Page 12 of The Flight Risk

I lean down to tell Sophie’s mom thank you through the car window, but instead of responding, she drives off a little too fast.

Pippa leaps out of my hands and greets Lottie with a bigger tail wag than she demonstrated to me. It might have taken her several days, but once Pippa realized Lottie wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, she has been obsessed with all things Lottie and chooses to sleep with her in my bed rather than with me on the couch. Honestly, I can’t fault her for that. I must still have the same bullshit, forced smile on my face because once Lottie takes a good look at me, she asks, “Oh, no. How bad is it, Aunt Tess?”

I exhale and say, “Bad.”

I knock on Brooke and Tristan’s door. Pippa is lodged under my arm and I’m clutching a suitcase handle in my other hand. Lottie is the epitome of a sullen teenager in the midst of an existential crisis with her disheveled hair under a dark grey hoodie. Brooke opens the door with a look of pity on her face. “C’mon in.”

As I step into their massive foyer, I spot Tristan outside playing with his own pups. I release a squirming Pippa and she runs straight toward the sliding glass door. Tristan slides the door open for Pippa and gives me a quick nod.

“Where is your bathroom?” Lottie quietly asks from behind me.

“It’s down the hallway and to the right,” Brooke says. Lottie places her backpack, large duffle bag and clarinet case down.

“I’m so sorry about this, Brooke. I promise Lottie and I will be out of here by tomorrow.” I place my purse on the entryway table, roll my large suitcase next to Lottie’s belongings and slump my shoulders in defeat. It has been a hell of a day.

“Tess, please don’t apologize. You can stay here as long as you need to,” Brooke insists. “We have plenty of room.”

“You are the sweetest for offering that to us, but you have a lot on your plate right now with your new business and the wedding. I don’t want your lives to be upended just because mine has been. Besides,” I raise my eyebrow and smirk at her, “you and Trsitan are still in your honeymoon phase. I don’t want my presence here to be a cock-block. At least one of us is getting some.”

Brooke shrugs. “You aren’t wrong with the whole honeymoon phase thing. But we can control ourselves, or at least be discreet. And I thought you were going out with that one guy. What’s his name again?”

“Wow, you can’t remember that one guy I was going out with over a month ago? His name was Sean. And no, we aren’t going out anymore. He wanted more and I didn’t. And since Lottie moved in, I haven’t had time to go on dates and I don’t want to bring anyone home to my place with a teenager in the next room. So, I deleted all the apps for the time being. I even hid my vibrator so that Lottie wouldn’t find it. So, my prospects aren’t looking good right now.”

Brooke rubs my arm. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. Totally sure. I will book us a hotel until I can move back into my apartment.” A huge pit weighs heavy in my stomach as I think of how much money I’m going to spend on a hotel room for the next month. My apartment building is giving me a discount for the next few months after I am back in my apartment. Still, it’s an expense I am not prepared for.

Lottie comes out of the bathroom. “I’m going outside to play with the pups.”

I nod. “Okay.” I sit on a barstool while Brooke pours me a much-needed glass of wine. Once the door shuts behind Lottie, I take a large sip of my wine and let it soothe the massive guilt I am feeling. “This sucks ass.”

Brooke laughs and then her eyes light up as if she has figured out the most elaborate scheme known to man. “Well, there may be another option.”

“What’s the other option? Because unless there is a wealthy billionaire willing to take me and my teenage niece in for the foreseeable future, rent free I might add, I don’t see one.”

“You are reading too many billionaire romance novels. But you aren’t too far off.”

“There’s no such thing as too many billionaire romance novels.” I nearly finish my glass. “And what do you mean, I’m not too far off?”

“I might know of a certain golden retriever who has a decent-sized townhouse, who is single, and who might be willing to take in a damsel in distress and her sweet niece for a little bit.”

I choke on the last of my wine and have to clear my throat several times. My eyes water. “No way. I couldn’t ask him to do that.”

“Why not? He has puppy dog eyes for you.”

“He clearly doesn’t like me like that.”

“Did he actually say that to you?”

“Well, no, but all signs point to the contrary.”

“Can I give you some advice?”

“You’re going to give it to me anyway.”

“You’re right, I am. Just speaking from experience here. Don’t assume anything when it comes to men. Communicate. It took me ten years to clear the air about something I overheard when I first met Tristan. Don’t let it take you ten years to get answers.”

I nod, but I am still hesitant to take the leap. “I don’t know, B.”