Page 42 of Dearly Unbeloved (Spicy in Seattle #3)

ROSE

“ O h, my poor baby.” My mom fluffs my pillow for the hundredth time since she stormed into my room, and I bite my tongue. I don’t know who called my parents, but they’re officially on my shit list.

My dad is pacing back and forth by the door with a face like thunder. “We’re going to sue them, Rose. Just you wait. Cal can help us with that, right, Jazz?”

“We’re not suing anyone,” I interject before Jazz can respond.

“It was an accident. They’re paying my hospital bills, and I’m getting as much paid time off as I need to recover.

” Thank god, considering I’m not sure how I would work with one arm out of commission.

I’m left-handed, at least, so I’m not totally useless with my right arm in the cast.

My head is pounding. It’s somehow worse than the morning Sierra and I woke up hungover in Vegas. And with that thought, my heart is aching too.

“You okay, Rosie?” Unlike my parents, Xan keeps his voice low .

“Yeah. Just sore. Does Sierra know what happened?” I try not to ask. It’s masochism at best, but I have to know.

“She knows,” Jazz confirms. “She’s here. I tried to convince her to come in, but she didn’t think she should.”

“Oh.” I don’t know if it’s better or worse, knowing she’s here. It means she still cares, but I knew that already.

“She was really worried about you, though,” Xan says, like it’s supposed to be reassuring. I don’t want her to worry. I just want her.

“It’s… It’s all good, thanks. Did the doctor mention to any of you when I might get to go home? I need to be with the bunnies.”

“Don’t worry, Liam will check on the bunnies. They want to keep you overnight for observation, but, assuming you’re doing okay, you’ll be discharged tomorrow,” Jazz tells me, and I breathe a sigh of relief. “You can’t be on your own for a few days, though. You can stay with me and Liam.”

“What? No, I can’t. I need to be home with the bunnies.” There’s an irrational panic in my voice. I know Liam can be trusted with my babies—he’s already a dog-dad, and he’s about to be a human-dad—but they’re all I have left.

“Okay, okay.” Jazz holds up her hands. “I’ll come and stay with you. It’s all good, Rosie.”

“Jazz! You can’t be away from Liam in your current condition,” my mom practically shouts.

“What the hell are you talking about? I’m pregnant, not dying. ”

My dad frowns at her. “Don’t speak to your mother like that.”

“I’ll speak to her however?—”

“Stop,” Xan interjects, sounding almost as tired as I feel. “We’re not going to fight over this. I’ll stay with Rose. Jazz can stay home with Liam.”

“You have an important presentation on Tuesday, Xan. You need to be focused,” my dad chides, and both Xan and Jazz glare at him.

“Are you seriously implying that the presentation is more important than Rose?”

Oh, how I love to be fought over like I’m not even in the room.

My dad splutters, but he doesn’t get the chance to defend himself before my mom cuts in.

“I’ll stay with Rose. She’s my baby, and I’ll be taking care of her.”

No one says anything for a moment, because my mom has never once taken care of us when we’ve been sick. And I would really rather she didn’t start now.

I wrack my brain, looking for a way to turn her down gently. “Umm…”

“Actually, I’ll be taking care of her. If it’s okay with you.”

My gaze jumps to the doorway, to Sierra standing there, and my heart races. Literally. The monitor beeps, and when I look up, my heart rate has jumped to 128. I draw in a deep, steadying breath to settle it.

Xan snorts. “Oh, I’m going to give you so much shit for that when you’re better.”

“Shut up.”

My mom crosses her arms and glares at Sierra. “I’m not okay with that at all.”

“I wasn’t talking to you,” Sierra replies, sounding genuinely confused why my mom thought she was. “I don’t care what you think. I meant if it’s okay with Rose.”

She turns, and our eyes meet for the first time in two weeks. It’s ridiculous how much better I instantly feel. Like the feeling of finally eating after the longest day, when you’re starving and the first bite of food is the best thing you’ve ever tasted.

