“I don’t know. He seems nice enough, but I’m always worried when my investigators can’t find any dirt on a guy.”

Kelly paused for a second in the doorway between the kitchen and dining room at Nina’s place. Nina and Hannah were curled up on opposite ends of one of the couches in the living room just beyond the dining room.

“Shh,” Hannah whispered harshly.

It sounded like she said something, but Kelly was too far away to hear. Both women had their eyes fixated on the screen in front of them, so they didn’t see Kelly was on her way to rejoin them. Hurrying, Kelly ducked behind the wall separating the kitchen and dining room. She was curious who they were talking about, but since Hannah seemed to want to keep it quiet, she had a feeling the conversation would end if she joined them.

“Come on, Hans. I’m looking into him for her, so she might as well know it. Now that we know he’s interested and not just curious about the sickly-looking stick figure, we need to make sure she’s protected.”

Any doubt that Kelly was part of the conversation disappeared. Kelly hadn’t spent a lot of time with her cousin over the years, but she’d gotten a first-person crash course into how harsh Nina could be. Kelly doubted Nina could say anything she hadn’t heard before.

Kelly was used to bitches. She’d dealt with them for years, but Nina took things to a whole new level sometimes. It made Kelly feel sorry for Brady, but he seemed immune to the barbs his wife threw out.

Out in the other room, it was quiet, presumably from Hannah’s part of the conversation. The two women were such a contrast it took Kelly a while to figure out how or why they were even friends. They were exact opposites, which somehow made them the perfect friends. Kelly didn’t pretend to understand it, because she would’ve probably strangled Nina after hearing some of the things she’d done over the years.

“Tip-toeing around the fact she doesn’t eat isn’t going to make it magically better. She knows what she looks like, and apparently some guys like it. What we need to figure out is whether Jake is going to make things better or worse. You know family isn’t my thing, but my New Year’s resolution was to find some lost soul and take them under my wing. The year’s winding down, and I’ve decided she’s my lost soul.”

That explained a lot. Nina was incorrect about the idea that Kelly didn’t eat. She didn’t eat a lot, and it was easy to skip some meals, but she was trying to remind herself that she couldn’t do whatever she wanted anymore. She’d been in the hospital four times because of her nutrition issues. Taking care of two kids, meant doctors pumping fluids in her to get her up and running again was a little inconvenient.

“You’re going to tell me you don’t think she needs help? Come on, you’re the compassionate one. I’m just doing what I think you would do.”

“I’m not saying she doesn’t need help, but since she’s listening in, I think you should keep your voice down.”

Kelly grimaced at Hannah’s words. She wished the woman would have spoken up sooner. Not knowing she was a charity case made the friendships she thought she for once had more believable.

Did Jake think of her as just another charity case? Other than the one time he’d touched her by the stairs, he’d spent hours at the house with her and hadn’t touched her. If Nina was looking into him, he wasn’t in on their pity party, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t decided to start one of his own.

Kelly didn’t need people’s pity. Her issues were mostly her own making. She hadn’t had the opportunities her cousin had as far as starting her own business at eighteen. Kelly may not have wanted for anything as a kid, but her grades weren’t exactly good enough to get into the top-rate college her sister had gone off to.

When Evan walked into the diner and told her he could make her a star, it seemed unbelievable, but it was a chance she thought she had to take. She’d been tired of being the sister everyone sighed about when someone brought her up.

Peeking around the corner, she saw both Hannah’s green eyes and Nina’s blue ones were focused on her. She smiled and waved, walking into the room with the popcorn bowl held out in front of her.

“Sorry about eavesdropping.”

She wasn’t really sorry, but she didn’t know what else to say. Asking them to call her a skeleton loser to her face just didn’t feel right.

“You have nothing to be sorry about,” Hannah said as she held out her hands to take the bowl.

What little appetite Kelly had was non-existent, so she readily handed it over. More than anything, she wanted to hold onto it and scarf the entire bowl – full of plenty of melted butter –down, but she couldn’t.

