Starting Over by Mia Malone
Chapter Thirteen
Lilyanne
Tony
“You met her ex?”
“Pathetic asshole,” Tony said. “Yeah, I met him. Rosie and I went up to Bellingham yesterday. I needed to talk to them about shit, and she hasn’t met the guys up there, so we took the bikes and had lunch with a few of them and their women. Drove back via Chuckanut. It was a nice day, and we had Blue with us, so we stopped in Larrabee to let him run for a while. The ex was there with some friends.” He chuckled and rolled his eyes at the memory. “They had a fucking picnic. All the men were in vests and shiny fucking leather pants, but the women had brought goddamned tablecloths for the picnic tables.”
“Christ,” Coop said with a laugh.
“Hey, sorry I’m late,” Finn said as he walked out on the deck. “Hope you made yourself at home in my home.”
“We did,” Tony said and waved his hand over the coffee mugs.
“What did I miss?”
“Andy is making some noise, but everyone we talk to laughs about it. His lawyer told our lawyers that he owns the Cascadia House. Our lawyers told the shyster to get the fuck out of their offices and go suck an egg,” Coop said.
“Really?” Finn asked, brows high on his forehead.
“Yup. Not using those words obviously, but that’s the gist.”
“Okay. What else?”
“Financials looks so good I’m thinking about buying a new bike, and Tony was just sharing how he met Rosie’s ex.”
“You met him? Richard, right?”
“Yeah,” Tony said and grinned at them. “He told me to call him Dick, and I replied that I already did.” Finn and Coop burst out laughing like Rosie had done, although she had hidden it with a slight cough. “He didn’t get it,” Tony muttered.
“What’s he like?” Finn asked. “Addie met him briefly and said he was nice, but she didn’t seem to like him much. Bland was the word she used.”
Tony wasn’t sure what to say since he had a hard time seeing the Rosie he knew in a marriage with the man he’d met or with that group of people in general. They’d exchanged platitudes, and some of the men glanced at his vest and bike and had looked like they’d shit themselves when they noticed the patch that announced his presidential status.
“Bland sounds about right,” he said with a shrug and couldn’t hide a high level of smugness when he added, “Blue didn’t even look at him.”
“I guess stumbling upon her ex in the middle of fucking nowhere would rattle Rosie some?”
“She was pissed, but mostly since it seems the dick had somehow given them the impression that he’d given her the house.”
One of the women had said something flippantly about how nice it was of Richard to let Rosie keep the house and how fantastic it was that she’d sold it for such a good price. The implication that Rosie should share the profit with her ex had been clear, but before Rosie had a chance to voice the pissed-off comments he could see on her face, Tony calmly informed them that since it had been Rosie’s house all along, Dick hadn’t actually let her do anything. That had shut the woman up, and they exchanged a few more platitudes about the weather before he suggested that they should get moving.
“She got a lot of cash for it, so that has to sting,” Finn said.
“It was never his house, Finn,” Tony said quietly. “Her asshole of a father bought it and put it in her name. Gave it to her as a wedding present and tried to use that to get invited to the festivities.”
“Jesus.”
“Yeah. The dick apparently thought it would be a nice gesture to let them be there and that they wouldn’t have to talk to them. Rosie was caving in, but her grandparents put their feet down firmly, and the asshole wasn’t allowed on the premises.”
“Didn’t Rosie tell her ex what her father did to her?”
“She did.”
“What a moron.”
“Yup.”
They sat in silence for a while, and then Coop sighed deeply and leaned forward.
“Right,” he said. “Got some shit to share, and you won’t like it.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Tony muttered. “Now what?”
“Balance is shifting among the women,” Coop said. “We’ve seen it coming, but it’s escalating.”
Tony knew exactly what Coop meant, and he had indeed seen it coming. It had started the day they went on Addie’s maiden voyage. Rosie led the women on that trip, and it had somehow naturally continued that way since then, which wasn’t surprising with Emma in Arizona and his mother not being around as much as she had been in the past.
