“I’m with you,” she said softly.
“I need to believe in that,” I told her, then continued with the honesty. “I love you, but I can’t be making my plays in that game, focusing my attention on that and dealing with you or any of the Rock Chicks at the same time.”
Her hand came out again and curled around mine. “I’m with you. I get you. I understand. And you can believe in that,” she stated firmly.
Yeah. I could believe in that. Indy wouldn’t lie to me.
Or she would (told you we were cut from the same cloth), just not about something like this.
I drew in breath and let it out, saying, “Thank you.”
She grinned and replied, “Our next come to Jesus, should there be one, which I hope there isn’t, but if there is and you feel the need to court the wrath of Tex, let’s do it at Paris on the Platte so I can get a Café Fantasia and make it worth it.”
Shit. I should have thought of that. Paris had the second best coffees in Denver.
I grinned back. “Agreed.”
Her hand tightened on mine. “Love you, honey.”
Again with the breath, this one going in deep and coming out deeper. “Right back at cha, sister.”
She let me go, let the tough part go, and I knew this because she again sat back and she changed the subject.
“So. Ren Zano. He’s hot. You’re hot. You look great together. And bonus, he doesn’t seem to mind you throwing a punch at him at a wedding, which is good news for you.”
I laughed because this was true.
She continued after I stopped laughing and she did it smiling, “So you love him. He loves you. Are there Catholic classes in your future?”
My brows drew together. I wasn’t following.
“What?”
“They’re Italian. They’re Catholic. You’re not. You’re Presbyterian, and the last time you were in a church, the reverend had to stop services to shout at you to turn your headphones off because AC/DC’s ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ was screwing up his message.”
This was true.
And I’d learned from this to sit in the back.
“In other words, I’m not sure you’re going to convince them your gig is more important than theirs. What does Ren say about that?” she asked.
I didn’t know what Ren said about that. Ren and I had been too busy breaking a commandment to discuss religion.
Or pretty much anything.
“We haven’t gotten that far,” I answered, and I saw her brows draw together over her shades.
“Okay,” she said slowly. “So what about the families? How are you going to handle that?”
At least I had that sorted.
“They’re just going to have to deal,” I announced, and Indy stared at me.
Then she repeated, but in a question, “They’re just going to have to deal?”
“Yep,” I replied nonchalantly.
“Ally, honey, you have met your father, haven’t you?” she asked.
I waved my hand between us. “Indy, it’ll be cool.”
She ignored me.
“And Hank.”
“Hank wants me happy,” I reminded her.
“He does. With a cop, a firefighter or marine.”
This was true, too.
“Well, he isn’t getting any of those,” I pointed out.
“So what you’re saying is, you’re telling them you’re getting in the family business at the same time hooking your star to a man who’s already in the family business, but his family business is family business, and you think it’ll all be cool?”
“Not immediately,” I conceded. “Eventually.”
“I’m thinking you might need to add nuances to your plan,” she suggested.
“And I’m thinking I’m me. They all know me and have my whole life. They know I do what I want and find a way to get what I want. I want Ren. They love me, they’ll deal. They give me shit, I’ll deal… for a while. It continues, they make a choice. But I’ve already made mine.”
“Lee was broody last night, and in his many levels of broody, it was beyond the my-sister’s-apartment-exploded broody, which is at the top of the scale. I think you get that’s a little scary,” she shared, and she would know his many levels of broody. She’d lived through them all, repeatedly.
But I understood what she was saying.
Ren and I had made it official. This meant it wasn’t a fling those around us could pretend wasn’t happening and wait for it to be over.
It meant it was something they had to deal with.
I was a little sister to two alpha male brothers. Me finding a man was going to be something they would not dig dealing with normally.
Ren being a Zano didn’t make matters better.
“Not to be a bitch or anything, but that’s not my problem. It’s Lee’s,” I replied.
“It’s his and what’s his is mine,” she returned.
I was hitting another conversational danger zone. I could feel it.
So I moved to avoid it.
“Indy, babe, I told Ren I was worried that you were mad at me. He called me just before you showed to check in. He was concerned about me and didn’t hesitate showing it. That’s sweet. That’s also Ren. He does that kind of thing all the time, even when I considered us f**k buddies. I’ll admit he and I have things to discuss. I’ve been closed down for a year so we haven’t done much of that. We’ll also do it. And with the families, I get this road is going to be rocky. What I’m saying is, when they see the way he is with me,” I leaned in, “I promise you, they’ll deal.” I leaned back and finished, “It’d help if you had my back on that, too.”
“Last time I saw you with Ren, you aimed a punch at him,” she reminded me.
Shit.
“So,” she went on, “I think I need to delay my answer to that until I see him with you.”
I could give her that.
Totally.
“Deal,” I agreed.
She shook her head but muttered, “Deal.”
I sucked back some coffee and asked, “How much shit am I facing with the Rock Chicks?”
“They’ve had a whole night to rip it to shreds so they’ve mostly burned it out. They’ll get over it,” she answered. “Tex is beside himself, though. He’s going stir crazy without anything exploding or anyone getting kidnapped. He likes to be a sidekick and he’s got grenades and tear gas that are going unused. He doesn’t need to use them, but he prefers living a life where that might be a possibility.”