FIFTEEN
“THAT WAS ONE HELL
OF A HOME RUN IN ATLANTA THE other night, son. The entire bar
erupted in cheers. We sold a lot of beer after you hit that grand
slam.”
Gavin grinned as he
helped his dad loosen some nuts on the lawn mower. “Thanks, Dad. It
was a big hit.”
He’d come over after
his weeklong road trip to help his dad with some repairs. His
father was sweating over the lawn mower, trying to remove the
wheels.
“Dad, let me do
that.”
“I got it. Just get
that one in the back, and then we can get these wheels
off.”
Gavin dug in and
cranked the wrench, muttering a litany of curses in his head when
the rusty bastard wouldn’t budge. Finally, it gave and he got the
nut moving. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he said, “Dad, why
don’t you just get a new mower? This beast has to be older than
me.”
“Hey, don’t be
tossing out the old shit. It still works. Just needs a
tune-up.”
“It needs a burial.
You could get a riding mower. Or one of those that are
self-propelled.”
His father’s face
turned nearly purple as he pushed the wrench. Gavin held his
breath, waiting for his dad to collapse right there trying to get
the rusty bastard to let go.
“Goddamn this old
thing needs some WD-40.”
“It needs the
junkyard.”
His dad got up
slowly from his position on the ground and hunted around in the
garage. “You kids just want to toss everything out as soon as it
doesn’t work anymore. You just need to give it a loving
hand.”
“No, Jimmy. You need
to know when something has given up the ghost and needs to be
traded in for a newer model.”
Gavin looked up in
thanks at his mother. “Amen to that, Mom. Tell him he needs to get
a new lawn mower.”
His mother rolled
her eyes. “As if I could tell him anything. In matters of the
outside and the garage, he is king of the world.”
“Damn right.” His
father looked at Gavin. “We’ll get her fixed.”
Gavin cast a
pleading look at his mother.
She laughed. “Gavin,
come in and get the iced tea I made. You and your father look like
you could use a drink.”
He could kiss his
mother right now. “Sure. Be right back, Dad.”
His father waved him
off. Gavin followed his mom into the kitchen and took a seat at the
kitchen table.
“What is his
deal?”
She shrugged. “I
have no idea. He’s always been fond of fixing things, but lately
he’s got some bug up his butt about retooling the lawn mower and
the weed whacker, and he even found an old window air conditioner
in the attic and has been futzing around with that, though I have
no idea why.”
“You have central
air.”
“Exactly.” She threw
her hands in the air. “Maybe he’s planning to air-condition the
garage. I don’t have a clue.”
He took the tea his
mother offered. “He’s bored. That’s got to be it.”
“If he’s bored, I
have a whole list of projects that need to be done around here,
starting with a new fence. He ignores those and fiddles with stupid
things.”
“Well, those
projects aren’t fun, Mom.”
She laughed. “I
guess. And I don’t know how he could be bored. There’s the
bar.”
“Jenna probably
manages the bar single-handedly these days. And we have great cooks
and waitresses. Dad probably feels like he’s in the
way.”
“Hmmm. You know, you
could be right about that. I don’t know what to do about it,
though.”
“Just tell Jenna to
give him more work to do at the bar. Anything to keep him from
tearing things apart here. Or find something here that interests
him.”
She inhaled, then
sighed. “I suppose so.” She took a drink of tea and studied
him.
“What?”
“It’s nice to have
you here.”
He knew what that
meant. Something was on her mind. “Go ahead. Spill
it.”
She took a seat at
the table. “Mick came by and said he ran into you and
Elizabeth.”
Somehow he knew this
was going to come up. “And?”
“You could have told
me you and Elizabeth were dating.”
“Do I ever discuss
women I’m dating with you?”
“Elizabeth isn’t
just one of the many women who parade in and out of your life,
Gavin. She’s . . . Elizabeth. She’s practically
family.”
“I don’t really know
what’s going on with me and Liz yet, so there wasn’t a point in
mentioning it. Mick said you were pissed at her.”
She narrowed her
gaze. “He did, did he?”
“Yeah.”
“About what happened
with Tara and Nathan?”
“Yeah.”
“Elizabeth
apologized?”
“She
did.”
“Mick said she
corrected her error.”
“Yeah, she
did.”
