“Really good with the gifts. I don’t know why he’s not hitting you with way more gifts. I would advise this if he ever talked strategy with me, but he’s too far up your ass. I’ve got all this good advice for luring you in, and it’s just going to waste. Our bedroom is so empty you can basically hear an echo.”
Grimacing faintly, she glances over at me. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to hog him, it’s just he won’t leave. I’ve told him to. But then when he does, it makes me sad. I can’t win for losing.”
“You ever consider… maybe forgiving him?”
Her eyes widen at me like I’m a traitor, so before she can even speak, I’m talking again.
“I know it was really bad! I understand. I mean, obviously way different circumstances, but he was responsible for my husband’s death, too. And if you remember correctly, back when I told you that, you totally thought he killed Rodney to get him out of the way because he wanted me. So, logically, you knew Mateo was capable of doing that.”
“It’s different when it actually happens,” she says, frowning. “I was also mostly joking when I said that. And Rodney was a stranger. Vince was family.”
“I know. I just want us all to be happy, and we can’t be as long as you’re not. No pressure, obviously, but… you know. Happy is nice.”
Mia sighs miserably, dropping her makeup and sitting down on the edge of the giant Jacuzzi tub. “I feel like I owe it to Vince though. I can’t just forgive Mateo. I can’t.”
Now we’re gettin’ somewhere. “But do you really think Vince would want you to be unhappy?” I stop her before she can respond. “Angel Vince. Not sulky, possessive, I-hate-Mateo Vince. But assuming there’s a heaven and he’s up there walking around on Reese’s peanut butter cup paved roads with Twinkie cars and Oreo traffic signs—”
“What?” she asks, looking at me like I’ve lost my mind.
“My heaven is heavily food-based, okay? The point is, Vince loved you. A lot. Like, a lot a lot. Maybe even triple a lot. He would not want you to spend the rest of your life miserable for his sake. He wouldn’t. Even if it means you being happy with Mateo. He isn’t here now, and I know that sucks and it’s shitty and Mateo is definitely going to hell for it, no Reese’s cup roads for him. But I think, since you can’t be with him, Vince would want you to be happy with someone else. He was too possessive for that in life, he would’ve never been happy for you if you just moved on and had to sit next to him at family dinner for the rest of our lives, but since that isn’t the case, right or wrong, I refuse to believe he would support this misery crusade.”
“So, if someone murdered you, you would be like, ‘hey, yeah, I know you murdered me, but go be happy with my lover, I’m totally fine with that’?” she questions, giving me a heavily skeptical look.
“Well, maybe if there were Reese’s cup roads,” I reply.
Mia shakes her head at me. “You chocolate whore.”
Chapter Twenty Five
Meg
“Is this fun?”
I glance beside me, looking up at Mateo. “Is what fun?”
He indicates the short line of people in front of us on the sidewalk, waiting to get into the theater. “You get your kicks waiting in lines, right?”
I roll my eyes, flashing him a smile. “Oh, right. Yes, I’m having a blast.”
“Elise isn’t going to be happy about this,” Adrian states, warily glancing around before looking ahead at the lobby doors.
Mia is hanging back by him, apparently deciding he is the lesser of two evils. I grin at Adrian. “Especially since it totally looks like you’re on a date with Mia,” I tell him. “Want me to take a picture and send it to her?” I ask, pulling my cell phone out. “Put your arm around Mia’s waist. I’ll write ‘wish you were here!’”
Adrian gives me the dead eye, daring me to do that.
“You girls and your damn pictures,” Mateo mutters.
“Well, maybe if you weren’t so old you’d get it,” I inform him with mock-delicacy, slipping the phone back into my little handbag.
“I’m not quite 34,” he points out. “I won’t need a cane anytime soon.”
“Ancient. We’re both barely out of high school.”
“You’re far past high school,” Mateo replies, rolling his eyes.
“Well, Mia isn’t,” I point out.
“Hey, she’s Adrian’s date; take it up with him.”
“Keep it up,” Adrian says, shaking his head.
Mateo smirks, sparing me a secret wink. I grin, leaning into his side and wrapping an arm around him.
I don’t expect Mia to join in. During the car ride here she was committed to not enjoying herself, but she surprises all of us when she says, “I probably would’ve dated Adrian.”