“Right? It’s some essential oil with bergamot and myrrh and something else.” Tuesday pointed to the plain little brown bottle of oil. “I look horrible. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You look like you’ve been crying but that’s mainly because I know you so well. I’m really biting my tongue right now because I know you don’t want to do this here and now. You look like someone who had something upsetting happen to her less than an hour ago. Not in a weak way. You’re still pretty.”

Tuesday pressed a cool, wet washcloth to her eyes and snorted. “Obviously. It takes a lot more than FSB to make me look anything less than fabulous.”

Natalie put her head on Tuesday’s shoulder briefly. “People are dicks. What’s FSB for?”

“I was just saying this to Ezra earlier today about people being dicks. FSB is feed-store bigot. I think his name was Gary.”

“Whatever his name, he’s a lesser.”

“You speak true.” Tuesday spritzed her hands and rubbed them together before getting her hair back in order.

She caught Nat’s eye in the mirror’s reflection. “Heywood stuff, too.”

Nat’s expression darkened. “What are those fucknuts up to now?”

Tuesday braced herself and then told Natalie about the phone call she’d got from Tina right after she’d pulled up in Ezra’s driveway.

“Why didn’t you tell me? That woman. Oh my god. Block her number!”

“I know. I know I should. I guess part of me still feels a responsibility to Eric to be nice. Even though she’s awful.”

“Fuck her.”

“No thanks.”

“Stop talking to her. I mean it. Block their number, block her email. Stop letting them cut you up for kicks. You don’t owe them anything and I don’t even care what Eric might have thought. He’s dead, Tuesday, and his family has no right to do this.”

Tuesday knew this was true. Felt it. Said the same to Tina even.

She decided not to tell Nat about the reaction she’d got when she’d told them she was changing her name back to Easton. It would just upset her friend and in turn, upset Tuesday.

Enough for the day.

“I should tell Diana about this.”

“Yeah? How about you stop letting your grandmother fuck you over and then we can talk.”

“You’re vicious.”

Tuesday nodded. “Yep. But you’re right. I know you are. Which doesn’t mean I’m not serious about you cutting your family out like a diseased organ.”

Nat held her hands up in surrender. “Ugh. Okay. Truce. Tomorrow let’s go out somewhere. How about we get manicures.”

She looked down at her hands. She kept her nails short and usually painted with light colors because she was constantly chipping them as she worked.

“Good call.”

Tuesday took the tube of lipstick Natalie handed over. An expensive brand she would never buy for herself but Natalie gifted her with from time to time.

“I’m ferocious. I’m dark and broody and broken,” she whispered as she slid it over her bottom lip, leaving a bright red shine in its wake.

“What?” Natalie had been poking her head into Ezra’s giant shower arena. He called it a stall. But his damned horse could fit in there. “Jeez, this is as big as my whole bathroom.”

“He likes pleasure.” She smiled at herself in the mirror when she said it.

“Jeez-a-lou. You can’t say stuff like that and not share what you mean.”

“I mean sex, Nats. The man is a fucking machine. That giant shower is just a glimpse of just how much Ezra likes to feel good. His bed was custom made so it’s like a third bigger than even the biggest king bed.” She looked behind her at the closed bedroom door. “He told me he liked all the room to spread me out and lick every part of me.”

Natalie fanned her face.

“So, despite the Heywoods and FSB, my life is pretty freaking good, complete with heaping helpings of super-duper hot fucking.”

“Yay for happy but the stupid is still there. Makes me want to flip tables and burn things down.”

Tuesday laughed as she left the bathroom to grab the extra shirt she’d tucked into her bag. “I brought an extra in case I got dirty when I was out riding.” Or to wear home in the morning. “A skittish horse and a dramatic public scene in front of my boyfriend’s dad can make a girl sweat.”

She pulled her blouse off and changed into the spare, bright blue and sleeveless.

“Feel better?” Natalie asked as she finished up, tossing her stuff back into her bag.

“Yes. Much. But I am so hungry and I didn’t even get to tell you about how well things went today at my stall at the market.”

Natalie hugged her. “Such a jam-packed day. Come on. We’ll have some food and hang out and you’ll be around people who love you and want to punch FSB. And we can ogle all that Hurley butt.”

“This is a very good point. Come on then. I know you have junk food at Paddy’s so you better share some.”

Natalie laughed as they dodged cats once they’d headed back outside. “I will always share my secret junk food with you after a hard day.”

“True friendship.”

“Always and forever.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

ONCE THEY’D GONE inside and he was sure she was out of sight, he gave over to his volcanic rage, storming into his home gym where his bag hung.