Page 75 of Myla: The Hawthornes

Aisling, Aoife, and Sean were going to stay with Cian’s aunt Ashley in Oregon for a while. No one was coming out and saying it, but I knew it was because whoever had killed Richie and attacked Aisling was still out there somewhere. It made my skin crawl to think of the guy lying in wait for one of Cian’s sisters to let her guard down. They’d be safer in Oregon under the umbrella of my dad’s club.

After hours of chatting, even more hours of podcasts and music, and a stop for dinner, Mom dropped me off at my house late that night. All the lights were on as I blew her a kiss from the front porch and let myself inside.

“I thought you were coming home with Cian,” Lou said in surprise as she popped her head out of the kitchen. “Bas called and told me you didn’t even say goodbye.”

“Cian told me to go,” I informed her, dropping my bag by the door. “He basically told me to get the fuck out.”

“No, he didn’t,” she said, her eyes wide.

“Oh, yeah,” I scoffed, kicking off my shoes. The long car ride had been an opportunity for a whole range of emotions, from embarrassment to sadness to anger and back to embarrassment again. The current frontrunner was anger. “He asked if he needed to get a skywriter to tell me to go home or could I for once think about what someone else needed.”

“That motherfucker!” Frankie yelled from her bedroom.

“How can you even hear me?” I yelled back.

“I have hearing like a bat!” She appeared in the hallway. “You know that.”

“Yeah, so anyway, I bailed,” I said, pulling off my jacket. “Like my ass was on fire.”

“The audacity,” Lou griped, her face scrunched up in disgust. “I swear to God. You’re a full-grown adult, loser, control your emotions.”

“I was being a little pushy.”

“You drove all day to get there when he needed you,” Lou argued. “You get a pass.”

“He’s all fucked up,” Frankie said, grabbing a soda out of the fridge.

“Is that my soda?” I asked.

She looked down at it. “Yep.” She cracked it open and took a long drink. “Everyone noticed it.”

“And we watched the whole bathroom situation.”

“It wasn’t a big deal.”

“He was breathing fire, ignored everyone else, and dragged you into a small room and locked the door,” Lou said dryly. “I think there was a little cause for concern.”

“He just needed a minute.”

“Why?”

“He said Richie fucked up,” I said quietly. “I don’t know what it meant, but it was bad.”

“Well, hewasshot,” Franky replied. “I think we all knew something was stinky about that whole thing.”

“Did you ever get the whole story?” Lou asked.

“Nope.” I stretched my arms above my head and groaned. “But I’ve gotten used to only knowing bits and pieces. No one ever tells me anything.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Lou commiserated.

“Aoife and Aisling are coming out here, right?” Frankie asked, boosting herself onto the counter.

“Yeah. They’re going to stay with Ashley and Saoirse for a while.”

“That’s good. A change of scenery will help.”

“For sure,” I mumbled.

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