“Then why would I be
angry with her? She made a mistake. We all make mistakes. Michael
fired her for it. I would think losing a prominent client like
Michael would teach her not to manipulate a client
again.”
“I think she learned
a valuable lesson from it.”
“Michael should be
the last one to throw stones.”
Gavin shrugged. “He
holds a grudge, and he’s protective of Tara and
Nathan.”
“Understandable. But
Elizabeth did some very good things for him and for his career. He
needs to get past it.”
“Yeah, tell him
that. He laid into me about seeing Liz and told me I should dump
her.”
His mother’s eyes
widened. “He did not.”
“Not in so many
words, but he made his feelings clear.”
She sighed. “I don’t
know why you two have always gotten into it. So competitive all the
time. I’ll talk to him.”
He laid his hand
over hers. “Thanks, Mom, but I don’t need you to fight my battles.
It’s like you said. He’ll have to get over it. I’ll see Elizabeth
for as long as whatever it is we have together lasts. If Mick
doesn’t like it, that’s too bad. He’s going to have to deal with
it.”
“How does Tara feel
about you seeing her?”
Gavin shrugged. “I
have no idea. Haven’t seen her since I got back from
Florida.”
“Maybe you should
tell her. If Elizabeth’s going to be in your life in a romantic
way, she’s bound to run into Tara. You should pave the way and
prepare her—prepare both of them—so it’s not a shock when it
happens.”
“I’m sure Mick’s
already told Tara I’m seeing Liz.”
His mother folded
her arms. “And maybe he hasn’t.”
He nodded. “You have
a point. I’ll talk to her.”
He’d try to make
sure Elizabeth and Tara didn’t run into each other, which was
easier than trying to explain to Tara why he was dating a woman she
hated.
They both jumped at
the sound of metal against metal coming from the
garage.
“Now what?” Gavin
asked.
She shook her head.
“I have no idea. Did your father tell you he’s thinking of redoing
the roof?”
Gavin rolled his
eyes and slid his empty glass across the table. “Thanks for the
tea, Mom. Guess I’ll head out there and figure out what he’s up
to.”
“SO I HAVE THIS
THING TONIGHT.”
Elizabeth rolled
over in bed, her nails dragging down his chest, his abs, and slid
under the covers to grasp his semi-hard cock.
“You have a thing?
What thing?”
They’d spent the
afternoon in bed. It was rare for him to have a day off, and they
took full advantage of it. Elizabeth had met him at his house, and
they’d shed clothes like they were on fire, fallen into bed, and
spent the past few hours there. He was utterly
exhausted.
Not that his cock
had noticed, because it grew stiff under her stroking
hand.
It was damned hard
to concentrate on what he was trying to say to her when she was
fondling his balls.
“Yeah. A thing. At
my parents’ house.”
“Oh.” She let go of
his dick and sat up in bed. “Okay. I’ll take a shower and get out
of here.”
He grabbed her hand.
“No. Wait.”
He pulled her back
down on the bed. “It’s Mick’s birthday. Party at my parents’ house.
My mom wants you to come.”
She looked
horrified, like he’d just asked her to kill a chicken.
“I don’t think so,
Gavin.”
“I told her you
wouldn’t want to come . . . for obvious reasons.”
“Uh,
yeah.”
He scratched his
nose. “She’s kind of insisting. Said it’s time for you and Mick to
bury the hatchet.”
She let out a laugh.
“Yeah, he’ll bury the hatchet all right. In my back.”
She stood and
stretched; her pretty nipples puckered as her back arched toward
him. “Look, Gavin, tell your mother I appreciate the invitation and
the sentiment behind it, but no way in hell am I ruining your
brother’s birthday party by showing up there.”
He leaned back
against the headboard and crossed his arms behind his head. “Not
even if I ask you to come?”
“Why would you do
that? You know how it will go. Mick will be pissed.”
“We don’t know
that.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Yes, we do know that. I’m going to get dressed, and then I’m going
home. You need to take a shower and head on over to your parents’
house.”
An hour later he
stood at his parents’ front door, not at all happy he didn’t have
Elizabeth with him. He’d tried to argue with her and did everything
short of kidnapping her and tossing her into his SUV to get her to
come with him, but she’d refused.
Not that he could
blame her. This wouldn’t have been a pleasant event for
her.
