea nor Jules knows how much I know about the predicament they were in or the solution made possible by my return. That’s because my sisters don’t know Mom spilled the tea on our monthly phone check-in and told me everything I’d missed:
Juliet and her fiancé had matchmade Bea and Jamie, the fiancé’s childhood friend. The fiancé turned out to be a toxic piece of trash, and Jules ended their relationship. Even though Jamie also cut out the piece of trash, Bea brought their relationship to a halt because she knew Jamie would be a painful reminder for Jules of the man who’d hurt her. Until Jules was in a better emotional place, Bea felt that, even though it crushed her, they had to stay apart.
As I listened to my mother explain what a pickle my siblings had gotten themselves into, her voice’s speed and pitch escalating in tandem with her worry, I realized for once I wanted to come home. The people I loved were hurting, and for once, I actually felt like I could help them, even if only in this small way.
Sure, my method required a few . . . untruths. But they were worth it. Small lies of omission. Harmless, really.
Harmless, huh? Just like that horoscope? My reflection gives me a skeptical glance.
I flip it off, then refocus on my phone, typing a response to Bea.
KITKAT: If you dare show your face tonight here, BeeBee, I will spin you right around & send you back where you came from.
BEEBEE: I just don’t want you to be alone your first night home.
A sigh leaves me, even as a twinge of affection pinches my chest. Older sisters.
KITKAT: Newsflash, I like being alone. I get to eat all the food Mom stuck in the fridge & dance around naked to Joan Jett.
BEEBEE: Newsflash, you’d do that with me around, anyway.
I snort a laugh and roll off the bed, wandering out of Juliet’s room into the hallway.
KITKAT: I’ll be fine. Seriously.
BEEBEE: You’re sure?
KITKAT: Yes! I promise.
BEEBEE: You could always go to Mom & Dad’s for some company?