Page 86 of Drawn To You (Paloma's Edge 1)

After two taps on the door, I said, “Come in.”

Uncle Anton and Aunt Deborah came into the room. I moved from the desk to the bottom of the bed. Aunt Deborah sat down by the chair and he stood by her with his hand on her shoulder. They looked like they were more in harmony than they’d been in weeks.

“We didn’t think you’d want to see Cindy. We were going to ask you first,” Aunt Deborah said with a sad smile. “But when she came out of the cab minutes before you came into the kitchen, I couldn’t ignore the state she was in.”

Uncle Anton huffed. “Your Aunt Debbie thought Cindy had had a change of heart and realized that now’s a better time to be a mother than never. But she came back because the man had dumped her and she has nowhere else to go.” He sounded embarrassed. “I just don’t understand. Mom and Dad didn’t raise us like this. They must be turning over in their graves.” Aunt Deborah settled her hand over the one Uncle Anton had on her shoulder. “I thought you needed a night to process her arrival after the mess she’d made. If you don’t want her to stay at the Paloma, I’ll have her leave.”

“Please,” I said, clearing my throat, “don’t do that.”

Aunt Deborah came over to me. “We support whatever you want to do with regards to your mother, and we’ll do our best to stay out of it.”

***

“Hunter designed my tattoo!” Millie said after we just informed her that Chase had a twin brother who worked at Lasting Impressions Tattoo Studio. “I wanted him to do my tat, but he wasn’t there and I didn’t wanna wait more months to get it done. This took five sessions. And a lot of hand-holding from Jared.” She ran her hand over her head.

“Are you getting any more tattoos?” Brianna asked as she nursed her piña colada. Millie’s blush made Brianna and I giggle. “Milagros Ross! What kind of tattoo does Jared want you to get and where?”

“Yeah, where?” Joel wiggled his eyebrows and sank down next to Brianna. We hadn’t seen him coming.

I folded my arms. “I thought you couldn’t make it tonight,” Millie said, a rosy hint still on her face.

“Me too. Change of plans.”

Rylan finished talking with Emilio at the counter and danced with some girl when one of Tainted Virtue’s newly released songs came on. The professional studio recording changed their sound a lot. Made it too perfect. Nevertheless, they were still enjoyable. I’d danced with Joel, Rylan, Brianna, and Millie. We’d ordered two platters of chicken tenders and tostones. We were all sleepy from eating so much.

“Where you going after this?” Rylan asked.

“Why?”

“Why not ask?”

I walked through the door that Joel was holding for all of us. “Chase and I are very much together,” I clarified for him.

Rylan whirled his head around as if he was looking for someone. “Where is he now?” he challenged me.

“That’s none of your business,” Joel interrupted with a scowl, glaring at his friend. “And I think you’re being real shady right now.”

Rylan sighed heavily. “Come on, Joel. You’re giving me the third degree? Like you didn’t think about hooking up with Beth.” He jerked his gaze to me. “I haven’t seen you and Chase together.”

Joel’s face reddened. “And that was for five seconds. If I wanted Beth, Chase would know. Pierce would. Everyone would.”

“Got it. Forget I asked,” Rylan told me.

“I’ll forget that you asked,” I replied.

Brianna and Millie paused for a few seconds with confused expressions. After telling them that everything was fine, we went to our cars.

***

“Hey,” Cassidy said as I walked into the kitchen and she walked out.

“Hey.” I didn’t know what to think about her greeting. She’d been ignoring me and I didn’t have a problem with that. But she was the least of my concerns when I saw Uncle Anton, Aunt Debbie, Cindy, and Nancy in the kitchen. I sat beside Cindy and greeted everyone.

“See you at work,” Uncle Anton told me, and I spread my arms to meet his embrace. He kissed Aunt Deborah before he left. He hadn’t said anything to Cindy.

“How’s it going, Cindy?” I sipped my orange juice as Nancy handed me some waffles and a bowl of fruit.

Cindy grinned at me. The weary look she’d had two days ago had evaporated. “I heard that you start work at twelve today. We should go for a drive around here in your new car.”

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