Page 107 of Twisted Beauty

What a mess.

“No. Come on, Livvy,” Katie whined and squeezed her hand. “I’m supposed to have you for a whole ’nother week. You can’t leave yet.”

The hurt in Katie’s voice made her heart ache. For some reason, she could never say no to her. Probably because Katie felt more like family than her real family did. Like the sister she’d never had.

“What if I promise to come back when I feel like myself again?” Though the thought of getting back to her old self sounded spectacularly unappealing. She kind of wanted to be someone else from now on. Someone who wasn’t such a basket case. Someone who could brush all of life’s little mishaps off her shoulders like flecks of dust, and sleep with random men without falling in love. Someone who could lie with finesse. She wanted to be Katie.

“I suppose I could take a break and come hang out with you there for a couple of weeks,” Katie said. “But I already have three weddings scheduled over the next month, so I can’t go yet.”

Having Katie go back to LA with her would have been perfect, but she wasn’t about to say so. No use making her feel guilty after all she’d done for Liv in PV. “Yeah, that’s fine. I think I need to wallow for a little bit. And maybe find a cheaper place to live. And a new job. Maybe a new mother.”

“Yeah. Jeez. Your mother.” Katie tilted her head. “Do you think she somehow meant well and just screwed the pooch?”

“Probably. I think she loves me in her own warped way.” That had to be true, but Liv couldn’t quite picture having a civil conversation with her right now. “But I still want to kill her for taking Grant’s side in this.”

“Me too.”

Liv finished off her cup and felt minutely better. Or maybe less like ass was a better way to put it. “Is there more coffee?”

“Yes, but you’ll have to come to the kitchen to get it. I’m making omelets. It’ll give you time to rethink this cray-cray idea of going home. You can stay here forever, you know that, right? I know you don’t love the idea of shooting weddings, but it’s pretty lucrative. The people who travel here to get married aren’t exactly hurting for cash. Think about it, okay?”

Liv nodded, but she didn’t have to think about it. She had no desire to be a wedding photographer. Mothers-in-law, bridezillas, pink doilies. No thank you. She did have a few other ideas though. Unfortunately, they all involved galleries back in Los Angeles.

Katie stood and took Liv’s empty mug from her hands. “I’m going to cook. Don’t even think about going back to sleep.”

After Katie left her room, she pulled out her phone and dialed the airline, hoping for a friendly agent who might give her a break, considering she had a nonrefundable flight. And it worked. A bubbly agent named Maggie allowed her to change her fight for a very small fee. Apparently it was still off season enough that none of the flights were full.

Liv’s heart felt heavy when she ended the call.

26

Liv

Liv shivered as she swung open the door to her one-bedroom apartment. It was freezing in LA today. Like, sixty degrees freezing, a full twenty degrees below the usual Puerto Vallarta morning. Fog hugged the coast and the air felt damp. Dreary.

Less than twenty-four hours after her conversation with Katie, and she was already home.

She waited for that wave of relief. The kind she always felt, even after the best vacation, when she walked in the door and knew she’d finally be sleeping in her own bed. But it didn’t come.

All the things she loved about this apartment—the hardwood floors, her tan leather couch, the deck with a peek view of the ocean—felt cold and unwelcoming. Almost foreign.

After only three weeks, what truly felt like home to her was a warm beach and kind people and a pair of penetrating brown eyes that saw through all her bullshit and liked her anyway. Up until she screwed it all up, of course.

Well at least she’d had a chance to say goodbye to Tito.

She’d convinced Katie to stop at El Brujo on their way to the airport, and god, did she get lucky. What would she have done if Matt was there? She might not have had the nerve to give Tito that photo she’d had printed and framed for him. And she’d have missed out on Tito’s big, bony hug goodbye. The way he’d patted her face and told her she always had a home there with him, no matter what his estúpido grandson said or did, made her laugh and cry at the same time.

She smiled at the thought, but her throat felt thick. It wasn’t just Matt she was leaving behind, it was everything. A whole way of life she’d come to love.

Liv set her bags down on the living room floor and sent a text off to Katie. Made it. Miss you already.

And then another to her mother. I’m back. We need to talk.

Taking the bull by the horns. Wasn’t that what they called it? Well, whatever. The word bull seemed appropriate. She felt like she’d spent her entire life dodging her mother’s attacks, dancing around like a matador to keep from getting gored. And she was done with it.

Liv changed into jeans and a sweatshirt, two things she never needed in Mexico, and started a pot of coffee brewing. She unpacked her bags, placing the clothes that were still clean into her dresser. An Ikea dresser with stern, crisp lines, without a single Day of the Dead trinket perched on the top.

Yeah. Depressing.