One of the reasons I came over was because Josh’s birthday was coming up, and his mother wanted to plan a party for him. It was still awkward for both Josh and me. I was trying to give him the room and space he’d asked for, and he was trying his best to take things slow even though I could tell he wanted to be with me as much as I was dying to be with him.
I started walking up the steps when I heard the door open and close. I saw Elizabeth with a pissed-off look on her face. She came down the steps like she was mad as hell.
“Follow me, baby girl,” she said, storming past me.
I heard the door open again, and I looked back to see Josh standing there.
“Hey! I’m so glad you stopped by,” he said as he flashed that damn smile at me.
Ugh. . . that dimple. I just wanted to run into his arms. I smiled, but then it quickly faded when I saw Victoria walking up behind him.
“Hey, Smeather,” she said with a laugh.
She’d taken to the habit of calling me Smeather even though I’d asked her fifty times to please call me Heather. I had no idea why in the hell she called me that.
Just then, I felt Elizabeth grab my arm and pull me along with her.
“Mom, wait! Please, Mom, let’s talk about this,” Josh called out.
I looked behind me to see Victoria waving at me before she turned and went back into the house.
Yep, I hate her.
“Elizabeth, what the hell is going on? You seem so pissed?”
“Oh my god, I’m gonna punch that girl square in the face. ” She came to a stop and spun around.
“What happened?”
“She just shows up when she pleases. Day or night, she just comes to the house whenever she feels like it,” Elizabeth said, her hands flying all over the place.
Oh god. I feel sick to my stomach. I had gone back to Fredericksburg since Christmas break was over, and school started back up again, so I wasn’t around as much as I wanted to be. During the break, I had stayed at the cottage on Ari’s parents’ property, so I could be at the hospital as much as possible.
“Oh,” was all I could get out.
“I’m ready to run over her with my car,” Elizabeth said with the most serious face I’d ever seen.
I couldn’t help it, but I let out a laugh. “Is that why you’re so mad?” I asked.
“No. I knew you were on your way over, and I told Josh. I said it would probably be best if the bitch, um…Victoria left before you got here. ”
I waited for her to continue. “Okay,” I said, trying to prompt her into going on.
She took a deep breath. “Josh, stupid ass son of mine, doesn’t see what this girl is up to, but I do. She’s after my son, and she doesn’t seem to care who she pushes out of the way to get to him. I’ve never in my life met a girl like this. I’m ready to slap a restraining order on her ass. ”
I took another deep breath as I started to feel sick again. I put my hand to my head. I wonder if I’m getting a fever ’cause I feel like shit!
“Are you not feeling well, baby girl?” Elizabeth pushed my hand out of the way and started feeling all over my face and forehead with the back of her hand.
“I think I’m getting the flu. I just feel so bad. ” I leaned against the fence.
“Huh,” Elizabeth said, looking me up and down.
“So, what happened that made you storm out of the house like that?”
Elizabeth was staring at me, but then she shook her head as if she were clearing her thoughts. “Josh told me he wasn’t going to be rude because Victoria had taken such good care of him while he was in the hospital. He thinks she’s just being nice by coming over to check up on him. He said she was just a friend, and everything would be fine. Well, I told him he was a stupid ass. Then, she came walking into the kitchen, and I asked her to leave. ”
“Wait. What? You just busted out and asked her to leave?”