Page 22 of Sharp Lies

“Sorry, Tony, but it’s really not going to happen,” I told him firmly. I glanced at Amy. “I have to go. I’ll stop in again soon, okay? And come by for dinner tonight!”

I waited for her to nod, her eyes wide and terrified, and then turned and made for the door of the bakery, not bothering to say goodbye to Tony. He could go hang for all I cared. I never wanted to see the man again.

Unfortunately, he had other ideas.

I could hear his steps behind me and increased mine, knowing that it wasn’t going to matter. He was bigger than me and had longer legs. He could outpace me with no problem. But if I could just get to my van...

“Lily,” he said sharply. “Lily!”

When I didn’t respond, he grabbed at me again, though I evaded him and increased my pace. “I don’t want to have dinner with you, Tony. That’s the answer. Sorry.”

Instead of taking it as an answer, he swerved to get in front of me and block my way to the door. “And I’m getting very close to being finished with asking nicely,” he snarled. “I want to have dinner.”

I ducked around him and got out the door, where I found a cop standing on the sidewalk. One I knew from when I’d lived here before. “I don’t want to have dinner, Tony. Please leave me alone.” I made the biggest eyes I could make at the cop, begging him to hear what was going on and save me.

Tony grabbed at me again, and I pulled out of his grasp, moving closer to the cop.

Who looked once at Tony, gave him a slight nod, and then turned and walked away.

I ran for my van. I didn’t care how it made me look or what anyone thought of me. I didn’t care that Tony would no doubt make fun of me for it later. I wanted to get out of there, and the van was the only way I had of doing that. I grabbed the handle of the door and jerked it open, thanking the heavens that I hadn’t bothered to lock it when I got here. Seconds later, I was in my seat and starting the engine.

And then I was driving away, leaving Tony shouting at me from the street and making a fool of myself and wondering how the hell I’d gotten away without him getting ahold of me and pulling me back.

If I still lived with him, I’d be thinking that I was going to get in big trouble for that scene. He’d blame me rather than himself and take it out on me.

But not now. Now I was living with my mom and next to a man who’d helped me fix my van so I could get away from Tony, the way I’d just done.

I mean, not that that was why I’d been fixing it.

But even so.

Warren had helped me get away from Tony McCarthy, indirectly. And there was a part of me that definitely hoped that having Warren in the neighborhood would keep Tony from following me home and making trouble, too.

CHAPTER 11

LILY

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“AND YOUR RAMP,” I SAID, pushing my mom up the first ramp I’d had built. “And your other ramp.” This time, we went up the second ramp that led right into the house. I wheeled her into the living room and parked her for long enough to close the door behind her.

Long enough for Silver to come hauling into the room and jump at my mother like she’d been waiting years to meet this woman.

She got into my mom’s lap and promptly started licking every inch of her she could find while my mom alternated between screeching and laughing and I tried desperately to pull the dog off her. I was laughing too hard to get much done, though, and Silver was so excited that she’d become as squirmy as a puppy again.

“Is she this way with everyone?” my mom asked breathlessly, trying to help me shove Silver off her lap.

“Definitely not. She must know that you’re the person we’ve been waiting for, though.” I tugged and pulled and finally managed to get Silver back on the ground, and then watched as Silver took a second to collect herself... and then took off in the biggest zoomie I’d ever seen her do, her hind end tucked under her and her nails scratching desperately at the floor as she tried to demonstrate her joy with pure speed.

My mom laughed, and then laughed even harder when Silver spun out around a corner and ran right into the wall. “You’ve been keeping this dog in that van of yours? What did you do when she got this excited?”

I watched, almost unable to contain my joy. Having my mom home was reason enough for this to be the best day ever, but seeing my dog’s insane reaction to her made me feel like a giant bubble was expanding inside my chest, threatening to burst me open with happiness.

“She’s never tried this one before,” I told her. “She’s putting this show on all for you.”

We watched until Silver tired herself out and finally went to lie down, and at that point, I started giving my mom the grand tour of the house, telling her about all the research I’d done on the doorways and the hallways, and how I’d moved her stuff down to the first floor.

“Smart,” she said. “That way we don’t have to get one of those elevator things for the stairs.”