Page 29 of Don’t You Dare Marry Me (Love in Massachusetts #3)

twenty-three

“How was your week away?”

Nicola smiled at her sister, knowing full well that she didn’t want to go into the details of what actually happened in the last week or the fact that they had returned a few days early because Nicola just couldn’t stand to be in that house any longer. She gave Alanna a small smile and nodded.

“It was really good. I’ll try to convince Abagail to take you next time. We can roll you right out onto the beach.”

Alanna laughed, her entire body shaking.

Nicola loved that her sister still had that light air about her, that the accident and their parents’ deaths hadn’t weighed on her.

While Nicola pretended to be happy all the time, she rarely felt it.

Most often she was burdened by the weight of her responsibilities, and it wasn’t until Abagail had so pointedly said that it sucked to be the one responsible for the entire family that Nicola couldn’t avoid that weight any longer.

“Was the beach nice?”

Nicola nodded. “Yeah. I spent a few days out there. Not the greatest weather for sunbathing.” She chuckled and snagged her sister’s hand and gave her a squeeze. “But I can see where it’d be really nice to go there in the summer. Minus the fact that everyone else will be there at the same time.”

Alanna nodded, the tightly curled fingers that she couldn’t move a warm balm in Nicola’s hand. “And Abagail?”

That was more than just a simple question. Nicola couldn’t deny that Alanna had paid very close attention to the two of them when they’d stopped by before. And Nicola still had no idea what to say about their relationship. Because they didn’t really have one, did they?

“I’m still staying with Abagail for a while. She’s given me a room that I can crash in.” Her mouth pulled into a tightly forced smile.

“Just a room?”

Nicola smiled genuinely then and rolled her eyes. “Yes, other things too, but not a relationship. Not like what you’re thinking.” Nicola sat back in her chair and put her feet up on the edge of Alanna’s bed.

“You’re not in a relationship?”

“No.” That word hurt to say, which was unexpected.

The pain from it ricocheted through Nicola’s chest, lodging somewhere behind her ribs and making itself known like a pebble stuck in the ball of her foot while she was trying to walk.

Why was that? She and Abagail had never agreed to a relationship.

In fact, every part of their connection—or whatever Nicola was going to call it that day—was about not being in anything but a sexual relationship.

“She’s just helping me out since Warren’s an ass. ”

Alanna sneered. “He is an ass. I never liked him much.”

“Yeah, I know.” Nicola gave a wan smile. She’d dealt with that for years and still had chosen to ignore the warning signs. When Alanna didn’t like someone, she typically was right about their personality. “But he’s gone now. I don’t have to deal with him again.”

Memories of the confrontation in the kitchen came flooding back, but they were shortly followed by the image of Abagail stepping in, putting herself directly in the line of fire, making sure that Nicola wasn’t going to face the brunt of whatever Warren had to throw at her.

And despite what Abagail may have tried, Nicola had heard the phone calls afterward.

The ones from Estelle, and there were a few, and some from cousins that Nicola had barely known existed before Abagail.

Eventually, Abagail had given up answering her phone.

“When are you going to get a boyfriend? Huh?” Nicola asked, giving her sister a pointed look. “I’ve been waiting all these years to try out my big sister glare on them, but I haven’t ever gotten a chance.”

Alanna’s cheeks turned bright red, and she refused to look at Nicola.

“Oh my God! Is there actually someone?” Nicola dropped her feet to the floor and leaned forward, lowering her voice and whispering. “Who is he?”

“There’s no one,” Alanna muttered, but Nicola could so very easily tell that she was lying.

“Tell me!”

“No, not yet.”

“Not yet?!” Nicola squeaked. “What does that mean?”

“I want to make sure it’s real first.”

“Real?” Nicola frowned. “Make sure what’s real?”

“Whatever it is.” Alanna rolled her eyes, and the red was receding.

Nicola wanted to ask so many more questions, starting with how the fuck Alanna managed to meet someone while she was essentially locked away in a rehabilitation facility.

“I promise I’ll tell you when I know something.”

“Know what?”

“Like if we’re actually in a relationship.” Alanna lifted her chin. “Wouldn’t you tell me if you were in a relationship?”

“Uh… yeah.” But would she? What she and Abagail were doing had felt far closer to a relationship in the last couple weeks than it had before, but even then, something wasn’t quite jiving there.

Like there was a block and Nicola had no idea what it was or how to navigate around it or even call it out.

If she wanted to, that was. Because ultimately, she wasn’t sure she did.

Abagail was a much older woman, nearly twice Nicola’s age, and she was Warren’s aunt. There’d never been any indication that Abagail had relationships in all the years Nicola had been familiar with the family, and she was pretty damn sure that was something Abagail wasn’t looking for.

Which left Nicola exactly where she was. Using their connection to her advantage for as long as possible. And hopefully they’d leave on good terms when it was time for everything to end.

“Abagail has been very sweet to help me out for a bit. I didn’t have a place to stay after Warren broke up with me, so it’s nice of her to give me a place for a bit until I can get a job and get my feet back under me.”