He had also heard how the men referred to her as his old lady, which wasn’t so strange since they were living together, and Rosie might think that was temporary, but it wasn’t. He hadn’t figured out how to bring up the fact that she should stay with him, but since her attempts to find alternative accommodations had been half-hearted, to say the least, he’d figured it could wait.
So, Coop was correct. The balance was shifting, and it wasn’t just about Rosie. Addie was handling anything related to food and consequently dinners, and Momo had kicked off the highly needed renovation of the living room at the house.
“I know,” he said when Coop didn’t elaborate. “Do we have a situation? I can’t see Mom getting into a catfight, and she said the other day that it was a relief to attend a dinner without having to organize it.”
“Not Katie. Emma.”
“Fuck,” Finn growled exasperatedly. “What did she do?”
“She said some shit, and you know how she is. She meant it as a joke, except it was about Momo.”
“Fuck,” Finn repeated, this time angrily.
“Exactly,” Coop agreed. “And everyone loves Momo, so someone told her.”
“How is she?”
“She’s pissed but holding back because it’s Emma.”
“How’s Chao?”
“Fucking furious but holding back because it’s Emma.”
“What did she say?” Tony asked, knowing that it could be anything from a minor insult to a massive clusterfuck.
“She’s nicknamed her Momo-the-muumuu.”
Had it been any other woman, that would have gotten at least a small chuckle because it wasn’t nice, but it was apt. Momo had never been skinny, and she’d put on a few pounds as the years passed by. And she liked wearing loose dresses in various colorful and flowery prints.
“Jesus,” Tony said and looked at Coop. “Call Emma and get her over here right fucking now.”
Fifteen minutes later, Emma joined them, sat down on the couch next to Finn with a broad smile on her face, and was about to lean her head on his shoulder like Tony had seen her do numerous times since she was just a little girl. Finn made a subtle move, which shifted him away from Emma, and her eyes widened slightly.
“What’s going on?” she asked and narrowed her brows. “Has something happened?”
“You’ve come up with a nickname for Momo,” Tony said. “Not fucking cool at all, Emma.”
“How would you –” She cut herself off, and something Tony hoped was remorse flashed in her eyes, but then she sneered. “Goddamned gossiping blabbermouths. Who was it?”
“Emma,” Tony barked. “It doesn’t matter who told on you for Christ’s sake. You are a damned grownup and should know better. And on top of that, what the hell were you thinking? Badmouthing Momo of all people when everyone loves her?” He raised a hand when it seemed as if she’d snap back at him and growled, “Every-fucking-one loves Momo, and that absolutely includes me.”
“And me,” Finn said. “Fucked up big time with this, Emma.”
“I agree,” Coop said and kept his calm, steady gaze on her. “Tony was right. This was very uncool of you.”
She looked at them and then to the side with a slight wince.
“Emma,” Tony said. “It’s fixable, but you need to go straight over there and apologize, and you’d better fucking mean it.”
“Apologize for what?” a female voice asked from the kitchen door, and Tony sighed.
His goddamned mother had arrived with Milo in tow, and she did not look happy. Finn explained what Emma had said, and then they were silent for a while.
“Oh, Emma,” Katie said with a deep sigh but turned to Tony.
She had a wary look in her eyes, and he straightened.
“What?” he asked.
“It’s worse,” she said. “She also said it’s good that Rosie has sturdy thighs because she needs them when she’s stomping around the Cascadia House as if she owns it.”
Tony blinked a few times, wondering if he’d heard what he was pretty sure he’d heard, and then he turned slowly toward his sister.
“She’d better not have heard you say that,” he said, not even trying to hold the anger out of his voice.
“Well, her thighs aren’t skinny,” Emma said breezily and crossed her own legs with a glance toward Coop and Finn.
There was a short, stunned silence during which Tony wondered if the top of his head would blow clean off and disappear into the stratosphere. What in the hell was Emma talking about? She made it sound as if Rosie was overweight, which she wasn’t at all, and regardless, it wasn’t something Emma should comment on. Then he narrowed his eyes to look at his sister and realized she’d lost weight, and it didn’t look good on her.
