Page 169 of Unhinged

“That’s me. I’m Simone.”

Simone lets go of my hand to hug Tabby, who smiles again.

Ashley gapes at Simone, probably already in love with her. “I’m Ashley. Greg’s favorite sister.” Yeah, no. Not even in the top two.

“Simone. Nice to meet you, Ashley.” She hugs Ashley, who giggles, a girly sound I’ve never heard from her.

I sigh. “Okay, okay. Both of you, back off.” I retake Simone’s hand, grazing my fingers against her wedding ring, and head for the porch. I’m not sure how I should feel about her only supporting me if I talk about my shitty feelings with a stranger. I want to be so fucking mad at her.

Opening the front door, Sherry descends upon us like a bat out of hell flying into the light. “Greg! I missed you!” She throws herself at me, and I catch her with my free hand, refusing to let go of Simone, no matter my temperament toward her at the moment.

“I live in Durham again. I saw you last week. Christ.” Sherry lets go of me to smack my shoulder. I notice her brown hair is shorter like Ashley’s but not as disastrous.

“Watch the smart mouth, mister.” I roll my eyes, and she points at me. “Those too.” Since I was nine, Sherry has been my stepmother and loves Eden and me like her own fucked-up kids. She’s a gynecologist, not that there are perks for me. At least my mom gets along with her. Out of the two, she’s my emotional, high-strung mother. The nice thing about my parents’ divorce is that they never made it contentious and always remained friends. And I got to have two bedrooms and double the gifts. Unfortunately, also five times the sisters.

She covers her mouth as she mumbles, “Our little boy got married.”

Sherry hugs me again and cries on the shoulder she just hit. Seeing my dad behind her, I mouth, “Help.”

Sherry releases me and glances at Simone. “Oh, God. Greg, no wonder you married her.” She practically shoves me aside. “I’m Greg’s stepmom, Sherry. You are gorgeous.”

“Um, thank you. So are you. I’m Simone. Nice to meet you.”

Sherry grabs Simone into an overwhelming hug. I still hold Simone’s hand, making it awkward for her to hug Sherry. Oh, well. Sherry’s doing most of the hugging, anyway.

My dad slides past Sherry to hug me like I haven’t seen him in a few days. Sherry talks fast, asking Simone a million questions, but Simone keeps up with her and is polite and genuine. Like the way she wants me to be in not hiding my truth.

I let go of Simone’s hand, but she clutches my arm while still talking to Sherry. I love Simone’s touch and closeness. She wants me for the love I give to her, not for the outrageous shit I say or the jokes I tell. Or, at least, she acts that way.

Tearing her away from me, Sherry kidnaps Simone as they head down the hallway toward the kitchen. Even having argued with Simone, I now feel empty without her. It’s how I used to feel when I thought there was only Hadley to love. I hate it. Simone has brought so much to my life that I now would die without.

Dad puts his arm around my shoulders and drags me toward the kitchen. “How’s married life?”

“It’s good.” Except I’m pissing off my wife for not wanting to gut myself in front of a crowd.

“You still want an apartment here?”

“We’re talking about it. She wants to get her master’s but is open to moving anywhere.”

He nods. “What about you? I know you don’t want to work at the bar. You’ve always had bigger aspirations.”

I stop, and he nearly knocks me over as he keeps going. I ask, “Did you talk to Mom?”

“No. Why?”

“I told her I’m looking into law school. So fucking weird.”

He grins. “You always wanted to be an attorney.”

“Well, now I’m back on track.” Before getting derailed by a hot blonde.

“I know money is tight right now, so I’ll lend you the tuition. You can pay me back when you’re a courtroom hotshot.”

“Actually, the firm is paying for it. So, I can’t really pass this up as much as I try to dodge it.”

“That is fantastic, but why would you dodge it?”

“Maybe I’m not good enough. I should’ve started this earlier.”

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