Page 59 of All For You

“You’re traveling four hours to see Tabs for seven hours?”

“Yep.”

“That sounds brutal.”

He gave me a pitying look that said I knew nothing. “I’d travel that far for one hour with Tabitha.”

His face brightened at his mention of her name.

I shook my head, confounded. “I believe you would.”

“And if you found someone awesome, you’d do the same,” he said. “Oh wait. You have found someone awesome. But you fucked it up.”

I let out a disgusted sound from the back of my throat. “Why do I even try to be friends with you?”

He gave me the puppy-dog eyes. “Try?Are you saying we’re not friends already? That’s hurtful, Darcy,” he said, mock serious. “How do you think that makes me feel?”

“Smartarse.”

“Arsehole.”

He directed his foreman to take over supervising the concrete pouring. He grabbed the gym bag I hadn’t noticed at his feet and strode off, presumably to his truck.

No one was letting me get in the last word today.

CHAPTER 27

Lizzy

Jane joined me on my squishy yellow couch, and I urged her to eat a slice of pizza, but she took a morose nibble and put it back on her plate. It had been an awful week since we’d gotten back from Amor Inn, and I was wrecked to see how sad she was still.

“What about a murder mystery tonight?” I asked.

She nodded, the light gone from her eyes. She knew what I was doing. Rom-coms had been our usual. Mysteries were relaxing for me too, as I didn’t want to be reminded of a good romance when every day of writing the last week had resulted in false starts. My stomach tensed at the thought of how solid this book had to be after the ridiculousness of the reality show debacle and how horribly unprofessional I’d looked.

A ping interrupted my stressing.

Charlie

Seven more days to get us those three marvelous chapters! Did you see Olivia Darling’s socials?

Yes. She was gleefully posting paragraphs on her socials as she wrote them. They were bloody funny. I-wish-I’d-written-that funny. I had nothing.

Me

On it!

My stomach twisted. Was it over for my career?

The door burst open. “Yoo-hooey.” Mum was here. “Popping by before I lead the dancing at a bachelorette party.”

“Come in. There’s pizza and a movie,” I said, placing my slice back on my plate. After Charlie’s reminder, I felt too queasy to eat.

But for now…Jane needed me. Never had I been so glad to see Mum before one of her gigs. Especially as she was dressed in a strange outfit I couldn’t quite decipher and might distract Jane, even for a few minutes.

“A few seconds to spare,” Mum said as she munched on a slice.

I started the movie. The main character had red hair and looked like Wills. Oh shit. Jane pressed her forehead.