And that pissed him
off. Like it or not, he was seeing Elizabeth, and his brother was
just going to have to start dealing with that.
Which meant that he
and Elizabeth were a package deal. No Elizabeth, no him. He pivoted
and stepped off the porch, wincing when the front door
opened.
“Gavin.”
Shit. He turned and
smiled at his future sister-in-law. “Hey, Tara.”
“You’re leaving? You
just got here.”
“Yeah. I’m
leaving.”
She pulled the front
door closed and stepped outside.
Damn, she was a
beauty, her blonde hair pulled back in a long ponytail, her brown
eyes clear and guileless. She was the sweetest woman he’d ever
met.
Mick didn’t deserve
her.
“What’s wrong,
Gavin?”
He took her hands in
his. “My brother and I aren’t seeing eye to eye right now, and it’s
probably not a good idea for me to go inside.”
She crossed her
arms. “What did he do?”
Gavin laughed. “He
didn’t do anything. It’s me. I’m seeing Elizabeth.”
“Oh. And Mick has a
problem with that?”
“You
don’t?”
She laughed. “Do you
like her?”
“Yeah, I kind of do.
Don’t really know why since she tries my patience, but I’m no
picnic, either. So I guess we kind of fit, at least for now. Mom
wanted me to bring her tonight.”
“And you didn’t want
to because of Mick.”
“Well, I asked
Elizabeth to come. She begged off because of . . . well, because of
everything that went down before. She didn’t want to ruin Mick’s
party.”
Tara drummed her
fingers on her arms. “Mick needs to learn to let go. What happened
is in the past. Elizabeth fixed it and apologized. My God, he fired
her. What more does he want from her? A kidney?”
Gavin laughed. “I
think I might have asked him the same thing.”
“Go get her and
bring her over here. If Mom wants her here, then she should be
here.”
“I can try, but I’m
not sure she’ll come.”
“At least try. You
won’t get any objection from me, Gavin.”
“You’re a better
person than most people I know, Tara.”
She kissed him on
the cheek. “You just keep reminding your brother how wonderful I
am, okay?”
He laughed. “I’ll do
that.”
“I’ll go talk to
Mick.”
“I’VE CHANGED MY
MIND. I’M NOT GOING IN, GAVIN. THIS has disaster written all over
it. Why don’t you just line me up in front of a firing squad
instead?”
“Aren’t you being
just a little overly dramatic?”
“No, I’m being
realistic. They all hate me.”
Gavin rolled his
eyes and got out of the car. They’d been sitting in the driveway
for fifteen minutes. He was hungry. He came around to Elizabeth’s
side and opened the door. “Get out now. If you don’t, I’ll throw
you over my shoulder and carry you inside.”
She leveled him with
a mutinous glare. “You wouldn’t.”
“Are you challenging
me? Because you know I will.”
“Damn you, Gavin
Riley.” She got out of the car and stood there. “I can’t believe I
agreed to this.”
He took her hand and
dragged her stiff body to the front door. “At least try to smile
and pretend to be pleasant.”
The front door
opened, and his mother greeted them. “I thought you two would never
get here.” She folded Elizabeth in her arms. “Lizzie. It’s been way
too long.”
Elizabeth’s stiff
stance melted when Gavin’s mother hugged her. She put her arms
around Gavin’s mother like a life preserver on a sinking ship.
“I’ve missed you, Kathleen.”
Gavin never got over
how cute the two redheads looked whenever they embraced. They could
be mother and daughter, which is probably why his mom had always
gravitated toward Liz. Of course Liz was so sweet whenever she was
around his mother, something Gavin never could fathom. Her entire
personality changed when she was with his family. She loved his
father equally as well.
Of course now that
he knew her history, he realized maybe she just liked having a warm
family to come home to since she’d lacked one of her
own.
His mother held on
to Elizabeth’s hand as they walked toward the house. “Shame on you
for staying away so long. We missed you at the
holidays.”
“I didn’t think I’d
be welcome. I screwed up so badly with Mick.”
“Bah. You made a
mistake. Who among us hasn’t? You made up for it. All is
forgiven.”
“I’m so sorry,
Kathleen. My career gets the best of me sometimes . .
.”
Gavin didn’t hear
what else Elizabeth said because when they walked into the house
the noise level in there was deafening. People were spread out
everywhere. And his mother had run off somewhere with Liz, so Gavin
went to find Mick or his dad.