“I don’t think that’s all it is.” Alanna pointed her hand in Nicola’s direction. “And you’re in denial. And not the river, Sis.” Alanna laughed at her own joke, and Nicola couldn’t stop her responding smile.

“I’m not in denial about anything, Alanna.” Nicola stretched her arms over her head. “I just understand all the intricacies of what’s going on in a way that you don’t because I haven’t told you about all of them.”

“So tell me.”

“Like you, I think I’ll wait on that one a bit.” Oh, it felt nice to throw that back in Alanna’s face a little bit. But Nicola did it with a smile to soften the blow. She needed to figure out on her own what was going on before she added other opinions in to what was happening.

Alanna’s cell phone rang and her entire face lit up. Nicola knew that ringtone from a mile away, and she smiled as Alanna reached for her phone to answer.

“Aunt Simone!”

She put the phone on speaker, and just as Nicola was about to speak, one of the office managers, Paula, popped her head in the door. “Got a minute?”

Nicola winced. She was so tired of these confrontations. She just wanted to come visit Alanna without being talked to about some problem that had come up. But she had no idea what this issue could be about since Abagail had paid for everything. It wasn’t like she owed them money this time.

“Sure.” Nicola turned to Alanna and nodded at her. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

Alanna waved her off as she continued to talk with Simone.

Nicola followed the woman out of Alanna’s room and into the main office where billing was done.

Nicola had sat in this chair many times throughout the last few years, and all of it had given her an overwhelming sense of pressure and weight that she couldn’t ever fight her way out of.

“Is there something wrong with the account?”

“No,” Paula said, settling behind her desk.

“Is there something wrong with Alanna being here?”

“No.” Paula shook her head and raised an eyebrow in Nicola’s direction. “But I did want to connect with you about next month so we can prepare for it.”

Fuck. Nicola was the notorious customer that never paid her bills now. She should have seen that one coming but for some reason she hadn’t. Her stomach tightened to the point that sharp pains moved into her sides, and her shoulders ached from being so tense.

“I thought everything was up to date with payments.”

“It is.” Paula nodded. “But not for next month.”

“But I have a month.”

“You do. But I want you to be prepared for it this time.”

That was a dig if Nicola had ever heard one. She shuffled her foot against the floor, thoroughly scolded. Of course she’d gotten herself in over her head. That was her middle name. Nicola squared her shoulders.

“I have a new job, so it won’t be a problem.”

“Good.” Paula nodded firmly. “I would hate to run into the same situation that we ran into last month.”

“And what situation is that, exactly?”

“Where someone donates their hard-earned money for your cause.”

“Excuse me?” Nicola furrowed her brow and shook her head sharply.

Paula had no way of knowing that Nicola knew exactly how everything had been paid, and the fact that she was extorting this into some kind of ploy to shame Nicola?

Yeah, that was a hard pass for Nicola. If only Alanna didn’t need to stay there longer to get stronger before she could be moved to a different facility.

And Nicola would definitely be reporting this.

Maybe.

If she had the time to figure out what she was going to say and the gumption to say it.

“Don’t be late this time. You’ve used all of your free passes.” Paula gave her a hard stare.

“Yeah. Not a problem.” Nicola stood up sharply and walked out of the room.

What the hell was she going to do now? She still had Abagail, but she wasn’t even sure she was being paid for that anymore, and even if she was, the only reason she would take the money would be so she could pay for Alanna’s care.

When she got back to Alanna’s room, she was glad to see that Alanna was still on the phone with Simone.

“Hey, give me the phone. I need to talk to her.”

“Sure.” Alanna looked slightly concerned. “Is something wrong?”

“Nah. Just need to talk to her.” Nicola held out her hand and waited for Alanna to say her goodbyes.

Nicola immediately walked out of the room, down the hall, and stepped outside.

The last thing she wanted was for Paula to overhear what she was going to say.

“They’re already hassling me for next month. ”

“Oh Nicola. I thought you’d made arrangements for a payment plan.”

“I did.” Nicola gritted her teeth. “But I won’t have enough to make a bulk payment, which is what they’re asking for now.”

“I can’t help this month. It’s been tight, and I’m trying to save up.” Something clashed loudly in the background of Simone’s phone. “You know why.”

Yeah, Nicola knew why. The impending divorce that Simone was always talking about and never actually filing for.

Nicola bit her lip though. The last thing either one of them needed was for her to say something about that.

It would end in an argument and the two of them not talking for a month.

Which Nicola really didn’t need right now.

“I’ll figure it out.” Nicola ran her fingers nervously through her hair. Abagail was right in some ways. This was her responsibility, and it was about damn time that she started taking full responsibility for it. This was her burden to carry, and she needed to do that way better than she had been.

She wasn’t Abagail. She didn’t have family money to fall back on, and everything she’d won in the lawsuit was already gone. She hadn’t been smart enough to invest it well to make it last. If she had… well, she’d still probably be in this same damn situation.

It was time for her to get a job. One that she could keep, and one that would actually pay the bills.

And there was only one place she could think that might actually do that.

Abagail’s bar.