Rocky rang the doorbell and Edward answered. Edward was their butler. Yes, they have a butler.

“Good evening Mr Richard and Miss Rosalie” fucking old man. We both rolled our eyes.

“Edward how many times we gotta remind you. It’s Rocky and Rosy. Please don’t make us feel old” I laughed at Rocky. He hated his name. He was named after his father that abandoned them. So he really didn’t like it. Edward however made an effort to remind us we had proper names. We walked in and Edward motioned to the family room.

Taylor was sitting next to her dad with her head on his shoulders and Chris, Taylor’s younger brother, was on the other side in the same position. Chris was gay. He came out 2 years ago and everyone loved it. We all knew it but it took him some time to really accept it.

“Tay Tay,” I said quietly not wanting to interrupt.

“Rosssyyyy!” She screamed and jumped off the couch. She came running and engulfed me in a big hug. God, I missed her! We did a little happy dance and she let me go. “God I’m so happy to see your pretty face,” she said and turned to Rocky and hugged him. They didn’t need words, the hug said it all.

“Yeah so glad to see that pretty face” came a voice from behind me. Vince walked in and stood to my side. “Nice to see you again Rosy,” he said and gave me a side hug.

The boy needed to learn not to be so attractive. He was in a pair of jeans and a polo t-shirt but had his hair gelled back like he would for the office.

“Nice to see you too Vince. Still, as charming as always I see” I laughed and so did he.

Mr Callum got up and walked towards us. “Thank you so much for coming Rosy. It means a lot to all of us that you came to be part of us at these times” he hugged me.

“Thank you for having me, Mr Callum. I’m so sorry for your loss. I know how much Grace was suffering but still, she will be missed dearly” I replied and he kissed me on my forehead. He was like a father to me. I never had one. Anything that I knew about what a father was like was from Mr Callum. Ever since Taylor brought me home with her for the summer, he treated me like his own. He would even buy me presents and send me texts just like he would for his kids.

Mrs Callum was the same. They didn’t know too much about my life but they knew I had a difficult one. Once I started spending all the holidays with them, they figured I had nowhere else to go. Which I did, but I wasn’t as welcome there as I was here. If I did hook up with Vince, his parents with being so ecstatic because then they could officially call me theirs. I smiled at that thought and looked at the gorgeous boy standing next to me.

Why did I have to give Blake a chance to take my virtue? Maybe Vince and I could work something out. I wasn’t getting any younger and Vince still seemed as interested as he did last time he saw me.

I got pulled out of our thoughts when Mrs Callum walked in. I went to her and hugged her. God, I wish I could call her my mum.

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” I said as she hugged me back. Grace was her mother and they had a very special relationship just like she does with Taylor. She was an amazing lady. Strong, bold and very sweet.

“Thank you, darling. I’m so glad you came. She was as much of a nana to you as to my kids. She would be smiling seeing you here” she kissed me on my cheek and hugged me again.

Even though I didn’t carry their name or their blood. I was theirs. They loved me and looked after me. The interrogations hadn’t begun yet but they will.

We sat around talking and catching up. The funeral was at 3 pm and we had to be at the church at 2:30 pm. Mr Callum said Grace asked to be cremated so we didn’t have to go to a burial site. They would take her away after everything was done. We chatted about work and life and heard stories about cheating husbands Mrs Callum was dealing with and surgeries Mr Callum had done. Then the questions started firing.

“So Rosy I see you’re still single. No one sweeps you off your feet yet?” ask Mrs Callum.

Now, this was the part I hated. Taylor was always open to her parents about her life whether it was personal, love, work, anything. They had a great relationship. They knew about Rocky and her relationship and it seemed like they approved because at least their girl wasn’t sleeping around. They loved Rocky. Mr Callum always bragged about how Rocky was self-made and had already started building a future for himself.

“Nothing yet Mrs Callum. Haven’t found anything interesting, to be honest.” I replied and Taylor snickered.

“Oh, you’ve found something interesting. Whether he’s interested or not is what we’re trying to figure out” she said and I glared at her. Shut up, lady! What the hell!

“You’ve found someone ?” Asked Vince. He had been quiet for a while but this obviously struck his interest.

“I haven’t found anyone. Taylor’s talking about my boss. Blake Cooper. He came into town last week and is living in the apartment opposite us. He is sweet and all but forgot to mention he was the boss I was busting my ass to get reports ready for. There’s nothing there besides two people that work and live in the same building. So Taylor shut the fuck up” I looked straight at her and emphasised the words. Vince narrowed his eyes at us but stayed quiet.

“Wait, did you say Blake Cooper?” Chris said from the bar.

“Yeah, you know him?” I asked curiously.

“Know him? Do you not read cosmo?? Kyra Banks and he headlined for weeks” he said and handed me a Cosmopolitan magazine. He sat next to me and flipped through to page 16. There stood Blake with a blonde girl dressed very nicely. The headline read “it’s over” and there was a ripped mark between the couple.

“Blake and Kyra were like Beyoncé and Jay Z. The hottest power couple around Huntly. They had been together since college. Kyra was cheating with Blake’s best friend. Turns out they had been hooking up since college and Blake only found out a week before the wedding. He broke it all off and disappeared. Now we know where he disappeared too” said Chris and looked like he cracked the biggest gossip of the century.

“Did you say, Kyra Banks?” Vince asked now sitting up in attention.

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