They were both in
the kitchen, his father with a beer in his hand and Mick with a
bottled water. Nathan was there, too, and they were laughing and
talking sports, of course.
“Happy birthday, old
man,” Gavin said to Mick.
Mick greeted him
with a guarded smile. “Hey, thanks.”
They shook hands.
Gavin was still irritated after their last meeting.
Their father noticed
the lack of familial hugging.
“Hey, Nathan, great
to see you again.”
“Hi, Gavin.” Nathan
offered up a wide grin.
He seemed to have
grown a foot since Gavin had seen him last, and had filled out some
muscle, too.
“You look great.
Doing some workouts?”
“Yeah. Football
keeps me busy. And working with Dad . . . Mick . . . Dad has really
helped a lot.”
Gavin shifted his
gaze to Mick, whose eyes filled with pride when Nathan called him
Dad.
Son of a bitch. His
big brother was a father to a teenager now. Things sure had changed
a lot. “I’m sure it has. I’ll bet you’re happy your mom and Mick
are getting married.”
“I am. I couldn’t
ask for a better father. He’s what I always wanted in a
dad.”
“And you’re the son
I always dreamed about having.”
Gavin’s dad cleared
his throat, looking a little teary-eyed, too. “Okay, fellas, before
we all break down and start sobbing and end up in a group hug,
let’s get back to talking about baseball.”
“I’ll leave you all
to talk about me while I’m not here,” Gavin said. “I need to go
find Elizabeth. Mom ran off with her.”
“So you actually
brought her here.”
Gavin stopped.
“Yeah, I did.”
“I can’t believe
you, man. You’re still seeing her?”
Gavin’s gaze skirted
to Nathan, who cast a frown in their direction. “Let’s not do this
now.”
“Why? This affects
Nathan, too.”
“Mick. You need to
be polite to your brother,” their father said.
“Oh, I need to be
courteous to Gavin. What about how he treats me? Where’s the
respect?”
Right. Because it
had always been about Mick. What was best for Mick. Be careful what
you say to Mick. Don’t upset Mick. Mick has a problem, so we need
to be extra nice to Mick. Look up to Mick. Be like Mick. Stand in
Mick’s shadow.
Shit.
His whole life had
been about Mick.
But not
anymore.
He turned and walked
out of the kitchen.
“Hey, we’re not
done.”
“Michael!”
Gavin’s father must
have gotten Mick’s attention, because Mick didn’t follow his
brother down the hall.
Fine with Gavin,
because in his current mood there was no telling what would happen
between the two of them. And birthday or not, he’d had just enough
of his brother telling him how to live his life. He hadn’t asked
for advice on who to choose to date, and he sure as hell wasn’t
taking unsolicited advice from Mick.
Now he just had to
go find Elizabeth before any more trouble stirred up.
Like her running
into Tara.
ELIZABETH LOVED
KATHLEEN. SHE WAS THE CLOSEST thing to a mother she had, and
Kathleen had always made her feel welcome in the Riley
home.
That of course
changed when Elizabeth screwed up and Mick fired her.
Losing Kathleen and
Jimmy Riley had been harder on her than losing Mick as a
client.
She’d missed
spending the holidays with the Rileys. Over the past few years it
had become habit for her to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas at the
Riley home.
Last year had been
brutal. She’d spent the holidays alone.
She’d never felt
more alone, had never realized how much she’d come to think of Mick
and Gavin’s family as her family until she didn’t have them
anymore.
Stupid. And what had
she gone and done? Started sleeping with Gavin, which would only
end up permanently severing her relationship with the Riley family
when things ended with Gavin.
Kathleen had pulled
her upstairs, away from the crowds, and took her into the master
bedroom, sat her in one of the two old chairs nestled into the
corner of the crowded room.
“Now that it’s just
the two of us, why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”
“You mean what went
on with Mick?”
Kathleen waved her
hand. “No. I think what happened there is clear. You made a
critical business error, and you paid a very dear price for it. You
lost Michael’s business. I trust you’re smart enough to have
learned something from that.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Kathleen had the ability to say very little and mean a lot when she
said it. Elizabeth felt about two inches tall at the moment. “I’m
very sorry I hurt Mick, Tara, and Nathan.”
