Page 34 of Ridin' Solo
“Hey! Are you coming in anytime soon or just shooting the crap out here all night?” Mom stood on the front porch, her apron on and her hands on her hips.
“Hi, Mom.” I climbed the steps and wrapped her in a hug, scooting away when I felt the wooden spoon flying close to my backside. Only had to connect a few times growing up before us girls knew to jump out of the way.
“Hey, darling,” Dad muttered to Mom. I stepped inside the house, not wanting to stick around to hear those two smooching. As far as any of us daughters were concerned, we were here on this green earth because of immaculate conception.
“Nice fashion choices, Oak,” Vee drawled from the couch, her hair curled perfectly in soft waves. She had a gold ring on every finger and a bare midriff.
“Since when did you start dressing yourself, little one?” I snapped back. She hated being reminded she was the baby. “What are you doing here so early? Dinner hasn’t even started yet.”
Vee rolled her eyes and pointed to Esme, who typed something out furiously on her cell phone from Dad’s recliner. “This bitch told me dinner was at six today.”
I bit back a grin. Leave it to Esme to find a solution for our baby sister’s perennial tardiness. I took my duty belt off and breathed a sigh of relief. That sucker was too bulky to keep wearing at the end of a shift. I laid it on the coffee table, careful not to scratch the wood and give Mom a proper reason to chase me with the spoon.
“The three of us have arrived!” Amelia hollered from the front door. She lumbered into the living room, already rubbing her belly even though she barely showed. The girl was milking this pregnancy for all it was worth. “Fair warning, Mom and Dad are sucking face again.”
All of us wrinkled our noses. Titus collapsed on the couch and pulled Amelia onto his lap.
“I think it’s adorable. You and I are going to be like that when we’re old.” He nuzzled Amelia’s neck, and for the first time, it didn’t make me sick to see my sister engaged in affection with her husband.
It made me want.
Izzy came into the living room, even her steps quiet. “Dinner might be awhile. Something about having a hard day?” She grimaced and shivered. “I don’t know. I didn’t stay long enough to find out what the deal was. Just don’t go out on the porch if you don’t want to have to bleach your eyes.”
We all snickered as it took a lot to get Izzy riled up, but our parents’ affectionate behavior was one thing that set her off.
“If by hard day you mean a bunch of paper cuts, then yeah, maybe we should just go in the kitchen and finish making dinner.” I snorted and Esme finally put her phone down.
“Dad said he just hired a new cop from some other part of the state. Said he’s grooming him to take over,” Esme announced, clasping her hands around her knee and her nose in the air.
I took a step forward. “Like, he’s thinking ofretiring?” I couldn’t believe what my ears were hearing. Dad had been threatening to retire since I was in elementary school, but he never went through with it. He loved his job.
Izzy looked concerned. “Is he sick?”
Esme hopped up and put her arm around Izzy. “No! He just said it was time to start moving in that direction. He said something about leading the horse to calmer pastures.”
“That sounds like one of Dad’s ridiculous phrases,” Amelia piped in. “Maybe the threat of his first grandchild got him thinking about putting his time in elsewhere.”
“Speaking of putting in time elsewhere,” Esme drawled, “where have you been recently, Oak? Haven’t seen you around much lately. And why do you have thisglowabout you?”
All heads swiveled in my direction, making my cheeks heat despite how clenched I kept my jaw. Leave it to Esme to butt into my private business. The girl watched us all like a hawk, always putting the spotlight on our most insecure private moments like it was her damn job.
“I’ve been working,” I stated, glancing meaningfully down at my uniform.
“Oh, yes. With that hot cop, Wyatt.” Esme’s grin turned smarmy. She winked at me. “Did you hit that yet?”
“Esme!” Izzy whisper-shouted, appalled at her twin’s behavior.
I wasn’t appalled so much as pissed.
Esme threw her hands up in the air, but didn’t look apologetic at all. “What? That man could put me in cuffs any day of the week.”
My rage boiled over. “Stop talking about him that way! He’s my partner.”
Amelia got off Titus’s lap and came over to put her arm around my waist. “Hey, sis. Don’t let her get to you. If there’s something going on, we just want to know so we can hear about the hot sex. That’s all.” She giggled, and Titus folded his arms across his chest with a frown. “Not that I’m not getting it on the regular—I mean, Iamknocked up—but I’m always up for an R-rated story time.”
“Oh! I have a hot story! I just started a new class and my professor is a super sexy silver fox.” Vee squealed and jumped up, ready to spill all the details of things we didn’t want to know about.
“Stop! You’re still a baby. We don’t want to hear it.” My cheeks had already betrayed me and I knew there was no way I could cut the conversation off now without all four sisters hounding me for weeks to come. Better to come clean. “Yes, I slept with him, and no, I’m not sharing details.”
