Her phone rang as she reprimanded her unrepentant companion. “Hey.”
“Sister from another mister.”
“Are you ever going to get tired of that?” Emilia asked as she leaned back in her chair and let her stepsister’s voice wash over her.”
“Probably not. How are you doing?”
“I’m fine.”
“Don’t bullshit me. I have toddlers, remember?”
“How are the twins?”
“Driving me nuts. April’s chewing on everything. She’s worse than the dog, and Ruby only chews on her sister. Little cannibal.”
“And Mark?”
“I will kill the next person who congratulates him for being a good dad just because he switched to working part-time to be home with the kids more.”
“Don’t do that. You’d go to jail, and I’d end up with the girls,” said Emilia.
“I’ll give them to you for free now if you want.”
“Nell isn’t ready for babysitting.”
“Anyway,” said Anna Maria, “Mom says you’re painting or something? It’s really irritating that you don’t post anything. It makes it hard to stalk you. Although maybe it’s for the best.”
“Haven’t gotten that far yet.”
“You know I’d be there in a heartbeat if you need me, right?”
“I know.”
“So how are you doing? Really. No bullshit.”
She let out a deep breath. “I’m okay. It’s hard.”
“You don’t need to do it alone.”
“I do, though.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. And it’s peaceful up here.”
“Well, that’s something. Oh, Christ.” A child’s wail nearly shattered Emilia’s eardrum as Anna Maria paused to coo over her offspring.
“Do you need to go?”
“In a second.”
Something about her tone alerted Emilia to trouble. “What?”
“Look, I don’t want to tell you this, but I don’t want you hearing about it from anyone else, either.”
Emilia waited.
“Hannah’s seeing someone else.”
The words stole her breath. She’d been expecting them, but that didn’t make them any easier to hear. “Anyone I know?”
“That friend of hers I never liked.”
“Skylar.”
“Yeah.”
She faked a shaky laugh. “Well, that figures.”
“You were too good for her anyway, Emmy.”
“If you say so.”
“I do say so.”
“Is that April or Ruby screaming?”
“How would I know?”
“You’re their mother?”
“I’m their hostage. I didn’t know it was possible to love something that drives you this crazy. Don’t bite your sister!”
“Go save your children from each other.”
“I think I have to. Call me if you need me, and try not to think about Hannah.”
“I won’t,” Emilia lied. Quiet settled over her again, made more pronounced by the absence of her nieces’ screams.
She’d managed to come to terms with her breakup with Hannah. Her depressive spiral and subsequent hospitalization, on top of her father’s death, had been too much for her ex. Hannah didn’t tolerate extended emotional duress well, and Emilia had been too lost to care when Hannah broke things off. The hurt came later, but by then it was just one more hurt, like a broken limb when her organs were all on fire.
Knowing that Hannah had found solace with Skylar was different. Skylar, with her perfect teeth and Hollywood complexion, who always stood a little too close to Hannah when Emilia left her side. Hannah had sworn she had no feelings for the other woman. Maybe she hadn’t. Maybe Skylar had been there for Hannah when Emilia fell apart, or maybe—and she couldn’t help focusing on this last possibility—Skylar had been there all along. She pressed her fingers against her temples and told herself she didn’t care. She didn’t want Hannah anymore. Let Skylar deal with her uncompromising opinions and her anal retentiveness.