Part 5 (2/2)

”Oh yeah, lots of fun!” she mumbled sarcastically. ”Spend all afternoon with my mom bossing me around and then come home and get bossed around for the rest of the night. Nah, I'm straight.”

”As fun as it is arguing with you,” I told her, giving her the death stare. ”I need to get this cake wrapped up and get to the house before Tara gets there. Go get your brother ready and strapped into his car seat.”

She turned and flung herself out of the room, and I started shoving serving utensils into a bag, shaking my head the whole time. Macy could argue until the cows came home. Sometimes it was too much. Especially when I was running late and out of steam. She was giving me gray hairs, and that was enough to send my mood into full blown s.h.i.+tsville.

The impulse to buy my mom a bottle of wine was strong. Maybe Scotch, something strong.

Lord knows I put her through enough when I was growing up, but having my house full of hormonal teenagers, I appreciated her even more. I didn't remember being as snippy as my girls were, but I was a teenager so I probably didn't pay attention.

She was patient and understanding. I tried to be fair and understanding with my girls, but I had a short temper-something I inherited from my dad. Royal was the softy. I was the disciplinarian, and it sucked.

Finally, I had the dog fed, a triple layer coconut cake, four salads, five pounds of marinated chicken to be grilled, four bodies in the truck strapped in and ready to go, and we were finally on our way.

I got to the house and smiled when I heard the music from inside. Abbie was so excited about the party. I think she was just glad Tara was turning forty before her.

When we got to the house, I was stunned at how amazing it looked. Abbie was the creative one, so I was glad she called dibs on decorations. Crepe paper streamed from every doorway, balloons bobbed from the backs of the chairs, and the flowers she chose were placed strategically around the house.

”It looks great, Abbie,” I told her as I placed the cake on the counter.

She wiped her hands on her ap.r.o.n and smiled. ”Not bad, right? I should've borrowed the girls to help. I'm getting too old for this s.h.i.+t,” she laughed.

Macy walked in behind me and put the two bowls of salad in the fridge. ”You could have asked me, Aunt Abbie. I was bored all day.”

The girls absolutely loved Abbie. I think it was because she was a perpetual teenager, and she let them borrow her clothes. She and Macy were close, mostly because they were so much alike. They were outgoing and beautiful and tough as nails. They related on a much deeper level, almost like sisters.

Abbie smiled and patted Macy on the b.u.t.t. ”I know you would've, Mace. I thought it'd be easy enough, but I'm beat. Those d.a.m.n balloons were h.e.l.l. I think I blew my brains out!”

I shook my head at her. ”Abbie, have you learned nothing over the years? Rent one of those d.a.m.n helium tanks. It's so worth the money.”

She scoffed. ”Please. I already went through my paycheck on this m.o.f.o. I should've just called your hubby-he's full of hot air, and he would've been perfect.”

”Ah, don't be mean to Daddy,” Macy scolded. ”He's not here to protect himself.”

”Yeah, where the h.e.l.l is he anyway? He was supposed to be here a half hour ago with my chairs and the canopies. I called him, but he didn't answer.”

I shrugged my shoulders and tried to control the urge to spew verbal insults. He'd been a d.i.c.k all morning. He left me a note, letting me know he was getting the canopies and would meet me at the party, but that was it. I hadn't had a chance to tell Tara and Abbie about what had been going on, and with my daughter in the room, I kept my mouth shut.

”He left me a note. I don't know where he is. Macy, can you text him and tell him to hurry? I'll go get the rest of the food out of the truck.” I asked her.

”Sure, Mom.”

Abbie followed me out to the car, and I could feel the questions brewing in her brain. It was how we worked. She always knew when something was up. I never hid anything from her, but for some reason, it was hard to talk about Royal and me. I couldn't do it.

”That dress is fantastic. I told you it was great,” she said.

I looked down at the simple sundress and smiled. She talked me into buying it weeks ago, but I kept the tags on because I wasn't sure about it. ”Thanks. It's super comfortable. I'm glad the weather held up for the party so I could wear it.”

She huffed and grabbed my arm to stop me. Enough small talk. Spill. Royal's leaving you notes? What's going on?”

And there it was. She wouldn't let up until I told her everything.

”We had a huge fight. Things have been a little... difficult for a while now, and the other night I snapped on him.”

”What'd he do this time?” she said with a smirk.

”He came home from work and told me he ran into Lana Adams.”

Her mouth fell open in shock. ”Shut the front door! Lana... like, thee Lana? What's she doing back? I thought she married some movie producer in L.A.?”

”I didn't ask, and I don't care. What p.i.s.sed me off was his att.i.tude. He's barely said five words to me for weeks and then comes home with this news like he won the d.a.m.n lottery! How was I supposed to react? Be glad? Screw that. I hate her. She made my life h.e.l.l while we were dating, and I'd never been happier to see someone disappear from my life. But now here she is, and apparently, it's the best news he's had in years. a.s.shole!” I growled before plopping down on the b.u.mper of the truck.

Her expression changed again, and I saw the hurt in her eyes. ”Why didn't you tell me you two were fighting? He hasn't said a word at work, either. d.a.m.n, Jenna.”

I smiled sadly and shook my head. ”I don't know what to do. I'm so angry, and he doesn't understand why. How can he be so clueless? He should've known it would hurt me. It's like he didn't even care.”

She let out a haughty laugh and shook her head in disbelief. ”Freaking Grainger men and their s.h.i.+tty att.i.tudes. They both have steel rods up their a.s.ses and s.h.i.+t for brains. Don't even get me started.”

Abbie had a lot of opinions about my husband and his brother. Glenn was already on her s.h.i.+t list, and had been since he broke up with Tara. She worked for Royal, so she had her own issues with him. They were more like brother and sister, but she was also my oldest and best friend, which meant if he p.i.s.sed me off, she was p.i.s.sed, too.

We'd been a tight-knit group for as long as I could remember. When Tara fell for Glenn after I started dating Royal, the bond was set. However, Abbie wasn't his biggest fan from the get-go. She'd taken to Royal right away, but she never truly trusted Glenn. She was protective, overly so. When Tara and Glenn fell apart, he went right back to the top off her list.

I was glad I'd never held a spot on that list. She was little, but she was scary as heck.

I placed my hand on Abbie's knee and squeezed. ”It'll be okay, but I promise to talk to you if I need to. Not today, though. Let's just have a good time for Tara. This is her night.” I smiled, pushed myself off the b.u.mper, and grabbed the rest of the things from inside.

”I brought my blender, so it'll be a good night. Let the margaritas be our salvation,” she laughed.

”Always,” I agreed.

Tara pulled into the driveway forty-five minutes later, and Royal still hadn't arrived. I was p.i.s.sed. Livid. I'd called to ask where he was, and he'd said he was on his way and hung up abruptly.

It wasn't like him to screw Tara over, especially on her birthday. The phone call left me tense, and I just hoped Tara wouldn't feel it.

The surprise went off without a hitch, and Tara was so excited about the party. It was just what she needed to get her mind off things and celebrate.

We went ahead and started the grill since we had no idea where Royal was or when he'd get there. Thankfully Abbie kept Tara's gla.s.s full of strawberry margaritas, and Skylar, Macy, and Delaney kept the kids busy.

I did catch Tara and Abbie sharing looks out of the corner of their eyes and knew it was time to completely come clean and give them the whole story so they'd stop worrying. Tara's birthday party was hardly the place to drop that kind of drama, though.

<script>