“Tony,” Katie said quietly. “She knows.”
“What the fuck?”
“Lilyanne was in the house when Rosie walked in to put some things in your fridge, and she told her. She said a lot more, so Rosie isn’t going to be there when you get home.”
“Lilyanne?”
“Yes.”
“In my fucking home?” He didn’t wait for a reply and snarled, “How the hell did she even get into the house in the first place?”
“I gave her the key,” Katie said with a wince.
“Mom?”
His mother had a spare key, and he hadn’t told her to not hand it out to women he’d slept with because he hadn’t expected her to ever do something that stupid.
“She said she’d left some stuff behind and wanted to pick it up. I didn’t think –”
“You didn’t think?” Tony roared and got up to face his mother and sister. “Oh, but you were both thinking alright,” he growled, turning to Emma, “What I wanna know is how the hell you could think it was okay to say shit like that about Rosie?”
“Lily is my friend,” Emma said defiantly. “We were just having fun.”
“Some friend you’ve got there,” Coop snorted out, which Tony ignored and glared at his mother.
“And you thought it was okay to give Lilyanne that key?” He raised both his hands and took a deep breath, trying valiantly to rein in his temper. “Mom. You know very well who Lilyanne is, but I’ll spell it out for you. This is a woman I’ve occasionally fucked but never once left alone in my home and haven’t even laid eyes on in six, fuck it’s almost eight months. And you gave her the key to my fucking home where she could run through my stuff and fill my woman’s head with so much shit she left?”
“Tony, I –”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” he yelled.
***
Rosie
I tried to hand the small bag to Addie, but her face was determined and angry, and she pulled me into the house without a word.
“You’ll give it to him,” she said hoarsely. “They need to see this.”
Before I could ask who the unspecified they were, I was pushed gently out through their patio doors, and I heard Tony yell loudly at his mother. Katie had apparently gone straight to Finn’s house to let her son know about the presence of an unexpected visitor in his home.
My gut burned, and I wanted to scream out loud, but I didn’t. I gathered what strength I had left after the unpleasant discussion I’d just had with a woman who may or may not be Tony’s girlfriend.
Lilyanne.
That’s what she said her name was, and I didn’t like the way she had applied generous amounts of bleach on her hair. I also had a much lighter hand with foundation than she did, but she looked good for her age, which was in the area of my age.
Everyone stared at me in silence as I stepped out on Finn’s porch, so I cleared my throat.
“I didn’t realize you’d all be – I’m sorry. I just wanted to drop this off.”
I dropped the small bag on the floor and raised my hand, holding out a key with a silver charm looking like a whale’s tail attached to it.
Tony had bought it for me the day before in a small tourist shop in Bellingham.
“Rosie, no,” he said and took a step toward me.
“I’m leaving for a while,” I said, and the words hurt so bad, but I didn’t know what else to do.
He’d said that I shouldn’t walk away from a fight, but this was one I didn’t want to have because I didn’t know how it would end.
Couldn’t handle how it might end.
“I am so sorry she was there to –”
I made a hoarse sound which cut him off.
“It isn’t about her,” I said quietly. “I know you fucked women before me, and you’ll fuck other women after me. I didn’t expect to find your ex or current or whatever girlfriend in your house, offering to make coffee,” I made a small, rueful smile, “I would have appreciated a heads up, but it is what it is.”
“If it isn’t about her, then why are you leaving?”
“I know I don’t fit in, Tony. They didn’t have to rub it in so hard, though. I already knew because I never do.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m not stupid, so I knew they didn’t like me.” I refused to look at the others on the porch as I went on, “I thought, you know? We’d figure it out. I’m not a bad person, and they might –” I had to pause and swallow because my throat suddenly hurt in a way that made it hard to speak. “But your sister said I was stomping around on my fat legs, and your mother told your girlfriend to make herself at home in your house.”
His eyes hardened, and he turned toward Katie.
“Mom. Did you –”
The look on her face made him stop speaking abruptly. It was clear that she had indeed said that.
