Page 120 of Waiting for Redemption

Thanks for all of that, you psycho. Dinner is in 2 hours right? We’ll pour it out Sweet Magnolias style after dinner.

Me

That actually sounds perfect. I kind of have a LOT to fill you guys in on.

Leah

Thank God.

Taylor

I DO believe that’s what this holiday is all about.

Leah

It must be exhausting being you.

* * *

“Jesus Christ Le, did you make margaritas for the whole block?” I laugh, looking at the massive party-size pitcher of margaritas she’s made for tonight.

“Listen, it’s fall break. I can drink as much as I want tonight and not have to be up to listen to the screeching sound of my sweet little gremlins tomorrow.”

“Leah, I think you might be ready for a career change if they’re driving you to drink,” Lauren teases while making sure all the dishes have serving utensils.

“Can you just let me live my life, please?” She rolls her eyes, making us all giggle.

“The party has arrived,” Taylor announces as she, Shane, Tucker, Max, and Cece walk in the door together.

“Yeah, but I got here about fifteen minutes ago, thanks though,” I fire back, making her mouth drop open.

“I think I’m in love with you.” She runs over and wraps me in her arms.

“Sorry, that job is taken,” Tank chimes in, wrapping his arm around my shoulders once Taylor backs away. When he caresses my jaw with his thumb Taylor’s eyes could set me on fire with the questions burning behind them. We all fill our plates and sit around Lauren’s massive dining table. We’ve started taking turns hosting holidays and this year Lauren had Thanksgiving.

Once the boys go outside to start talking about what their workout plan is for tomorrow, and the kids are both passed out in the guest room—Cece in her playpen and Hendrix on the bed with the dogs—all of us girls find a spot on the sectional to chat.

“How are you? Max and Tucker filled us in on what happened at the bar the other day.” Taylor nods to Shane who has a concerned look on her face.

“Wait, we weren’t informed,” Lauren says accusingly, wagging a finger between herself and Leah.

“Yeah, just because we aren’t fucking one of the brothers doesn’t mean we should get left out.” I close my eyes and shake my head trying to fight back a laugh.

“Yeah, I guess I can start there.” I tuck my feet under myself as I sip my glass of wine. “Mark came to the bar the other day. He was completely drunk and acting like a fool, saying all this shit about wanting a second chance and… I actually recorded him, hang on.” I pull my phone out of my pocket, holding it up to replay the events for all of them to hear. The anger, hurt, and comforting hand squeezes from every one of them make my heart full as I realize just how strong my tribe is. They all look like they’re ready to go to war for me and I would undoubtedly do the same for them.

“What a fucking psycho. How did someone that unstable even get as far as he has with suing for custody?” Lauren asks.

“Ruby… What the hell happened between you two?” The pained look in Taylor’s eyes tells me how much she’s feeling the depth of this.

I tend to forget that Tank is the only one I’ve actually given all the details to about what happened between me and Mark. I felt like he was the only one thatneededto know and by only telling him it wouldn’t put me in a place to receive pity from others. But I should have known better than that. Like I’ve said countless times before, these girls are like sisters to me, I know they’ll be supportive and not treat me like some fragile victim.

“So. Fucking. Much.” My voice shakes against my will. They all give their quiet support, waiting for me to make my decision whether or not I’ll share. I know they would accept it if I chose not to. That they would still be by my side and support me even if they never knew a single thing that happened. But I’m ready to put all of this behind me, once and for all. Tank and I are already starting to look to the future with our little family, so I need to fill them in now, so I can let it go. So I tell them everything. How we met, how we started “dating”–-if you’d even call it that—how when I got pregnant I thought it would be a good thing but was quickly proven wrong. I told them about the last day I saw him, what he said and what he did, and how I never looked back.

“Such a fucking warrior.” Taylor’s statement makes me laugh because apparently everyone else could see it but me. I always tried to tell myself I was being strong, while secretly feeling like I ran away scared. Because at every stop I made I was looking over my shoulder—until I wasn’t anymore.

“So, what happens now? Is your lawyer at least aware of this? Surely she will be able to present that to whoever she needs to and get this case thrown out, right?” Leah chimes in, breaking me from my thoughts. I take a deep breath, realizing just how incredibly out of the loop they’ve been during all of this.

“Right, well. My lawyer was actually sleeping with Mark—which explains why she was such an unhelpful bitch every time I spoke to her—and the judge who was supposed to take our case is actually his brother-in-law.” They all sit silently and process as I finish off my wine in two big gulps. “Yeah.”

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