Page 12 of Back to Me
“You leave your brother to me, Austin.” I nodded at my dad, who until now had been deathly quiet which was never a good thing. I picked up my fork and we all began to eat. When we were done, my dad disappeared into his office. I helped Ma with the dishes before giving her a big hug.
“Thank you for dinner.”
“You know you are welcome anytime.” She pulled back and cupped my face in her hands. “Don’t worry, we will sort this out. We tried to sit back while you kids made your mistakes in the hopes that you would learn from them, but we should have stepped in sooner when it comes to them telling you how to live your life.”
“I get it with Holly, but she is gone now. They need to leave me alone.”
“They will, bub, I promise.” I hugged Ma again. “Say goodbye to Pops for me?”
“I will. Go home and get some sleep. Tell Ally that it’s not her fault and we are happy to have her home, despite the way others are acting.”
“Thanks, Ma.” I took the container of leftovers she handed me and walked back out to my truck. Now to wait for the fallout of this to rain down on me. Hopefully I could shield Ally from it.
ChapterEight
Austin
It had beena week since my dinner with Ma and Pops. I hadn’t heard anything from them until this morning, or from Cash for that matter. I had been actively avoiding Savannah, making sure I was at work before she was and parked out the front, to avoid passing them. I just didn’t want to start a fight. I knew that wouldn’t last long though. The quiet never did. Hearing the door to my shop, I looked down at the monitor on my desk and held back a groan as Cash walked further into the shop. Standing up, wishing I had now locked that door after my last client had left, I moved round my desk and went to meet him.
“Austin.”
“Cash, how can I help you?”
“Are you avoiding us?”
“Actively, yes.”
“Why?”
“You really aren’t that dumb, Cash, despite looking it.”
“I see we are taking the mature route this time. Good to know.”
“What do you want, Cash? Your wife is next door, we have nothing to say to each other. You have no reason to have walked into my shop today.”
“You mean my shop. Now that Savannah and I are married, we share assets.”
“Ah, you did. This shop isn’t one of them. I bought her out. I told you that the last time we spoke. You and your wife have no control over me or my business, so try and pull another string. I won’t unravel though. I don’t know what your problem is, but you had better get over it.”
“Are you going to be at the family meeting tonight?”
“I am, yes.” That’s when it all made sense. Ma and Pops had called a family meeting for tonight to deal with all this crap and attempt to get Cash to pull his head out of his ass. I, of course, knew what it was about. The others did not. “Ah, let me guess. You are here to try and get me to pretend that you and Savannah haven’t been dickheads to Ally and want me to play happy families in front of the parents.”
“Not in so many words but yes.”
“No, I’m good but nice try. Anything else?”
“You really want to drag them into this too?”
“Why? Worried they will take my side on this? Well wouldn’t that just put a dent in your armor.”
“Why are you being like this?! What is it going to take to get you to stop being childish for once?”
“Your memory can’t be that short! I asked one thing, and you couldn’t do it. Instead of staying away like I asked, you sought us out and were an asshole! The worst part is you aren’t even sorry about it. Just know that you can do whatever you want, act however you want but if Ally leaves because of anything you do, I will be going with her.”
“Wow, she must have a magical pussy to get you to forgive her.” Without stopping to think about what I was doing, my hand clenched into a fist, and I punched Cash square in the jaw—hard.
“Shut the fuck up and get out of my shop before I kick the shit out of you. I am done with you talking shit about Ally. She has done nothing to you. I will see you tonight, but you will not speak to me. Don’t even look at me or I will do it again.”
