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Collin cleared his throat. “We would love to show you to your rooms. We can help carry your bags.”
Mom tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow and walked with him. “Oh, my goodness. That is just so sweet. We have a lot more than just our stuff in the car. I was just telling Ada that we have gossip about her ex. We picked up her stuff from his apartment a while back and we brought it for her.”
Dad wrapped his arm around my shoulders and gave me a tight hug before hurrying to catch up with Mom and Collin. “And there’s one bag you should let me get. I’m not saying it’s a bag of sex toys, but I’m notnotsaying that, either.”
I was rooted in place. I covered my face with my hands and let out a weak groan. What had I done?
“Did your dad just hint that he knows we’ve fucked you, Ada?” Joe whispered the words next to my ear. He’d moved closer without me noticing and I nearly jumped out of my skin.
“I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to talk about any of this. I’m-” The sound of heavy feet running through the hallway was alarming enough that I shut up and rushed towards the library doors to see what was happening.
“Watch out everyone! Kitten is on a warpath!” Dad’s warning came a second too late.
The biggest dog I’d ever seen spotted me at the same time I spotted him. He tried to stop but his feet skidded on the slippery floors and he took my legs out from under me. I went down hard and rolled over onto my back just to have the dog lay down on top of me to lick my face. I turned away but then it got my ear. I groaned and grunted as I tried to get away from its tongue but it was useless.
“Oh! He likes you, Ada.” Dad sounded amused. “Our daughter and our dog son getting along so well. I couldn’t be more proud. Kitten, get off your sister.”
Kitten wasn’t motivated to move. His elbow was firmly planted in my boob and he was happy enough that he laid his head on top of mine and let out a big sigh. I’d forgotten about the dog. Maybe that was where I’d gone wrong. I could’ve hidden behind Joe if I’d remembered.
“Off, Kitten.” Joe’s deep voice was commanding enough that I wanted to sit up and do what he said. It seemed to work on Kitten as well as it did on me. As soon as the giant dog was off me, Joe took my hand and pulled me back to my feet. He looked me over with his upper lip slightly curled. “You stink.”
“Oh, that’s Kitten. He has a breath thing. We have bones for that.” Dad grabbed the hilariously small leash he had my dog brother on and sighed. “As soon as your mom opened the back door, he came bounding out. He’s not a huge fan of the car. Or maybe it was your mom’s driving that he didn’t like.”
“You just had him in the car? You can’t just leave a dog in the car, Dad! It’s hot outside.” I knelt in front of Kitten, previous transgressions forgotten. “Oh, buddy. Are you okay?”
“We left the air running, Ada. We’re not monsters.”
“You know, she peed the bed until she was five and it was always a mess. She’d trail pee through the house on her way to our room to tell us about it.” Mom’s voice carried through to where we were standing.
I sighed, defeated. “Monsters.”
42
***Ada***
“Hewasbeingevictedwhen we showed up to get your things, honey.” Mom leaned across the table and whispered the rest at me but it was the loudest whisper I’d ever heard and I knew everyone was listening. “The sheriff was there and everything. It was kind of sad. He’d boxed your stuff up so neatly and kept asking us if we knew where you were. It was all very dramatic.”
I frowned. “He never did anything neatly while we were together. It figures he waited until I left him to start.”
“That’s not all, though. We got front row seats to the woman upstairs kicking him out, too. I guess he thought he was going to move in with her, or something, but she corrected that idea so fast his head spun.” Mom leaned in even closer. “We had to give him a ride to his parents’. It was super embarrassing for him, I’m sure. He was in the backseat, sniffling, asking if we thought you would forgive him.”
“Why didn’t you tell me all that happened?” I didn’t feel bad for Camden because he’d made his own mess, but I couldn’t believe my parents, who never met a secret they couldn’t share, had stayed silent about it all.
“You had your own things happening here. We didn’t want you to lose time with the bosses you made sound so attractive over worrying about Camden.” She rolled her eyes. “Besides, his parents’ house was a massive place inside a gated community. Something tells me he’ll land on his feet.”
“You made us sound attractive?” Collin leaned into my space and smirked. “Good to know.”
“You should’ve heard your father, Ada. The entire drive to Camden’s parents’ house, he was lecturing him and telling him off. It was hot.” Mom met Dad’s gaze from across the table and winked.
I leaned back in my chair and stared up at the elaborate chandelier that hung over the dining table. It was rustic and matched the rest of the cabin feel but it was clear that it probably cost more than I’d make in a lifetime. The kids had already gone to bed and we were sitting around, supposedly enjoying a nice glass of relaxing wine. Only, I was about as relaxed as a tightly wound spring.
“I just couldn’t believe that idiot cheated on you. You’re amazing, Ada. You’re smart, you’re kind, you’re pretty. You’re the whole package and you’d better not forget that.” Dad’s voice was doing the thing it did after he drank wine. It was getting watery with emotion that he was too tipsy to control. “Maybe this situation makes so much sense to me because I believe it will take three men to be good enough for you. My sweet baby.”
I stood up and clapped my hands together. “And on that note, I think it’s getting late. Do you remember where your room is?”
Mom ignored me and leaned over to Jud. “I hear you’re an artist. I’d love to see your work.”
Dad, refocusing on Jud, nodded. “Yeah, son, that would be amazing. We’ve always been big supporters of the arts.”