Sierra is as beautiful as ever, but she looks tired—weary. There are purple bruises and mascara smudges below her eyes, and her radiating sunshine I’ve become so accustomed to is gone.

The sensible thing would be to ask Sierra to look after the bunnies for a few days while I stay with Jazz.

It’s the perfect solution, absolving me of any worry for them, allowing Jazz to stay with Liam while she keeps an eye on me, and not prolonging the heartache between me and Sierra.

Taking her up on her offer to take care of me, knowing she’s probably just going to leave again, is the definition of a bad bet.

But Sierra and I are opposites in so many ways, including this one: I’m willing to risk getting hurt again, even if there’s only a minute chance of things working out between us.

So I nod my head—ouch. “Thank you,” I say, and try not to put too much stock in the look of relief that crosses Sierra’s face.

“Perfect, it’s settled,” Jazz says, clapping her hands and immediately apologizing when I flinch at the noise.

“Between us, this is probably for the best. He’ll never admit it, but I think Liam’s a little scared of your rabbits ever since the big one grabbed his wallet from his pocket and ran away with it, thinking it was food. ”

“And yet, you volunteered him to look after them,” Xan says, rolling his eyes.

“It’s Liam. We all know he would’ve volunteered himself if he was here instead of trying to give us family time . I bet he’s hovering around outside, right?” Jazz asks, and Sierra nods.

“Yep.”

“You know, that’s a great point, Jazz. This is supposed to be family time ,” my dad says, with a pointed look at Sierra. Her face falls.

Absolutely fucking not. As far as I know, they don’t even know we’re not together anymore. They’re probably blaming her for the fact that I haven’t been speaking to them lately. But I won’t sit by and pretend to be okay with my parents talking down to her.

“I’d like you to leave.”

My mom gives Sierra a smug look, and I see red.

“Not Sierra. Mom, Dad—I don’t know who called you, but I don’t want you here, and I’m not going to let you talk to Sierra like that. All you ever do is make me feel like shit, and I’m usually better at hiding it, but I already feel like shit and?—”

“Rose!” They both stare at me in horror.

“No. I’m not arguing. I want you to leave. And please don’t try to reach out to me. I’ll be in touch when I’m ready to talk, if I’m ready to talk.” Once I start, I can’t seem to stop myself.

Everyone is silent. My parents and Xan look like I’ve shocked the hell out of them. Jazz looks impressed. I don’t let myself look at Sierra for more than a second, but it’s long enough to see that she looks proud.

My mom recovers first. “You don’t get to kick us out and decide you’re not talking to us. We’re your parents, Rose.”

“I’m an adult. I can do what I want, actually, and I’m tired of feeling like we’ve made some kind of progress as a family, just for you to slip back into your usual ways. Go. Please. Or I’ll ask someone to escort you out.”

Something in my tone must convince them I’m serious, because their chairs scrape as they get up to leave. I wince as the sound sends a sharp pain through my head.

“Shit, Rose,” Jazz says, her eyebrows sky-high. “That was… Wow. Amazing. Seriously.”

“Are you okay?” Xan asks, his voice softer.

I nod and instantly regret it. Fuck, I’m sore.

“I’m fine. I just… God, it’s been a day.

” It’s been a week. Hell, a month. At some point, I’m going to have to deal with my parents.

I have to decide if they have a place in my life, and, no matter what, I need to make sure Xan and Jazz aren’t going anywhere. But not today.

“Of course. You must be exhausted. We’ll leave you to sleep. ”

Jazz reaches over to squeeze my hand, and she and Xan head toward Sierra, who’s still hovering in the doorway.

“I’d like Sierra to stay.” I brace myself for the blow of her declining, but she doesn’t. Her eyes widen, but something like relief flickers on her face.

“Of course.” She walks slowly across the room and sits on the edge of the chair Xan was using, right by the bed. Up close, I can see more clearly how rough she looks. Her lips are bitten raw, her eyes bloodshot. She’s still wearing her collar. Fuck.

“How are you feeling?”