Kelly’s spot was on another couch, and she reclaimed it. The furniture was all modern throughout the bits of the house she’d seen, unlike the more traditional furniture at her sister’s house. Kirsten’s place could’ve used some black leather furniture when Fiona decided to color Kelly’s hair in with a marker one day as she slept.

The couch had a blanket that was permanently in place to cover the stain, a little glue from the junk drawer had helped solve that problem, and Kelly had dyed her hair to blend in the marker that didn’t want to come out even after twenty washes. She had no idea where Fiona got the marker, but Kelly had learned she had to sleep with one eye open.

“Really? Because it feels like I do. You’ve obviously deemed me pathetic enough that I’m the charity case of the month.”

“Months,” Nina corrected.

Scoffing a little sardonically, Kelly shrugged and tucked her legs up on the couch. The leather was cool against her skin, making her wish she’d been offered a blanket. It was turning to fall outside, but the temperatures during the day were still warm, so she’d worn a thin baby blue shirtdress for her night in with the girls.

Hannah shushed Nina again, earning her a glare from her best friend. Kelly wasn’t sure which she preferred, someone who was willing to hide how they felt or someone who told her things she didn’t want to hear. She supposed it was better knowing where she stood.

“The only way you can be a charity case is if you see yourself that way. No matter what you heard Nina say, us hanging out isn’t about charity. It’s about helping family, which Nina needs reminding of sometimes. She’s not exactly used to having family around she cares about.”

Nina moved forward so she could dig a pillow out from under her and threw it over at Hannah. Hannah caught it and tossed it back, rolling her eyes at her friend.

“What are you and my husband, chopped liver?”

The annoyance that echoed in Nina’s voice went down a peg with her words. Other than at her wedding, Kelly hadn’t really heard Nina without her authoritative voice. She supposed that in the comforts of her own home, Nina might act a little differently, but all evidence had proven she was all queen bee, all the time.

“I’m your sister by choice, and Brady is just crazy from what I can tell. That probably makes me crazy too.”

Hannah’s smile was warm as she looked over at her best friend. Nina didn’t return the smile, but Kelly thought she saw a little happy twinkle in the woman’s eyes.

“Shut up, Hans. You know we don’t do emotional shit here.”

Shaking her head, Hannah reached forward and grabbed the remote, pausing their movie. Kelly wasn’t sure what they were watching. She’d shown up a few minutes into the movie and other than the lead guy catching her eye, it hadn’t been something that kept her attention. She was more into blood and guts movies over romance, but she’d thought a night away from the kids would be relaxing.

“You don’t do emotional stuff period. Instead you lash out and drive people away, which is exactly why you decided to have a girls’ night, isn’t it?”

Kelly was lost in the conversation and felt like she should give the two of them some space. With the kids gone for at least another hour or two, she thought the idea of heading home and relaxing in the tub for a little bit had plenty of appeal.

“Sit,” Hannah said in a tone that had to make Nina proud.

Kelly had barely moved, but apparently it was evident what she was thinking. She froze with her arms primed to lift her off the couch.

“I’m not in any place to be a mediator here, since I’ve told Jake to stay away from you.”

Hannah’s mouth was open to say more, but Kelly interrupted her. The thought of running out of the house still sounded like the best idea; however, she wanted to hear how Jake was involved.

“Why the fuck would you tell him to stay away from me?”

The woman had just talked about being family. Yet, nothing Kelly heard sounded like something family members said to each other. She wasn’t the greatest judge of that, but the TV shows she watched with the kids didn’t show family members putting down and screwing with other family members’ lives. Of course, they were kids shows, but there had to be some truth to them somewhere.

“Yeah, Hans, why would you tell Mr. Perfect to get lost?”

