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“What are you doing out here?”
“Boris was getting restless. I figured he could use a walk. And it hasn’t thundered in a bit, so…”
“Ugh. He’s going to be absolutely caked in mud when we get back.”
“I’ll hose him off before we go back into the house. Promise.”
“Well, all right. But get on this side of me. I don’t want you anywhere near the road.”
Chapter nineteen
Dean - Coral the Mother Figure
“What were you and Mae talking about for so long?” I ask, after Coral comes back into the house.
“Just girl stuff.”
“Girl stuff? What does that mean?”
“Exactly. You’re a man, so you aren’t supposed to know.”
I shake my head. “Whatever.”
“Huh. I wonder where your son gets it.”
My teeth grind together. Very funny.
“So, what were you up to while I was away?”
“Well, I was attempting to review the contractor’s bids for the condominium—”
“What? You’re still going through with all of that?”
“Coral, I have to.”
“But Mae…”
“I know you have this fantastical idea about us ending up together and living happily ever after, but that just isn’t reality. The reality is that I need to make this deal go through. I mean, think of all the money—”
“I’ve told you a thousand times that I don’t care about money.”
“Well, the fact that you’ve popped five kids out says differently.” I’m being cruel to her, and I know it. But I can’t stand to listen to her go on about Mae anymore.
“And here I was just upselling you to your next-door neighbor and telling her how nice of a person you are.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know. But I can tell she likes you.”
Ugh!
“I know you’re yelling at me in your head,” she confesses. “You get this distinctive wrinkle above your left eye when you do that.”
I rub at my head but say, “I do not.”
“Trust me, you do. Are we done fighting now? Remember, we’re on the same team.”
“It doesn’t feel like it with you constantly going against this project.”
