Unlucky in Love

Who the hell was ringing the doorbell this early?

I groaned in complaint and turned over to nudge Dominic. “Go get the door,” I mumbled.

“You,”

I closed my eyes, ready to fall back asleep…and then the insistent ringing continued once more.

“Baby please,” I whined.

He groaned and got up slowly and I heard his footsteps go down the stairs. I tried to fall asleep again.

And you know what happened next?

Freaking Emma.

I looked at the clock and read that it was only a little after seven in the morning…on a Sunday. Irritated, I kicked off my blanket and got up. I stormed out of my room and into Emma’s room.

Emma couldn’t be blamed for being a baby—I wasn’t mad at her. I was mad at the dipshit who woke all of us up and for the fact that Emma was probably going to be really cranky later.

I didn’t know if it was normal for almost-toddlers to sleep through the night and be fairly well tempered, but I knew that if Emma didn’t get a full night’s sleep, she would make it hell for us later.

She was sitting up in her crib, pouting as usual. I took her out of her crib and changed her and then took her downstairs with me. I wanted to go to bed so badly. As I passed the front door, I heard the sickeningly sweet voice of Leah Ambrose—who was at the door and talking to Dominic.

My eyes flamed and I went up behind him and nudged the door open all the way with my foot.

“Leah, you know how early it is, right?” I asked.

She put on her best smile. “Yes, I was just taking a walk and I thought I’d come over and ask you guys a favor.”

“And what’s the favor?” I asked her, holding Emma tighter to me. I just didn’t like the way Leah looked at her…it was almost with envy. It wouldn’t surprise me if Leah was jealous that I was one, married to the guy she loved more than anything and two, had his baby who was the most adorable thing on the planet.

Dominic turned back to me and took Emma. “Em and I will go get breakfast. Why don’t you guys talk?” he told us, and then made a break back upstairs. I just stood there, with my arms folded across my chest, until Dominic came back down two minutes later, fully dressed and toting Emma.

They left, and I saw from behind Leah the car leaving the driveway. I sighed.

“You want to come in?” I asked.

“Sure,” I held the door open for her and then closed it behind her.

I went into the kitchen and she followed. “So what was the favor again?” I grabbed a can of Coke from the fridge and popped the top.

Leah sat on one of the island stools. “I was wondering if maybe you would consider selling us one of the puppies when they’re old enough. I was just thinking with the babies due in October, that we should have a puppy for them to play with.”

I just stared at her. “Leah, you don’t want newborns to play with puppies—they can get a little out of control sometimes. And besides, how do Sean, Autumn, and Logan feel about it?”

“I haven’t asked yet, but I just wanted to see if you would consider it before running the idea by them.”

“Well, Leah, I’m not so sure I want to sell them,”

That wasn’t true—I was ready to get rid of the little bastards now.

Leah sighed. “Please, Ember, it would really mean a lot to me.”

“Are you kidding me right now?”

She looked taken aback.

“Leah, do you have any idea how much I hate you? Not even about the shit you did in school, but just in general.”

“You hate me?”

I scoffed. “Yes! I seriously hate you! There have been times when I wished you would get hit by a bus—you have no idea how many times I’ve imagined killing you. So, no, you can’t have one of my dogs, because you so do not deserve it.”

Leah got up and smiled at me. “Ember, honey, this little grudge you have against me is really sad. I’m trying to be a nice neighbor, and you can’t let go of what happened in high school.”

“Leah, all this that you’re saying is what’s going on with you—you can’t get over the fact that I married your boyfriend. You can’t let go of the fact that he doesn’t want you.” I was surprised by the calm tone of my voice. “Do us a favor and leave us alone. Don’t try to be friends with Dominic; don’t try to gain my sympathy. Just back off.”

She started towards the door and turned back. “It was nice having this chat with you, Mrs. Nightingale.” She said my name as an insult, and I tried hard to calm myself after she left.

I went to the front door and locked it, and then sat down on the couch with Blondie in my lap. I turned on the TV and turned on Style Network. Supernanny was on, and I sat back and watched.

This show made me feel really good about how well behaved Emma was. I mean, she would probably be a handful at some point, but I was pretty confident that she wouldn’t be out of control.

The door opened and Dominic came in with a plastic bag and Emma. He set Emma down next to me and handed me a take-out plate. I opened the lid—French toast and bacon. He knew me so well.

“Did you and Leah talk?” he asked, handing me a little thing of syrup and a plastic fork.

I took a big bite of the French toast. “Kinda sorta,” I mumbled when I swallowed.

“Well what do you think?”

“I told her no.”

Dominic sighed. “Why?”

“Because I just don’t like her. I don’t want her to have anything of ours—I don’t even want her to be associated with us.”

“Ember, we can’t just ignore them. Just try to make the best of it, all right?”

“No, it’s not all right.” I set my food down on the coffee table and put Emma on my lap and held her tightly. “I want us to have our own lives—without any of them. I want Emma to grow up away from all of that. I thought it would all be fine when we moved here, but of course they had to come up here and fuck it all up!”

Instead of retaliating like he normally would have, Dominic rubbed my back soothingly. “We do have our own lives, Em. It doesn’t have to include them.”

I sighed quietly and rested my head on his shoulder. “I hope you’re right.”