Cowboys & Horses

Chapter 37

So here we were, four weeks later, stood in front of my parents house in typical rainy England. Brady squeezed my hand and gave me a reassuring kiss.

"Come on, cowgirl, let's get this over with."

We'd arranged to come over for two reasons—one to finalise the split of all the assets with Ben, and two so my parents could meet Brady—although they didn't know this yet. Walking through the front door, the one thing I hadn't been expecting to see was my sister's Jimmy Choo's in the hallway.

As if I'd been smacked in the face with a shovel, I froze. Brady's bulky mass bumped into me from behind. Bile rose in the back of my throat as a furious mix of nerves and anger boiled in my stomach. My parents knew what time I was arriving, why did they allow her here?

"You ok?" Brady asked, stroking his hands up and down my arms.

I took just a couple of seconds to regain my composure and nodded. She was not going to get the better of me.

He planted a lingering kiss on the back of my head and for just a moment, I closed my eyes and revelled in it. Then came the familiar creak of the living room door being opened. I blinked my eyes open to see Alyssa stood staring at me.

Her perfect, curvy, bikini body had now dissolved into a thin skeleton. Her porcelain skin was dotted with angry red spots, and her usual vibrant green eyes were flat and sunken into their sockets. She looked dreadful. I smiled.

"Hi," she said, flickering her eyes to Brady behind me.

"Hands off, bitch," I said. If I could have spat venom, she would have had a face full of it.

"I'm sorry, Soph," she said, taking a step towards me. "I never meant for it to go that far."

"Oh, but you meant for it to happen?"

"No, of course not. I just...it just—"

"Save it," I said, striding forwards. "You did me a favour anyway—as I'm sure you can see."

I walked past her, knocking into her shoulder on purpose as I made my way through to greet my parents. After having seen her here, I wasn't surprised to see Ben sat on Mum's pristine cream leather sofa, smirking like the cat who'd got the cream.

"Howdy," he said, easing back into the soft leather like he owned the place. "Knew you'd come back."

"Like you know everything of course."

His gaze fell on Brady, and he clenched his jaw. "What's he doing here?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business," I said.

"Enough," Mum said, standing up from her beloved chair. The leather had more creases and wrinkles in it than a century old person, but it was incredibly comfy. "We want this aired, dried, and put away once and for all. This isn't just about you two. There are other people this affects too."

"You know what?" I said, fixing a steely glare on her. "I actually couldn't give two shits."

"Sophie Louise—"

"Save it," I said, putting my hands up in the air. "How many of you bothered to come out and see me after I nearly got eaten alive by a mountain lion, hmmm? And you," I said, glaring at Ben. "Left me in the hospital to come back for her."

"Sophie," Mum said, walking towards me. "We had both daughters in hospital at the same time. We could only be in one place at once. John assured us you were in the best of care and kept us updated every day."

I snorted. "Oh, well that's alright then."

Mum frowned. "Where's this attitude come from? Stop it now."