Hannah and Jamie were still bickering, but as Tiffany stepped inside, I only heard him scoff, “Oh hell no!”

Then the bickering tripled.

Another car pulled into the driveway. This time, a girl came out. She was dressed in a tight black halter-top and overly tight jeans that showcased every muscle in her legs. Dark almond eyes landed on me and she flipped a strand of sleek black hair over her shoulder. She was the darker version of Tiffany. I only hoped she wasn’t there for Jamie.

“Hi.” She moved over to me. Her eyes crinkled a bit as she studied me before she asked, “Do you know Cord Tatum?”

I let out a small breath of air in relief. “Yeah, but you might want to call him out. I wouldn’t step inside if I were you.”

“Oh.” She frowned at me for a second before she pulled out her phone. Leaning next to me against my car, she quickly texted him.

“Like f**k you are!” Jamie shouted over the sisters.

“Oh.” Her head craned back. “I understand now.”

I nodded.

And we waited. No further introductions were made. This girl struck me as a type that didn’t lower herself to being the first one who gave her name and I didn’t care enough to be polite. She was another in a long line. She’d be gone after a week.

A momentary lapse in the fighting occurred. Cord popped out of the door. He lifted his hand to wave her over, but saw me and lowered it instead. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he sauntered across the yard to my car. “Hey.”

The girl flashed perfect white teeth. Why wasn’t I surprised?

He said to me instead, “I didn’t know you were back.”

“Yeah. Ten minutes ago.”

“When did that start?” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder.

“Five minutes ago.”

“Oh.” He skimmed his date up and down, but looked back at me. “Is Jesse headed back soon?”

I nodded. “You know what the coach wanted?”

He grinned at me. “That’s team confidential. What’s wrong with you?”

I shrugged. “I’d appreciate a heads up if it’s going to be a problem for him later on.”

“Oh. No. It’s nothing like that. The pros are already watching Jesse. That’s what it was about. I was just teasing before.”

“Gotcha. And thanks for telling me.”

I could feel the girl reevaluating me. It was always the same. Tiffany had underestimated me as well.

Cord asked, “Is everything situated with your mom and niece?”

My gut dropped. I hadn’t expected that question, at least not in front of one of his girls. Sucking my breath in, I couldn’t stop my hand from clenching around the bag strap in it. Then I forced my head to nod. I tried to sound normal as I responded, “Yeah. The lawyers notified Claire of the inheritance. They thought it was typo.”

Cord nodded. “And the original lawyer never told them, right? He quit after your brother died?”

“Something like that. Yeah.” I narrowed my eyes at him. Why was he dredging this up? And in front of a stranger?

He turned and glanced back at the house. “They seemed to have come to an impasse. We could dart in and not get hit by any crossfire.” He jerked his head at the girl and she followed him eagerly.

After they disappeared inside, I released the breath I’d been holding. My stomach was in knots now. It was rolling and twisting. I knew I wouldn’t be able to calm myself, not for a while, not after hearing my mother brought up in a casual way.

“Hey.”

Turning, the relief hit me hard when I saw Jesse’s black Ferrari pulling up on the driveway. He turned the engine off and put the windows up before he darted over to me. I already knew I couldn’t hide it so I didn’t even try. He stopped. “What’s wrong?”

My knees were folding under. I could only shake my head.

“Hey.” He came over and touched my chin. Raising it, my eyes found his. That was all it took. His calm came into me. I breathed it in. “What happened?”

“Cord brought up my mom and Alexi.”

“Oh.” He looked alarmed as he raked a hand through his hair. It had grown an inch so it stuck up in the air now. “I didn’t tell him about your mom and dad. I swear.”

“He might’ve heard from someone else. I think Marissa still calls him.”

“She does?”

“I think she’s trying to slither in as a friend, hoping he’ll get drunk one night and sleep with her.”

Jesse grinned. “He probably will.”

“Then her plan will be a success.”

He frowned again as he heard the bite in my tone. “Is it your mom?”

After three months of no word, she called me two weeks ago. She had left my father and she felt the need to report that information over Jesse’s landline. She knew my cell phone. She knew my email. She even knew my mailing address, but she could only call me over his landline. It irked me. And then she dropped the additional bomb that she was moving to Clarkson. She wanted to be close to her granddaughter. I was supposed to pave the way since I had grown close to Claire and her mother.

That hadn’t gone over well with me. I hung up on her.

She called a second time. I hung up again. After the fifth time, I finally listened to her and regretted it immediately. And now she had moved into a small house on the same street as their home. It was still touch and go with them. It was less than that with me. I couldn’t stomach an entire conversation with her, not after all she’d done to me.

He swept a hand through my hair, tucking it behind my ear, and he pulled me against his chest. Wrapping an arm around me, he pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I’m sorry your mom’s a bitch.”

It was so much more than that, but I sighed. “I’m trying to forgive them. I have no idea how, but I’m trying. Ethan would want that.”

“Yeah, he would.”

The bickering started again inside. This time something thumped against a wall and we heard glass shattering.

“Fucking hell,” Jesse bit out. He clenched his jaw and headed inside. As he disappeared through the door, I heard him yell, “What the hell is going on? Stop trashing my place!”

“He started it!” Hannah shrieked back. “Do you know what he called me?”

“I don’t care. Put the damn vase down.”