Rather than say something immediately, Hannah’s mouth dropped even further open as she opened and closed it a few times, evidently thinking better about whatever she was going to say. That was why Kelly didn’t have friends. Hannah seemed like a sweet person and everything, but it was clear she thought she knew what was best for Kelly and was acting on it. From the sounds of things, she thought she knew what was best for Jake.

Neither of the other two people living in the room had a clue what Kelly had really gone through in life. Nina shared at least a portion of her blood, but that didn’t mean she knew a thing about Kelly. Since coming back to New York, no one had asked her a thing about her life. Technically, Jake had tried, but she was being evasive on that front.

Everyone was using what they’d heard about her over the years, whether true or not, to judge how to act around her. They didn’t understand that she didn’t need the housewives of New York to tell her how to live her life. If they could give advice about the kids that helped Kelly keep them alive, that was one thing. But, she was tired of being treated like she couldn’t run her own life.

Instead of sitting through whatever intervention or pep talk they probably had planned, Kelly stood up and left. If either of the women called her back, she wasn’t listening. She should have known the whole concept of hanging out with the girls at home would be stupid. She knew Nina at the very least had a wine picked out for every occasion, which had been noticeably absent. If people had to skate around on thin ice, she wasn’t sure she wanted to be around them.

It was hard to come to that realization after how much she’d leaned on them, especially Hannah. She was trying to move forward with her life, though, and she didn’t need people faking their interest in her. She wasn’t some high school nerd that needed a makeover to bag the quarterback for a prom date.

Kelly was a broken person, who needed people to see her like that and be okay with it. No amount of glue and chicken fingers were going to fix that.

With that in mind, she pulled out her phone as soon as she got in her car and called the one other adult in her life that tried to sell the friend bullshit. She wanted to believe the line about keeping his distance because he didn’t want to take advantage of her. It had sounded weird, but at the same time endearing. It was definitely a change from any of her relationships.

“Hey, how’s girls’ night going?” Jake answered the phone in a hushed voice.

Kelly thought she heard a click, like maybe he’d just closed a door. She wasn’t sure, and it didn’t matter, but the fact that he’d known how she was spending the night did.

“How do you know I’m supposed to be hanging out with Nina and Hannah tonight?”

“Because I was just trying to figure out how in the world Fiona managed to tape Brady to a chair. When I saw your number on the phone, I took off to the bathroom to get some privacy, but if you want me to go back out there so you can hear your niece contemplating making Brady walk some kind of plank, I can.”

From Kelly’s experience, the plank was more than likely real, and Fiona had somehow found a bunch of sharks to swim in circles in the water under it.

“No, I don’t need any confirmation. Do you think you can sneak away for a few minutes and meet me somewhere?”

“Are you okay? I thought you were hanging out at Nina’s?”

There sounded like there was real worry in his voice. Kelly wished she was there with him, so she could see whether the same sentiment made it to his eyes. She partially had the answers she needed already. The fact that he was hanging out with Curtis and Brady while they watched the kids told her they were all probably in cahoots together to fix her.

That didn’t necessarily match the fact that Nina was having him investigated, but with how loud Nina had been talking, that could’ve just been said for Kelly’s benefit. What benefit that would be was beyond her.

“I decided I didn’t like the company. Can you meet me?”

The phone was quiet for a second too long. It was an easy question in Kelly’s mind, only needing a yes or no.

“Do you want me to keep it a secret that I’m coming to see you? It should be easy enough, but I prefer not to lie if I don’t have to.”

Kelly sat back in her seat and started the car. It was one of the three Kirsten and Brian had at one time kept in their garage. Only the sedan she was in and an SUV were left. The other sedan the family had was in a million pieces in some junkyard somewhere after the accident.

She sat up for a second to fix her hair in the mirror. It was still weird seeing herself with darker strands of hair cradling her face. It was kind of nice, though, part of her fresh start.

“You can tell them whatever you want. I’m sure their wives will already be on the phone with at least one of them. Just ask them to watch the kids for another half an hour or so and meet me at that little diner on Leonard Street.”