information then waited until he arrived and checked out.
The good news about this was that Debbie had not done this in front of the family and inferred during the fight that she didn’t intend to share, “You fucked my ex-boyfriend while Darrin is still fresh in his grave,” because it would, “Just break Mom’s heart.”
With Dusty going, Debbie knowing about them and being on a tear about it, that was the only good news there was.
When he’d told her about his call, Dusty, being what he was learning was Dusty, didn’t give a shit that Rivera put one and one together and got the budding couple that was Mike and Dusty.
She’d just grinned and said, “So she knows about five hours before she would have known. No skin off my nose.”
Mike had to admit, after Audrey’s unrelenting bullshit and Vi’s unrelenting but unintentional drama, the laidback Dusty was a breath of seriously fucking fresh air.
“Debbie’ll get home, get involved in her life and cool down,” Mike told her. “It’ll all be good.”
“Debbie’ll carry this shit to her grave,” Dusty muttered then winced because she herself had struck close to the bone.
“Honey,” he whispered.
She sighed.
Then she said, “I’ll leave it a week. Give her a call. Try to smooth things over.”
“Maybe you two should just figure out how to be family at the same time avoiding each other,” Mike suggested.
“Uh…do you know my Mom and Dad?” Dusty asked, Mike grinned and gave her a squeeze.
“Yeah, I do. But they don’t have to live her bullshit. You do. She’s a successful attorney. She’s gotta know how to broker a deal. Find a way to make it so you two are kosher in front of the parents but you keep strictly to your corners all other times. She’ll see the advantages of a deal like that and go all in.”
“I’m not sure family works like that,” she muttered. “But I’ll give it a try.”
Truthfully, Mike wasn’t sure either. He was an only child. His Mom and Dad were functional. Good, solid parents he loved and respected who gave him a working moral compass and a decent upbringing. Great grandparents who doted on their grandchildren in a way that only skated the edges of spoiling them rotten. They had his back through the divorce with Audrey and they had his back when he fought for full custody but they didn’t have it in a way they were in his face. He just knew they had it which was all they needed to do. His family didn’t have dramas. Just lots of love and good times.
And, with the shit Dusty told him that came out of Debbie’s mouth, it was clear Debbie had cast herself firmly in the role of the black sheep of the Holliday family. This included a variety of imaginary slights and insults most of which she figured were delivered by Dusty all because Dusty was being Dusty.
It didn’t take a family psychologist to study the Hollidays and see that Debbie’s career drive was her being hell-bent to earn the respect of her family. Or she was simply different than them but instead of just finding herself and going on to find happiness, she wanted it all and was pissed they wouldn’t shoehorn her into their world where she simply didn’t fit.
Mike was thinking the latter. The last twenty-four hours he’d spent more time with Dusty than Debbie since he broke up with her two and a half decades ago. But she’d been his girlfriend for two years. What Debbie Holliday wanted, she found a way to get and she was perfectly willing to expend a goodly amount of energy and her considerable brainpower conniving a way to get it.
Frankly, in the end, he couldn’t wait to get quit of her but he’d never told that shit to anyone. Before he hooked up with Debbie, Darrin was a friend and remained a friend after their breakup. He respected the Hollidays too much to talk trash about their daughter. And then there was Dusty.
“Right,” Dusty broke into his thoughts, “I gotta go take off my shoes and prepare to be strip searched
The good news about this was that Debbie had not done this in front of the family and inferred during the fight that she didn’t intend to share, “You fucked my ex-boyfriend while Darrin is still fresh in his grave,” because it would, “Just break Mom’s heart.”
With Dusty going, Debbie knowing about them and being on a tear about it, that was the only good news there was.
When he’d told her about his call, Dusty, being what he was learning was Dusty, didn’t give a shit that Rivera put one and one together and got the budding couple that was Mike and Dusty.
She’d just grinned and said, “So she knows about five hours before she would have known. No skin off my nose.”
Mike had to admit, after Audrey’s unrelenting bullshit and Vi’s unrelenting but unintentional drama, the laidback Dusty was a breath of seriously fucking fresh air.
“Debbie’ll get home, get involved in her life and cool down,” Mike told her. “It’ll all be good.”
“Debbie’ll carry this shit to her grave,” Dusty muttered then winced because she herself had struck close to the bone.
“Honey,” he whispered.
She sighed.
Then she said, “I’ll leave it a week. Give her a call. Try to smooth things over.”
“Maybe you two should just figure out how to be family at the same time avoiding each other,” Mike suggested.
“Uh…do you know my Mom and Dad?” Dusty asked, Mike grinned and gave her a squeeze.
“Yeah, I do. But they don’t have to live her bullshit. You do. She’s a successful attorney. She’s gotta know how to broker a deal. Find a way to make it so you two are kosher in front of the parents but you keep strictly to your corners all other times. She’ll see the advantages of a deal like that and go all in.”
“I’m not sure family works like that,” she muttered. “But I’ll give it a try.”
Truthfully, Mike wasn’t sure either. He was an only child. His Mom and Dad were functional. Good, solid parents he loved and respected who gave him a working moral compass and a decent upbringing. Great grandparents who doted on their grandchildren in a way that only skated the edges of spoiling them rotten. They had his back through the divorce with Audrey and they had his back when he fought for full custody but they didn’t have it in a way they were in his face. He just knew they had it which was all they needed to do. His family didn’t have dramas. Just lots of love and good times.
And, with the shit Dusty told him that came out of Debbie’s mouth, it was clear Debbie had cast herself firmly in the role of the black sheep of the Holliday family. This included a variety of imaginary slights and insults most of which she figured were delivered by Dusty all because Dusty was being Dusty.
It didn’t take a family psychologist to study the Hollidays and see that Debbie’s career drive was her being hell-bent to earn the respect of her family. Or she was simply different than them but instead of just finding herself and going on to find happiness, she wanted it all and was pissed they wouldn’t shoehorn her into their world where she simply didn’t fit.
Mike was thinking the latter. The last twenty-four hours he’d spent more time with Dusty than Debbie since he broke up with her two and a half decades ago. But she’d been his girlfriend for two years. What Debbie Holliday wanted, she found a way to get and she was perfectly willing to expend a goodly amount of energy and her considerable brainpower conniving a way to get it.
Frankly, in the end, he couldn’t wait to get quit of her but he’d never told that shit to anyone. Before he hooked up with Debbie, Darrin was a friend and remained a friend after their breakup. He respected the Hollidays too much to talk trash about their daughter. And then there was Dusty.
“Right,” Dusty broke into his thoughts, “I gotta go take off my shoes and prepare to be strip searched
Similar Books