What a loaded question. I know she probably means because of the explosion, but there’s something in her expression that makes me think she’s talking in general.

“I’m tired, and everything hurts, but I survived.”

Sierra bites her lip. “Imogen said you refused to leave until you got everyone else out of the room.”

I force my lips into a twisted smile that hurts more than it should. “No one can accuse me of not being a team player now. I definitely earned that promotion.”

For all our differences, Sierra and I share the same sense of humor, so I expect at least a little laugh out of her, but horror crosses her face. “Is that why you did it? You risked your life to prove you’re a team player?”

“No, no,” I assure her, toying with how much to say.

“When everything exploded, I blacked out, and when I woke up, I only had a split second to decide how to handle it. I looked around the room at my colleagues, and all I could think was that they were worth saving. I’ve spent so much time with everyone over the past few months that I know too much about them.

And I actually like them.” Turns out being social isn’t so bad when my parents aren’t in my ear telling me everyone is my competition.

“Minah and Annie just got engaged, and they’re training a guide dog puppy.

Parker’s mom is in the hospital, so he’s been taking care of his little brother.

Angie just applied for her PhD. Joey has a newborn, and Karen, Harry, and Ken all have kids too.

Imogen and Kai just booked a cruise for next summer.

They’re so excited about it. Maren’s sewing business is taking off. They all have so much to live for.”

The implication is clear, even if I don’t say it: they do, I don’t.

Sierra’s face crumples, and I immediately regret saying anything when tears fill her eyes.

“ Rose . You can’t do that. You’re worth saving.

You have so much to live for. You’re about to be an aunt, and your siblings are finally getting to spend time with you.

They’ve always wanted that. The bunnies would miss you like crazy—we both know they like you more, even though I adopted them.

And I…” She trails off, looking away and pressing her lips together like she’s trying to physically stop herself from speaking.

“Please think about what we talked about and go to your doctor,” she begs, her voice watery. “Your last thought before you might die shouldn’t be that everyone else is worth saving more than you.”

“That wasn’t my last thought.”

Sierra looks back at me, and her gaze falls to my hands.

I look down, not realizing I’m absentmindedly rubbing the spot on my finger where my ring usually sits.

It’s become a habit, something to calm me when I need it.

Even when I’m not wearing my ring, apparently.

No one has told me yet how much I’m allowed to move my fingers on my broken arm, so I force myself to stop.

“I’ll make an appointment for the new year,” I promise, and Sierra releases a breath. “I’m still on the fence about medication, but therapy worked well for Maggie and Jazz, so I’m going to try it.”

“Thank you. I’ll go by the apartment and check on the bunnies, and I’ll bring you some clean clothes and your contacts and stuff later,” she promises, standing up and tugging her sweater down.

For the first time, I notice a second chain on top of her collar.

Whatever pendant is on the necklace is hidden below the neckline of her thick sweater.

“You don’t have to come back all this way today.”

“I know, but I’m going to. Is there anything else you want from the apartment? Your book?”

“It’s a really heavy hardback, and I don’t think I could focus on the tiny text.” This is what I get for being a purist and refusing to get a Kindle, even though Jazz, Liam, and Xan all swear by them.

“I gave my keys to Jazz, so I’ll get them from her and be back soon.”

“Take my keys. They should be in that bag,” I say, pointing to the plastic bag in the corner of the room. “They put everything I had on me in there.”

She picks the bag up and sets it on the rolling table with her back to me as she rummages through it.

“Got the—” She goes still for a split second before clearing her throat. “Got them.” She puts them into her pocket before turning around and placing my phone on the nightstand. I didn’t even think to ask for it since I haven’t been alone for a second since I got here.

“I’ll be back soon. Text me if you need anything.”

She’s almost at the door when I call her name. Sierra stops and looks back at me.

“The key is in my nightstand drawer, so you can take it off,” I say, gesturing toward her neck.

Sierra’s hand flies to her throat, toying with the collar and the second chain. “I don’t want to take it off,” she says, fanning the little flame of hope I should know better than to get attached to.