This Could Be Us (Skyland, #2)

by Kennedy Ryan

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” —Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God

He hits three buttons, and a digitized voice emerges from the device’s speakers. “Stay. With. Me.”

And the crowd is crying

I practically know when this man loses an eyelash,

He drops his hand from me

Yup. That's a cheater alright.

“Damn, Sol,” he says, his tone cool. “I tell you I’m stressed at work, and you go straight to sex.”

That man has a whole other woman in the bridal queue. Girl, get gone while the going is good

nearly two months,

IT'S SO OVEEEER

turning to glower at me, “you have a battery-operated solution

Girl, give that woman her husband back bc he is surely not yours anymore

Something has fundamentally shifted in our marriage the last two years.

Yeah, a third player came in

When did Edward turn cruel?

Since you got replaced. Clock that deception immediately

“I thought we agreed on the red,” Edward says with a frown. “You like the red dress so much?” I shove my feet into the five-inch stilettos I coveted online for months before breaking down and buying. “You wear it.”

Get him!!

“I know it doesn’t make sense.” Edward reaches across to grab my hand and turns to me as the valet hired for the night approaches. “But trust me when I say Cross is not our friend. Just stay off his radar. Can you do that for me, Sol?” He strokes the back of my hand, and my heart softens a little at the first sign of tenderness he’s shown me in days.

It got me a little too tbh. But then I instantly remembered. That he is the devil.

I’m always telling her she should speak up more often.”

Liya. To de pit!

carne guisada

why is this italicized

“You’re Cross?” I blurt. “The geek?”

Sol nO

Would anyone else even want me? Maybe I’m… maybe I’m not…

Sol T.T </3

“Yeah. Of—of course,” she stutters, her eyes zipping from me to the guy. “This is my… cousin Gerald.”

Girl...that's FAR from better ew

“Well, I’ll let you get back to…” Get back to what? Groping your relative?

That part. She couldn't lie to a toddler

“Aaron, are you going to tell Mrs. Barnes goodbye?” Judah asks, nodding toward me. Aaron looks up at me, a frown pinching his dark brows. “Soledad,” he says, surprising me. “That’s right.” A smile breaks out on my face like I’ve won something.

Yasmen Wade,

Peak mention

abuela

why are all the Spanish words italicized

“I know at work the two of you bump heads, honey, but at the Christmas party he—” “You meet this guy for ten minutes at my Christmas party,” Edward snaps,

Oh wow okay! Didn't know you owned the entire Christmas party Ed! /Deepest/ apologies!

“Out back” is his man cave. When we bought this house, there was a small storage shed in the backyard. Edward said he’d make it his retreat for when the estrogen of four women in the house got to be too much.

This possibly. POSSIBLY. Is the only reason a man cave should exist. But his sorry tail shouldn't be allowed to have one. Jerk. Also, there's no such thing as a cave for one person. The only exception would possibly be an outnumbered situation such as above, or if both spouses need offices and are short a room. Other than those two, there's no logical reason besides outdated practices imo. You actively sought out to make a family, so you don't get to run into the yard to get away from it just because of your gender. You don't get to be the only partner with a special stomp-off space on the shared property. Random rant, but we've gotta let that go. Seriously.

The villain Viagra must have worn off

This is the most unserious sentence I've ever read T.T xD

He reaches out and grabs me by the arms, gripping so tightly I wince. “Don’t push me, Sol,” he growls.

Yyyou're done <3 OFFICER!

“Literally saved by the bell,” he says. “The last thing I want to hear is you lecturing me on…” He opens the door and trails off. We both take in the small group of people gathered on our porch. Their jackets read FBI. A knot forms in my stomach, and even though I don’t know what they’re doing here, it can’t be good. “Edward Barnes,” says the man standing in the front, flashing his badge. “You’re under arrest.”

AMEEEN CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP! Bye loser

“It’s that motherfucker Cross,” Edward says, panic taking his voice higher. “I told you he was after me. I’d bet my life he’s behind this. It’s all a misunderstanding.”

