Page 87 of Here In Your Arms

“Shit,” she says.

“Claire!” Rory admonishes.

“What? You swear! Plus, the only person who has my number is you, Grandma, and Dad. We all know Dad doesn’t call and you’re here, so that means Grandma came home early.”

“Let’s start heading back then.”

Claire picks up the call as we walk, and I can hear her mounting exasperation with her grandmother, but I’m impressed with how levelheadedly she answers the questions. I turn to Rory with an eyebrow raised, but she shrugs and shakes her head. Well, I guess we’ll see what happens. Rory isn’t quite sure what the outcome is going to be. Claire hangs up the phone shortly after we buckle in and sighs.

“Grandma wants me home for dinner, and she wants Aunt Rory there too.”

Rory’s head hits the headrest behind her. “Let’s at least go talk. I don’t know if I’m up for dealing with her over an entire meal.”

“Whatever you want, sweetheart,” I tell her.

“Thanks guys. I’m sure this isn’t exactly how you wanted the evening to end.”

“It’s not over ‘til it’s over, precious,” Wes tells her with a smile.

Claire chooses that moment to imitate Gollum and we all laugh, thankful the tension is broken. I glance over at Wes.

“That does kind of sound like you,” I tell him.

Wes just laughs harder and gently shoves at my shoulder. We all work to keep the mood light as we drive to drop off Claire.

Chapter 32

Rory

Of course my mother wants me to come by for dinner on a day that should be filled with joy. I’m finally free from Nathan and now I have to deal with her snide ass. Maybe it won’t be so bad. I’ll go in, drop off Claire, make some excuses and we’ll go home. No big deal. Wait, did I just reference Wes and Kyle’s place as home?

You sure did, girl, lock that shit down.

I bat away my inner thoughts and decide now is not the time to examine that level of commitment. I’m not unwilling, just not ready right now. Kyle smoothly pulls into the driveway and I see an unfamiliar car in the driveway. Frowning, I turn to Claire.

“Did she mention company?”

Claire shakes her head. “No, but maybe it’s one of her friends dropping off some fabric or yarn or something.”

“Maybe.”

We walk as a group to the door, Wes and Kyle walking slightly behind us, Wes’ hand on the small of my back as we go. Claire opens the door to go in first, and we follow her through the living room, not seeing my mom at first. We find her in the dining room and she’s definitely not alone. My body stops and freezes, causing Wes to bump into me, and Claire even stops moving. I’m sure the four of us look ridiculous as we stand in the wide opening to the dining room, but my legs refuse to move.

“Oh good, you brought Rory with you. Claire, go upstairs and wash your hands before dinner.”

Claire looks at me, uncertainty in her eyes. I can tell she doesn’t want to go, but she also wants the hell out of this room.

“I’ll be okay, go on.”

She shoots me a shaky smile before walking swiftly back the way we came so she can head up the stairs. Once the sound of her feet climbing stairs reaches us, my mother looks at me, completely ignoring the men on either side of me.

“Would you care to explain why in the world you took out this ridiculous restraining order on Nathan?”

She pats his hand as she talks, and looks at him with sympathy in her eyes, like I’m in the wrong for doing this. Nathan sits calmly, the papers stacked in front of him, and while he gives my mom an appreciative smile, he looks at me like he’s going to kill me the first chance he gets.

“Wes, go call 911,” I hear Kyle mutter behind me.

“Excuse me,” Wes says, not waiting for a response as he backs out of the room.

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