Kathleen took her
hand. “I know you are. But you had to suffer the consequences for
what you did, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I did. Mick
wasn’t only my client. He was my friend. And I lost his friendship,
too.”
“Well, I hope not
forever. My son is a stubborn mule, but he’ll come around
soon.”
“I hope so. I need
to make amends with him. And with Tara.”
Kathleen nodded.
“That you do. But I mean what’s going on with you and
Gavin?”
She swallowed. “Oh.
That.”
Kathleen leveled
very wise eyes on her. “Yes. That. I never realized you and Gavin
had a thing for each other.”
Oh, Lord. “Well, it
just sort of happened. We’re casually dating, really. It’s nothing
serious, Kathleen.”
“Really.”
“Yes.”
“So you don’t care
about him.”
She laid her head in
her hands, then turned it to the side. “You’d make a great
prosecutor, you know that? You really know how to put a girl on the
spot.”
Kathleen laughed and
patted her hand. “Come on. You know I’m joking with you. It just
took me by surprise is all. You’re like a daughter to me. I was
shocked to find out you and Gavin were together.”
“It kind of hit me
by surprise, too.”
“Not me. I saw it
the first night I met you. I knew you were in love with
Gavin.”
Elizabeth whirled
around and saw Tara leaning in the doorway, Gavin’s sister, Jenna,
next to her.
“What?”
“Come in, you two.
Did you know that Elizabeth and Gavin were dating?”
Tara took a seat on
the edge of the bed. “I didn’t until Gavin told me. But like I
said, it doesn’t surprise me. I saw the sparks that night in the
bar when I first came to town and met all of you.”
“Sparks? What
sparks?”
Tara turned her gaze
on Elizabeth. Elizabeth expected animosity, hatred even. But what
she saw was just . . . interest. “I saw the way you looked at him.
I could see right away that you were in love with
him.”
She remembered Tara
mentioning it before, but she’d brushed her off, thought she’d
minimized it. She thought she’d hid it so well. “In love—oh. No,
really. I’m not.”
Jenna snorted.
“You’re in love with Gavin?” She twirled some of the many earrings
in her ear and flopped belly-first on the bed. “Now this is getting
interesting.”
“I’m not in love
with Gavin.”
Tara laughed. “Yes,
you are. And I’ll bet you have been for some time.”
“Is this true,
Elizabeth?” Kathleen asked. “Are you in love with
Gavin?”
She looked from
Kathleen to Jenna to Tara, and for the first time in her life she
had no idea what to do. The room closed in on her, and she found it
hard to breathe. This was why she didn’t have female friends. With
guys she could bullshit her way out of anything.
Women were tougher.
They bore down on her with their steely gazes, and there was no way
out. Dizziness made her breathing quicken, and she sucked in air
faster and faster, which only made it hotter in there.
“I don’t feel very
good,” she said, raising a shaky hand to her sweaty
brow.
“Oh, shit, Mom, she
looks kind of white,” Jenna said. “I don’t know, but it looks like
she’s going to pass out.”
“Someone get her
head down. I’ll get a cold cloth.” Tara’s voice sounded like it was
far away, as if she was talking from a tunnel. The room had started
to turn, and Elizabeth’s fingers felt numb. She tried to suck in
air faster because she couldn’t breathe.
“Jenna, close the
door. Elizabeth, bend over and put your head between your
knees.”
“I can’t breathe.”
She wrapped her arms around her stomach, feeling sick.
“Elizabeth. Pay
attention.”
She tried to lift
her head, but all she could think about was breathing. All she
could think about was gasping for air. And she might just fall out
of the chair.
Cool hands pressed
onto the back of her neck and shoved her forward. She felt
something icy cold and wet on her neck.
“Breathe slow and
easy honey. Not so fast. That’s what’s making you
dizzy.”
Kathleen’s calm
voice penetrated. Elizabeth did as requested, and it helped. The
pins and needles feeling in her hands and feet started to subside,
and eventually the numbness in her face started to go
away.
“That’s it. Focus on
each breath. Not so fast. Keep it slow.”
She did, keeping her
eyes shut so the room would stop spinning.
“Now lift your head.
Think you can do that without feeling dizzy?”
“I have no
idea.”
“Try. Just try. If
you still feel dizzy, we’ll lay you down on the bed.”
