Page 112 of One Good Crash

"You're just biased because you agree."

"Damn straight."

When the phone rang again, I wanted to throw up. I looked to Allie and said, "Maybe itisan emergency. I mean, she's never like this."

"She is, too," Allie shot back. "You remember how she was when she was begging you to move down here. That one Sunday, she called you like a dozen times in a row."

Well, there was that.

But even then, the repeated calls had been completely out of character, which is one reason I'd stupidly thought my mom might've changed.

As if.

If I were smart, maybe Iwouldtell her to fuck off. After all, my life had been a whole lot simpler when she'd been outright ignoring me.

When the phone stopped ringing, I couldn't even breathe a sigh of relief, because I justknewit wasn't over. Sure enough, the phone rang again almost immediately.

I muttered, "Shit."

"How about this?" Allie said. "I'llanswer it, so you don't need to."

"Nice try," I said with a laugh. "I'm trying toavoiddrama, not generate more of it."

Allie frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means," I said, "that you'll cuss her out, and she'll be calling all night."

Looking decidedly disgruntled, Allie said, "Hey, I can be nice."'

"To my mom?" I made a scoffing sound. "Yeah, right."

"I can," Allie insisted. "And besides, youdowant to keep your promise to Jax, right?"

Yes. I did.Plus, I didn't want to spend my night worrying. Finally, I gave in. "But remember," I said, "be nice. Ireallydon't want any drama."

To my infinite surprise, Allie took my words to heart. Sounding obnoxiously cheerful, she answered with a perky, "Cassidy's phone. How may I help you?"

If I weren't so stressed, I might've laughed.

Instead, I watched with amazement as Allie smiled into the phone. "Uh-huh." She paused. "Oh really? No kidding? Wow. Uh-huh. Oh sure, I'll tell her when she gets back."

She paused again. "Yup, I sure will. Alrighty. Bye-bye now."

By the time she disconnected, I was staring. Allieneversounded like that, especially when dealing with my mom.

"Well?" I said.

Allie shrugged. "She said that Dominic's in the hospital and she wanted you to know."

"Really? Did she say for what?"

Allie gave a breezy wave of her hands. "Some fight or something."

"Seriously?" I'd only met him a few times, but he didn't seem like the fighting type. For one thing, he wasn't in terrific shape. "Did she say with who?"

Allie gave another shrug. "I didn't ask."

In truth, Allie hadn't asked anything. Mostly she'd just listened. Finally, I felt my shoulders relax. "Did she say anything else?"