Page 76 of Rayne

I still haven't told my parents about our relationship—though technically, there's no relationship at the moment. They helped me through the law school prep and the aftermath of Elijah, then we parted ways. While they didn't explicitly tell me I couldn't date out here, I found I didn't want to. I'm not sure what our future holds, but I'm content with the present. It hurts when I think that they are probably going to charity events and picking up gorgeous women, but it's not my business. I need to focus on my life in California.

"I bet they will be," Margot answers. "They miss you."

I freeze, glancing up at her. "How do you know that?"

She looks at me sheepishly. "I might have run into Jett a few weeks ago."

"Where?" I ask. "When?"

"Just at the mall," she replies. "They were buying suits I think. I don't know—men are weird. They always have belongings, but you never catch them actively buying things. I'm just guessing based on the garment bag."

I compose myself, nodding. "I miss them too," I admit softly. "As fucked up as it is."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," she says.

"Hard not to be in law school," I joke. Who am I kidding? I've always been hard on myself.

Margot waves me off. "Anyway, Jett mentioned that the court case had finally finished."

I nod again. "No jail time for Elijah, but he lost his attorney license and had to do community service."

After the incident, I had decided to press charges for the principle of it. While Elijah tried to fight the charges—probably the attorney in him—he never told anyone the extenuating details of that night. Thankfully, I never had to face him in the courtroom, but I'm told that he's missing four fingers. According to a friend of a friend of another friend, the rumor was he lost them in a drunken accident. And that's the story I'm sticking with too.

"Fucking asshole," Margot breathes.

"Yep," I answer, putting my noodle box down. "Anyway, ready for another drink?"

A few more weeks pass by and suddenly before I know it, it's nearly Christmas.

I fly home to Arizona, thrilled to see Mom and Dad at the airport when they pick me up.

"We're so happy to see you," Mom gushes from the front seat as Dad drives.

"Me too," I answer, pulling my gaze from the window to smile at her.

Dad pulls into their street and I look around fondly at the neighboring houses.

"Still the same," Dad comments warmly. "Oh, except Mason three doors down painted his house green for some reason."

"Really?" I ask intrigued, looking at the mint colored house as we drive by. "Holy shit."

Dad laughs. "I think it was a middle finger to his ex-house. She always wanted the house to stay beige."

The car pulls into the driveway and I let myself out of the car, looking up at their house. "So, are the guys coming for Christmas?" I ask casually.

They help me get my bags from the trunk, putting them on the ground. "They are going to let us know. They've been pretty busy with work. Hopefully they can," Mom says, reaching for one of the bags.

"I've got it," I tell her, grabbing it quickly. Dad takes my other one, the three of us heading up the pathway to the front door.

"We'll get you settled in then we have to head into town. Mom forgot to grab some ingredients," Dad grunts, pushing open the door.

"I didn't forget," Mom agrees. "My usual shop didn't have any. So we have to go elsewhere."

I laugh at her annoyance, knowing how loyal she is to her favorite shop. "That's fine. It's getting pretty late so I'll just take a shower while you are gone."

The sun is just starting to set around Phoenix, and even though it's not a long flight, I'm exhausted from traveling.

Dad helps me carry my bags to my room, and I head back downstairs to see them off. After they leave, I walk around the house, checking all the plants—they've grown in numbers since Mom adopted mine before the move, and I give a few a little spray.

---