“I meant –”
“Don’t give a fuck,” he said dismissively and turned back to me.
“Your girlfr –”
“Stop calling her that,” he snarled. “She’s a woman I’ve fucked sometimes over the years, and you should know that I’m in no way the only one in the club who has done that. I haven’t seen her once since well before I met you the first time.”
I blinked because this was not what Lilyanne had told me.
It seemed as if he expected a response from me, so I mumbled, “So, she’s just someone you all... do when you feel like it?”
“Yes.” I stared at him, so he pulled a hand impatiently through his hair and muttered, “She likes it like that. Beats me, but she gets off on the bikes and the vests, or whatever.”
“When you thought I was an overaged groupie, it was because women like her –”
I stopped speaking when he nodded slowly. Of course, I thought. Rock bands had groupies, and other celebrities did too. In a way, Tony and the men in the core Cascadia chapter would be famous within the biker community.
“No one is treating her like shit, but that’s what she is.”
“Okay,” I whispered, not sure where this took us.
I couldn’t just go back to his house and accept that he might feel like fucking a middle-aged fangirl one day. Or, since he was Tony and looked like he did, it might be a young and perky fangirl.
“Baby, this is gonna make me sound like a massive douche,” he said quietly. “But women like her are like McDonald’s.
“What?” I asked shakily, staring at him as he came closer.
“Convenient, cheap, and fills a need, but you won’t go back if you have other options.”
“Oh, God,” I murmured, and he put his hands gently on my cheeks and leaned in closer.
“You, Rosalind,” he said. “You’re a five-star restaurant, where every single plate is a work of art. Where everything you get served fills your mouth with a fucking explosion of flavors that makes a man want to come back for more. Makes him satisfied and full in a way he wants to stay and not ever leave again.”
“Tony...” I breathed out and felt a tear leak out of my right eye.
“Baby, I am so sorry. Give me half an hour,” he said and straightened again.
“For what?”
“To pack my bags.”
“What?”
“You leave – I leave.”
“But –”
“That’s how it works.”
I stared at him, not entirely sure what was going on.
“Tony, for fuck’s sake,” Finn muttered.
“Like you wouldn’t do exactly the same?” Tony asked.
Their eyes met, and Finn smiled in a way that made my nose tingle and my eyes burn.
“Coop and I will handle shit here,” he said.
“I know.”
“Tony, you can’t leave,” I protested. “What about the club? And your family?”
“I thought it was just my asshole of a dad, but most of my fucking family apparently sucks so bad I don’t even know what to say. And the club will be fine with or without me. I don’t care.”
“You’re making way too much out of this,” Emma snapped. “Why does everyone have to be such drama-queens?”
By everyone, she meant me, which wasn’t lost on Tony, who swung around with a scowl, ready to rip his sister a new one.
“I’m not one actually,” I said, loudly and with as much composure as I could gather. “What I am is a pretty calm woman who doesn’t trust easily. I don’t forget easily either.”
“Rosie,” Tony said, but I ignored him.
I kept my focus on Emma, who was hard-faced and angry, but I noticed how she had started fiddling with her hands.
“That woman stood in Tony’s kitchen, making coffee, and wearing his flannel, talking about how you are like sisters and how glad you are that she’s back in Seattle because now it’ll be Tony and Lily again. According to her, you want that because I’m overbearing and loud and have fat thighs,” I snapped.
Katie made a soft sound, and Milo muttered something under his breath, but everyone else remained silent.
“I won’t forget that,” I said, suddenly feeling mostly weary and sad, but I gathered up energy and added, “I don’t give a shit about you, Emma, so if I even try, it’s because I do give a shit about him.”
There was another long silence while I waited for Tony’s sister to say something, which hopefully was at least a half-assed apology. Then Addie cleared her throat.
“I don’t forget quickly either,” she murmured and touched my shoulder gently. “Are you okay?”
“No,” I said simply.
“Okay,” she said. “But Rosie... We’ve had a lot of fun, haven’t we?
“Yeah,” I said and tried to smile, but it wasn’t a happy one. “How’s Momo?”
