Page 13 of Forever Mine

“Yeah,” I mumble.

“Monica Rose.”

“What?”

“Which one was it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Who gave you the money?”

I sigh. No sense in letting her go to the grave, thinking poorly of the entire family. Might as well let her know at least one other grandchild has a good heart.

“Isabella.”

“Oh mio fottuto dio!”

“Damn, Nana!” I’ve never heard her say, ‘oh my fucking god’ before.

“How much did she give you? You never got a second job, did you?” she shouts.

“Lower your voice!” I hiss. Her apartment walls are thin. I don’t know who might be listening. “Fine, I will tell you, but you have to promise never to tell anyone.”

“Fine.”

“Fifty thousand dollars.”

“Fifty!” she shouts again.

I jump to my feet and shove my hand across her mouth.

“You need to stop shouting!” I seethe. “I called her completely drunk and must have left her a message. She returned my call and left me a message saying she was wiring me money and to not contact her again. She said her kids’ lives were too important.”

Nana’s face softens.

“Bella is a mother? Oh my. Oh, my sweet Bella,” she whispers. “Okay,bambino. We will drop this subject. But you must promise me that you will not contact them again for any reason. Not even to tell them about my death. They’ll suck you back in if given a chance.”

“I know, Nana. I won’t contact them again,” I vow.

Somehow, I feel those are famous last words.

Three months later

Of course, Nana would send me out of town when she was going to die.

I find it hard to believe that sheknewher time was coming … but it’s a little too convenient that she tells me she’ll be fine, how I need to go see Emily after everything that happened with her and Nathan, and then dies in her sleep while I’m gone.

The eleven-hour drive from Mountain Springs back to Oklahoma is rough. There are parts of the drive I don’t even remember, and others where I can’t believe I stayed in my lane when the tears were so thick I couldn’t see.

My only blood family member is gone. The only one who has always supported me and loved me unconditionally. The only person who fought for me.

I drove all night after leaving Em at the hospital. I know she’s in good hands. She has a support system in Colorado. She has a new family. I’m going back to nothing. No one. Just a shitty studio apartment and a job I really don’t care about.

Don’t get me wrong. I like selling houses. But I hate my real estate office. My boss is a condescending bitch. Her hypernasal voice grates on my nerves as she delivers her daily jabs about my closings. She has no sense of family, camaraderie, or friendship. All she sees are dollar signs.

As I approach the retirement facility where the manager has asked me to come immediately, my phone rings. I sigh as I see it’s my boss. I can’t even say hello before she’s criticizing me.

“Monica, you have some nerve thinking you can just not report to the office or return my calls!” Stephanie mumbles. She mumbles because she’s had so many lip injections they can’t touch anymore, and her speech is now a complete mess.

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