Free November Foxtrot (Rhythm of the Heart Book 2) by Scarlett Jade

whores.”
    Zoe turned and nodded. “Fine.”
    Layla huffed. “I have nothing left to say.”
    Grams growled low, “Get your ass to the table, Layla. You're not too old for me to warm your back end up.”
    “Oh, for Christ's sakes!” she groaned and stomped down the hall, pushing rudely past Zoe as she went.
    “Excuse me!” Zoe muttered.
    “I can't find one for you.” Layla cattily sniped back.
    At that moment, the house phone jangled and broke the tension in the air. Grams picked it up with a tired, “Hello?” She smiled and looked back at them both. “Calvin. You're just in time. We're having a nice little family discussion.”
    Zoe felt her heart leap at talking to Calvin, and she glanced at Layla, who had paled. “Well,” she started softly, “we better get this over with, huh?”
    Layla shot her a nasty look and flounced to the table, where she flopped into a chair with another huff. Zoe sat down slowly across from her and Grams sat down, placing the cordless phone in the middle of the table and pressing speaker. “Pops!” she barked. “Get in here!”
    “Uh uh! You couldn't pay me a million dollars to be in there with you pit o' vipers! I'd rather get strung up from the next tree. No, siree! This ain't my fight!” He turned the TV up and the sound of Matlock poured through the air.
    Zoe snorted and smirked, which garnered her another dirty look from Layla.
    “So,” Calvin said gently, always the peacemaker. “What's going on?”
    Layla jumped into the fray first. “I hate your wife. She's screwing you over with a baby that might or might not be yours.”
    So the gauntlet has been thrown , Zoe thought to herself.
    Calvin sighed. “Layla, that’s completely between me and Zoe. It's not your fight. Regardless of if the baby is mine or not, I love her and we'll work it out.”
    “But that's not FAIR !” she shrieked and Zoe stuck a finger in her ear to ease her throbbing ear drums. Pops turned the TV a little louder.
    “Why does it bother you so much, Layla? It has not one damn thing to do with you.”
    She leaned back in the chair and crossed her long, dark arms over her chest. “I – I,” she spluttered. “I don't want to see you being screwed over.”
    “Who says I'm being screwed over, Layla?” Calvin gently asked.
    “Well,” she started and then frowned, seeing that her anger was misguided. “I don't know,” she finally admitted, before sagging further into the chair.
    “You're not mad at Zoe. You're not mad at me. You have something else going on, don't you?”
    “No!” she barked adamantly, sitting back up in the chair, her brown eyes spitting fire.
    “Methinks thou doth protest too much, Layla. Instead of trying to screw in my life, deal with your own shit. Leave Zoe alone and stop stressing her out. Do you hear me?” His voice was low and it sent a shiver up Zoe's spine. A veiled threat was there and she didn't like it too much. Neither did Layla apparently, who sagged back in the chair.
    “Fine. I hear you. Can I be excused?” She glanced over at Grams, who nodded.
    “Get on out of here.”
    “Bye, Calvin. I – I love you,” she whispered raggedly as she ran for her bedroom and closed the door, this time silently.
    They all sat for a few moments in quiet, the tempest of the storm taking most of the wind from their sails. “You there?” Calvin finally asked.
    “Yeah, we're here.” Grams answered.
    “Zoe?” he queried.
    “I'm here.” Zoe wiped at her eyes, moisture coming away on her knuckles.
    “You okay, baby?”
    Grams picked up the phone. “Here, you two talk.” She poked the speaker button and handed the phone to Zoe. “I'll be in here. I want to talk to him for a minute before you hang up.” She hobbled into the living room and Zoe put the phone to her ear.
    “Hey,” she whispered.
    “You okay? The baby okay?”
    “I'm fine. Scratched up, but fine.” She turned in the seat toward the front door, as if to give them more privacy.
    “I'm sorry