Twisted Magic (Book 2 of the Ink Series)

Time for changes

I turned the knob, trying hard to keep my noise to a minimum. Dad's van was parked outside which meant he was home.

But all was for nothing when I saw Nona hovering over the stove stirring a pot of chili, her worry lines—or anger was very prominent.

"Hey, Hope," she said, using my given name, that was always a bad sign.

"Hi Nona." I dropped my gaze to the door already feeling like a criminal for showing up after such a wild night.

Nona ground pepper over the pot of chili and returned the pepper to the counter. The pungent smells of fresh herbs and spicy meats made my mouth water.

"How's work going?" She eyed me suspiciously as I tried to get to my bedroom.

"Good, things are decent." I smiled before she dissected my strange behavior. "Look, Nona. I am sorry. Is Dad upset with me?" I looked into the living room for signs of him, but he wasn't there.

Nona stirred the chili and let out a long sigh. "Why would he be upset with you, sweet pea? You're not the evil bitch running around on him."

My heart sank. This was nothing to do with me; Nona was in our house making food for Dad because of a breakup.

"When did this happen?" I pulled up a chair, covering my neck with my hair so Nona didn't go on a rant about letting boy's mouths do such horrid things.

"Well at one of the school committee meetings it was the big scandal circling around. You would think she knew better than to run around Cherry. Everything gets back to me." Nona pulled up a seat and pulled out a pack of her skinny cigarettes. She lit one with a match, shaking the flame out. I hated when she smoked in our house.

"Did you punch her?" I smirked.

Nona shook her head, shooting a look at the hallway before she answered me. "No, I have more class than that. But I did tell her to think twice if she ever thought about coming around my son again."

I frowned. Nona waved a hand in the air. "We are not going to let this get us down. I am making your dad his favorite food. And we are going to keep him in good spirits."

"He said Lynette was the only good thing in his life," I told her, and if she was gone I knew what was going to happen next. I could tell by the look in Nona's eyes, she felt the same way.

"The boys are still young. They need a good parent in their lives. Lord knows your mother doesn't care." Nona rolled her eyes, snuffing out her cigarette and going back to the chili. "And your dad is full of shit. He has three very good things in his life, you, Elliot and Easton."

I got up, lingering in the doorway, wanting to ask Nona what I could do to help keep Dad away from Jack Daniels. But I wasn't sure she would give me a straight answer. She didn't like to discuss Dad's crutch with anyone. She liked to ignore it.

"Nona, what makes one person care so much and others care so little?"

Nona whirled around, her eyebrows high on her head. "I am not quite sure what you mean. However, I think whoever gave you that love bite cared enough in that moment."

I pulled my hair over my neck my cheeks on fire. She leaned against the counter crossing her expensive red heels. "I think everyone cares, to some extent. Some people are just better at showing it."

I nodded. It made sense.

"Is this about Slade and the blonde?" She asked.

My mouth fell open. How did she know? Was he running all over the town with Audrey?