She opened her eyes
and looked down at her feet, then slowly lifted her head. Still a
little dizzy, but not the roller-coaster ride she was on a few
minutes ago.
Tara swiped her hair
away from Elizabeth’s face. “Better now?”
Elizabeth nodded.
“Yes.”
“Here,” Kathleen
said, holding a glass of water in front of her. “Take a couple of
sips.”
She took the glass,
but Kathleen held it for her while she sipped the water. She tilted
her head back and tried for a smile. “Thank you.”
Elizabeth directed
her gaze to Tara, then to Jenna, who kneeled in front of her.
“Thank you both, too. I’m so embarrassed.”
Tara grinned.
“Nothing like a good old panic attack, is there?”
“Is that what it
was? I’ve never had one before.” She blew out a breath, then
inhaled again, this time not doing it like she was running a
breathing race. “Scared the hell out of me.”
“So the topic of my
son brings out panic in you?”
She looked over at
Kathleen. “Oh. No, not at all. Yes. Maybe. I don’t know. I wasn’t
prepared to answer questions about how I feel about
him.”
“Obviously,” Jenna
said with a smirk. “Who knew my brother incited such panic in
women?”
Elizabeth managed a
laugh. “No, really, it’s not him. It’s me.”
“I’m sorry,” Tara
said. “I didn’t mean to back you into a corner about
Gavin.”
Elizabeth leaned
back in the chair. “You have nothing to be sorry about. I’m the one
who should be apologizing to you. Until the day I die,
probably.”
“It’s okay,
really.”
Elizabeth wasn’t
sure it would ever be okay with Tara. “I really am sorry, Tara. I
was so wrong, so focused on my career and Mick’s career that I was
blinded. I hurt you and Nathan without thought. I would never use a
child like that. I don’t know what I was thinking, and there’s no
excuse for what I did.”
Tara leaned forward
and grabbed her hands. “Apology accepted. Let it go, Liz. I have.
And Nathan holds no grudge.”
She shuddered out a
sigh. “Thank you. You’re very generous and much nicer than I
probably would be.”
Tara laughed. “Well,
don’t go fainting on me every time you see me. That would be a
start.”
Elizabeth managed a
smile. “It’s a bit disconcerting that you knew how I felt all
along.”
“Well, you were kind
of obvious. Your feelings for Gavin are written all over your
face.”
She put her palms
over her cheeks, the flame of embarrassment heating her. “They
are?”
Tara gave her a
sympathetic smile. “Yes, they are.”
“So, you’re in love
with Gavin. Wow. I didn’t see it,” Jenna said. “You two have known
each other for years. So is this a recent thing or have you been
carrying a torch for a while?”
“For a long time, is
my guess,” Tara said.
“Is she right?”
Kathleen asked.
Elizabeth
nodded.
“Does Gavin
know?”
Elizabeth shook her
head. “No. God, no. And I don’t want him to know.”
Kathleen frowned.
“Why not?”
She looked down at
her hands. “This is hard to explain.”
“Because a guy has
to fall in love with you because it’s what he wants, not out of
obligation.”
Elizabeth lifted her
head and nodded at Tara. “Yes.”
“Which means, Mom,
that we need to butt out and let Elizabeth and Gavin handle their
relationship the way they see fit,” Jenna said.
“All right. But I
have to tell you, Lizzie, that I love you and I love my son. And I
don’t want either of you hurt.”
Elizabeth reached
for Kathleen’s hand. “I love you, too. And I don’t want to hurt
him. I just don’t know how this is going to play out. I don’t know
what we are to each other yet. So I’m asking you to give us some
time to figure it all out.”
She turned to Tara.
“And give Mick some space, too. He’s still mad at me, and he has a
right to be. And he and Gavin are at odds over it. I’m strong and I
can take it. I just don’t want them fighting because of
me.”
Tara shrugged. “I’ve
already decided to step away from that battle.”
Kathleen nodded.
“Probably a good choice. Sometimes brothers need to find their own
solutions to their problems. And when a woman—or women—are
involved, it’s best to steer clear. They’ll find a way through
this. They always have before.”
Elizabeth hoped that
was true. She’d walk away from Gavin before she drove a wedge in
his relationship with Mick.
She just hoped it
wouldn’t come to that.