“Pissed off.”
She would be.
“She doesn’t work until tomorrow morning,” I said, knowing that Addie would understand what I meant.
“I’ll grab a bag of cinnamon rolls from the freezer.”
Addie’s cinnamon rolls were known among the women as the cure for anything from heartbreak to the flu, so the smile I gave her was for real.
“I’ll apologize,” Emma said quietly.
“You won’t mean it, so don’t bother,” Addie said coolly and walked into the kitchen.
***
Tony
“We’ll go away for a few days,” he stated. “We need some time away from this shit.”
“Okay,” Rosie said quietly.
“I’ll go home and pack a bag.”
“I need to see Momo,” Rosie countered. “I want to make sure she’s okay, and Tony...” She suddenly looked a little sad again. “It’s your family. I don’t have to see them.”
“What?”
“We can coexist in Hark Falls without talking to each other, but it’s your mom and sister. You have to deal with them, and you need to start right now.”
“Baby,” he said, not at all interested in talking to neither his goddamned mother nor sister.
“You have to,” she insisted. “You don’t walk away from a fight because then it festers, remember? Deal with them, then pack a bag. I’ll be at Momo and Chao’s house, so text me when you’re ready, okay?”
He wanted to tell her exactly how much she meant to him but nodded and slid the back of his hand over her cheek.
Okay, baby,” he murmured. “I’ll give you a couple of hours. Tell Chao I’ll call both him and Momo.”
“Don’t apologize for her. She shouldn’t have done things you have to apologize for.”
“Don’t talk about me as if I’m not here,” Emma snapped.
Tony was about to tell her to shut the fuck up, but Rosie was quicker, and the sad and tired look on her face was replaced by another burst of anger.
“How will Momo feel every time she pulls one of her fucking fantastic dresses over her head?” she said in a voice so harsh and angry Tony took a small step backward. “Will she feel gorgeous, or fat? And how do you think I will feel when I wipe down that countertop?” she hissed. “Will I manage to wipe her off, or will a little piece of her always be there? What if I remember her every time I make morning coffee, and it taints what your brother and I might have done before I got out of bed? And when he wears that flannel? Will I hug him or step away? Words have consequences, Emma. You are not a goddamned teenager, so you should know that. I get that I’m not the kind of woman you wanted for your brother, but he wanted me, and you should have thought about him. Not you.” She stabbed the air with her finger. “Him.”
There was a long silence when Rosie stopped speaking, and then she nodded toward him, squeezed his hand gently, and took a step toward the patio doors.
“Please let me say that I’m so, so sorry,” Katie said quietly. “I raised a man who compares women to fast food, and my daughter is shallow and mean. And I was stressed, and on my way to – It doesn’t matter. I said things that Lilyanne repeated out of context, but I said them, and I gave her the key to Tony’s house, and I’m sorry.”
The women looked at each other in silence, and then Rosie exhaled softly.
“Okay,” she said. “Apology accepted.”
“Can we meet when you come back?” Katie asked. “I don’t want to just coexist, and I don’t want this to –” Her voice broke slightly, and she swallowed. “Can we find a way?”
Rosie nodded slowly, the grip she had on his hand loosened, and Tony relaxed slightly.
“We can try,” she said. “I’m not promising anything.”
“That’s all I ask for.”
Rosie nodded once, and then she left.
He wanted to go with her, but she’d been right. He needed to deal with his fucking family, so he turned and looked at the people gathered in front of him.
“Right, let’s –”
“Katie fucked up in a way that’s fixable, and she started that process already,” Milo boomed. “You, Emma, are a spoiled brat who needs to grow the fuck up.”
“What?”
“You’re a lot more than tits and ass and a pretty face,” Milo said. “You came back and discovered that you weren’t the queen bee anymore, and that threw you into a shit-fit worthy of a hormonal seventeen-year-old. You need to figure out that you’re worth a lot more than your looks, and my advice is to do it at warp fucking speed, or you’ll lose a lot of people you care about.”
And with that, Milo had quickly put the spotlight on what the real problem was.