“Gosh, you act like you didn’t just see me,” she teased. “It’s only been a few weeks!”
Sienna leaned her head back. “It’s been too long. Are you moving in?”
Audrey’s eyes went from Sienna to Mina’s.
“No, honey bunches of oats. I’m not.” She shook her head and dropped her gaze back down to my daughter’s. “I’ll be in town, though. You can come see me any time you want…”
Her voice trailed off as her gaze finally settled on me.
Her brows furrowed, and her eyes narrowed.
“Who…”
Then she froze as I stood.
Her purse, that was clenched in her hand, fell to the floor.
Fender came up behind her.
“Remember what I said when I told you there was more to this than you know?” Fender asked her casually. “Well, here is where you need to listen to everything and not interrupt until you know the entire story.”
Audrey’s gaze never left mine.
I knew she couldn’t figure out that she knew me. I didn’t look the same.
“I’d know that curly hair anywhere,” she whispered.
I frowned.
She knew me by my hair?
“You’re dead,” she whispered.
I shook my head. “Not dead. Our parents…”
I started to say, and she held her hand up.
“Did they have you all this time?”
I shook my head. “No. The first year, yes. After that, no.”
“So you’ve been free of them for five years?” she asked carefully.
“Essentially,” I said. “But there’s more…”
Her hand cracked where it made contact with my face, and I heard Sienna cry out in surprise.
“Hitting isn’t nice, Aunt Audrey!” Sienna said, insinuating herself in between me and her aunt.
Mina was there in a flash, pulling her away, and saying something so softly to her that I couldn’t tell exactly what was said.
Sienna disappeared after she’d asked her to go to her room for a little bit.
Thank God.
This was about to get ugly.
“All this time, Tunnel,” Audrey’s voice cracked. “We thought you were dead.”
I lifted my hand, and she batted it away before it could touch her.
Then she abruptly turned, and glared at the man at her side. “You promised me I would be happy.”
My brows lifted, as did Fender’s.
“You’re not happy that your brother is alive?” he asked carefully.
Her jaw ticked.
“I’d be happier had he told me when it first happened that he wasn’t dead…” she pointed out to him.
I looked over at Mina.
She nodded her head.
Then I started to explain my actions. Why I did what I did.
And by the time I was done, she was looking at me like I was a broken doll.
“Oh, Tunnel,” she whispered brokenly. “There’s more, isn’t there?”
I debated whether to tell her what else I knew, but I decided that right now wasn’t the best time.
Not when she just found out that I was alive.
Maybe when she was settled and this thing with our parents was over, then I’d give her the rest of the details.
But right now, knowing that she was worried about me, and for me, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t bring any more sadness to her at that point.
“There’s more,” I agreed. “But I’m not ready to talk about it right now.”
What I had told her was enough, it was enough to break any man. But it wasn’t everything. Hell, there was probably more that my parents had done that even I didn’t know about. They were just that awful.
It took her a few long seconds to process it and come to a decision, but as soon as she did, she launched herself at me.
“I missed you so freakin’ much,” she cried softly into my shoulder. “I’m sorry for hitting you.”
I pulled her into my arms and held her tighter.
We stayed like this for a long time. So long, in fact, that when I looked around the room, it was empty of both Fender and Mina.
“I think Fender’s eating my tamales,” I whispered into my sister’s hair. “Do you want to go see?”
She started to chuckle and then slowly extricated herself from my arms.
“The tamales were always your favorite, not mine,” she told me. “My favorite is still her tortillas.”
I grinned. “I think she’s making fajitas. You’re in luck. The tamales were just for me.”
She rolled her eyes and led the way into the kitchen.
I found Fender at my kitchen table. Luckily, not eating my tamales.
“These are the best tortillas I’ve ever had in my…” Audrey snatched the still-warm tortilla straight out of his hand.
“That’s mine,” Fender grumbled.
I could do nothing but laugh.
“Where’s Sienna?” I asked Mina as I sidled up to her side.
She looked up at me.
“I gave her my iPad and let her do what she really wanted to do all along,” she answered. “She’s in my bed watching Monster High.”
I took the opportunity to pull her into my arms.
“I think I missed this most of all,” I whispered into her ear.
She raised a brow at me in question.
“This. Having you here. Sienna. Audrey. Even Fender. It feels like I’m finally home.”
She raised her hand to cup my cheek. “You are finally home.”
I leaned down and took her mouth.
She was right. I was.
Chapter 22
I love all of you. Except you. You know who you are, douche.
-Meme
Mina
“No. You’re not getting that,” I heard Ghost talking to someone.
I peeked around the corner and stared at him where he was standing in the middle of the room.
“Because it looks like it says ‘I sharted’ and not ‘Is loved.’”
“Because there’s a heart in the middle of it. Seriously. IS<3ED. Plus, I don’t think you can get special characters on a license plate.”
Audrey was down at the DMV getting her car registered in Alabama, and she’d called him to, I assume, ask his opinion on a license plate.
“It’s best to stick with something non-descript,” Tunnel suggested. “You’re trying to blend in, not stick out. Saul will help you. Just make sure you go to him, because he’s the one helping us get you into the system without setting off any warnings. If you go to one of the other ladies, they’ll ask for your ID…yes, I know that I already told this to you. But I said it thinking you’d realize you needed to get a regular license plate, not a vanity plate or one of those fuckin’ pink ones,” he growled. “Audrey, I swear to God.”
I started to giggle.
Tunnel’s eyes locked on mine, but I knew he knew that I was here way before he looked at me. The man didn’t miss anything.
“All right, Audrey,” Tunnel grunted. “I gotta go to work. I have a meeting in about five hours in Benton, and it takes me six to get there.”
I started to snicker, and Tunnel’s eyes shot to my mouth.
“Bye, girl.” He placed the phone on the counter next to his hand and then started stalking toward me.
I started backing away, and his eyes flared with heat.
“What are you doing?” I asked, looking at him worriedly.
“I’m saying goodbye so I can leave like I should’ve done an hour ago before everyone kept asking me about stupid stuff like pink license plates and shit.”
My lips twitched as I hit the wall, unable to move any further. “I asked you about cars because I want a new one. The one I have is seven years old, and I have to make room.”
“Make room?” he asked.
I nodded.