Page 25 of Our Cracked Pieces
“Let’s talk about that, shall we?”
Gage gave me a sly grin. “Let’s.”
Chapter 19
Rowan~
Iwas still at the office, but I didn’t mind. You had to put in the work to reap the rewards, and if I busted my ass this week, I could take off early on Friday to start my vacation.
My long overdue vacation.
It was only a week, and I had absolutely no plans, but I was looking forward to the downtime more than anything else. I also had plans on shopping for bassinets and baby stuff now that Mystic was in her eighth month. Those babies could pop out at any moment, and I wanted to be ready.
Already past seven, my phone rang, and I groaned when I saw who was calling. I loved my mom, but the woman had a tendency to hover, though I didn’t blame her.
Answering the phone, I said, “I know it’s late, but I had dinner delivered at the office, and I’m only here, so I can leave early on Friday.”
“Smartass,” Mom chuckled. “Maybe I just called you to tell you I love you.”
Silence.
“Fine,” she huffed. “I was checking on you, but don’t feel special just yet. I just got off the phone with Grayson, checking on him, too.”
“You do you know we’re adults, right?” I teased. “I mean, it would make sense since you’re the one who gave birth to us and all.”
“I’d call you an asshole, but then I’d have nothing to call Grayson,” she fired back, and I laughed.
God, I loved my parents.
“I’m doing fine, Mom,” I told her. “I promise.”
“Are you really there just to get a head start on your vacation?” she asked. “You’re not burning yourself out, are you?”
“I swear, I’m not,” I assured her. “I really am just trying to get a jump on my weekend.”
She let out loud sigh. “Fine. I’m going to choose to believe you this time.”
I chuckled. “How generous of you.”
“Isn’t it, though?” Her laugh filled the line before she got serious again. “Okay, I’ll let you go, but don’t forget, our package for Mystic’s babies should arrive within the next two weeks, so be on the lookout.”
“Will do, Mom,” I said. “I’ll talk to you later. Love you.”
“Love you, too, Rowan.”
Hanging up, I went back to work. I didn’t blame my mother for worrying, but, all these years later, I still got tired of reassuring her I was fine.
Even on the days I wasn’t.
The weeks after our arrest, and that of Officer Connors also, had been hell on my eighteen-year-old self. Tammy, Carly, Mandy, and I had gotten arrested, but then, so had Officer Simon Connors, and the scandal that had followed hadn’t been pretty.
While Carly, Mandy, and Tammy had been aghast that I hadn’t told them what had been happening, many other people had accused me of lying just to get out of the burglary charges. The girls had done their best to defend me, but you had an entire police department fighting for their image, and they had used the media to do their dirty work. A lot of the people of the community had been divided between believing a girl, who’d never been in trouble before, over a man who they had been conditioned to trust.
When me and the girls had gotten off with probation and fines, the people in Officer Connors’ camp had made their displeasure known. It had been a real hate-fest, and my family and friends were really what had gotten me through that time in my life.
The girls had rallied and had turned out to be vicious little things when Officer Connors’ trial had begun. In fact, we were all still friends to this day. Though scattered around the country like we were, we relied heavily on social media and our phones to keep in touch.
Mandy and Darnell were still married and living in California, where Mandy was a stay-at-home-mom, with three kinds, and Darnell played for the NFL.
