ADDICTED

64

"About my son's future. Meet me at Petite Violette tomorrow at one-thirty."

I placed the heel of my palm against my temple. "I'll have to check my calendar. I might have a meeting—"

"Tomorrow is Sunday, Miss Harris."

I sighed. She wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer. At this point, I should just get it over with.

I knew what she was going to say anyway. At least her words wouldn't be a surprise.

Her hostility just unraveled me.

"I'll see you there," she said and hung up.

Tossing my phone on the counter, I muttered a string of curses. I poured the hot water from the kettle into a mug. The pleasing aromas of peppermint tea wafted through the air.

My phone rang again.

Rolling my eyes, I contemplated chucking the damn thing out the window. Maybe I'd get lucky and the bears would step on it.

I snatched it up and checked the caller ID.

This time James's contact picture crossed my phone. It was a cheesy photo of him arching a brow at me from across a Monopoly board.

Sucking in a deep breath, I answered it.

"Hi, babe," I said.

"Hi, darling. What are you up to?"

"Making myself some tea. Guess who I just spoke to?"

He hummed thoughtfully. "Isabelle? Wanting to return my sister?"

I smiled. "No, thankfully. Your mom called, actually."

"She did?" He sounded as alarmed as I felt. "What did she say?"

"She wants to meet for lunch tomorrow. Insisted, really."

"Are you going?"

"Should I? She didn't give me a choice. I mean, I could just not go, but I'd rather get it over with." I sighed. "I also don't want to make her hate me more than she already does."

"She doesn't hate you," he said and I could hear the frown on his face.

I snorted. "She certainly doesn't like me."

"I won't make excuses for her or my father. They're not the friendliest people but I've never seen them treat someone outside our family like this."

"Does that mean I'm officially family?" I joked.

His chuckle felt like melted chocolate running over me, all sweet and comatose-inducing. "I hope so. You'll be legally family soon enough, regardless."

Biting my lip, I glanced down at my ring. Sometimes I'd just get lost in thought and stare into the gorgeous, glittering stones.

I'd never seen a more beautiful engagement ring than the one on my very finger.

"I can't wait," I whispered. "I love you, James. I wish you were home."

I sat cross-legged on the sofa and placed my tea mug on the end table. Foxy jumped up beside me, folding herself into a furry pretzel on my lap.

"I know, baby. I miss you so much. And I love you too. I'll be home tomorrow night."

"I'm counting down the hours. How has business gone?" I asked.

James was doing consultant work this weekend, which always entailed traveling. He promised to be home Sunday night, though, and I trusted he would be.

Sometimes I went with him, but I wanted to be home this weekend. We both traveled so much lately.

Honestly, I missed sitting on the couch in sweatpants with my cat. It really was the little things.

While I didn't mind being alone, I couldn't just pop over to Isabelle's house if I got lonely. I was grateful to have Foxy at least. Little shit that she was.

"Everything has gone to plan so far. I'm tired, though."

I nodded in agreement and forked my fingers through Foxy's silky onyx fur. A thought came to mind.

"Hey, did you see the news about Timothy?" I asked him.

"García? Yeah." He sighed.

Wetting my lips, I tried to wrap my head around the fact that another tormentor of mine no longer walked the Earth.

"I feel kind of relieved?" I said. "I'm not sure what to think."

"I wasn't aware he was going to be released so early."

"Me either."

I wasn't present in the courtroom when they announced his sentencing. After I provided my victim witness statement, I was dismissed and had no interest in returning unless required.

James told me after the fact that he was sentenced to 5 years in prison with the possibility of parole, while Tiffany was sentenced to a decade without parole.

Considering her last words to me, I was grateful she was still in prison. For the time being, at least.

"So, about your mom," I said, sighing. "What should I tell her?"

"I'll call her and say we're engaged. At least then you won't have to break the news in person."

My stomach turned. I didn't want to consider her potential backlash for our engagement.

"You think she hasn't seen it online?" I asked.

We did a brief photoshoot and I posted a handful of the photos. While she and I didn't follow each other on socials, I assumed she probably heard about it from someone.

"She doesn't have Facebook or anything," he told me.

"Oh."

I wasn't relieved at all by that, but I understood that she was going to find out some way or another. That wasn't a bullet I could dodge.

"I'll handle it, love," James assured me. "I'll threaten her to be kind to you, for good measure."

I snorted. "Yeah, okay. We'll see how that goes."

"I've got your back always. Don't fret. I love you."

"I love you, too," I said, thumbing my ring. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye, darling."

I tossed my phone aside and pulled Foxy up to my face, nuzzling into her silky fur. She hissed and launched herself out of my arms.

Rolling my eyes, I huffed. "Figures."