I don't think the FBI shows up for a misunderstanding, pookie. He'd have to find something. Take your loss and be gone

“He didn’t do anything,” Inez says, her tearful words pebbled with anger. “You heard him. Judah Cross set him up.”

Ooh Judah is gonna have such a hard time entering this house

I slam my hand on the counter, the palm making a loud whack that jerks all three sets of startled eyes to my face. “Don’t.” The word comes out quiet and flat. “I don’t have time for your histrionics, Inez.

The cackle I just gave. This is how Yasmen should have handled Deja's mean ah in the last book. Don't let your kids bully you in your time of extreme suffering xD we are ALL going through it. Don't come for me

You know I support your father completely.

And how mean he is to that poor woman

We aren’t sure what’s going on yet, and while we figure it out, please don’t make this any harder than it already is.”

Yasmen Wade, this is how you should've handled that lil influencer. And she's actually a teenager. No way she should have known about the Henry accident and still been coming for your neck like that

“But Daddy,” Lottie sobs, her slim shoulders shaking. “They’re taking him to jail.”

Deserved! (I am so sorry girl)

I decide to leave them be for now and head down the stairs to survey the damage—displaced couch cushions, dirt from my plants carelessly strewn through the hall, and broken glass from fallen picture frames.

They need to pay a cleaning fee. Absolutely not.

“CalPot is one of the biggest employers in the state,” Hendrix points out. “Six million dollars may not bankrupt them, but it’s still a lot of money to—” “Six million dollars?” I squawk,

Lock that man away. Just shameless. How did he think he was gonna get away with that? Even ONE million? Be so serious

If even half of this is true, then my husband is not who I thought he was. Then the father of my children is a liar. A criminal. Untrustworthy. Irresponsible. Reckless.

Add 'abuser' bc he was surely sprinting towards that line

“When is he coming home?

Girl they JUST took him T.T

The prosecution will try to say Edward’s a flight risk.” “A flight risk? Like he’d leave the country? He wouldn’t run.” There’s a small silence on the other end before Brunson goes on.

I literally just went "I think he would. I've known the character for like five scenes and mentions of another book and he totally would." Brunson just confirmed it xD He probably already planned to, sans family. The rat

Of course, Edward denies it.” Judah Cross. My teeth grind together. He did this to my family, and I let a little attention and conversation distract me from the threat he could prove to be. Edward tried to warn me.

Okay but is it really that far-fetched? Really? Let's come back to reality. You immediately accepted it among the shock when the feds came in

“So is it too late for Edward to get his call or whatever?” “What do you mean?” Brunson asks, confusion in his voice. “He did make his call.” “But he didn’t… I haven’t heard from him.”

RAT

The silence on the other end thickens with speculation and maybe understanding. Instead of using his one call to phone home and reassure his wife, tell his family what the hell was going on, Edward called someone else. Someone who is not his lawyer.

I would've pinned that on him immediately. Forget accusing Judah. He's absolutely right.

Mom, we’re outta milk!” Lupe calls from the kitchen. It’s the first thing I’ve heard from her all day.

"Milk is the LEAST of our concerns Lupe! No one is going outside for that right now!"

I started dialing our old home number last night, only to remember Mami’s gone.

That's crushing

“And why exactly does Edward believe the director of accounting would set him up to take the fall for six million dollars being embezzled?” Skepticism sharpens Lola’s words. “Better yet, why does he think we’d believe it?”

Thank. You.

“What do you mean, ‘payment not accepted’?” I mutter, frowning at the screen. My card is the saved payment method, and I’ve used it several times, so I know I didn’t enter the information wrong. Maybe the card is expired and I didn’t realize it. I reach for my purse, but my cell rings, distracting me. I answer, still eyeing the cart of grocery items on my laptop screen. The contact is Harrington.

Oh. No.

It’s quiet enough on the phone to hear a gnat fart, as Grammy used to say.

WHAT T.T

“Hey, I’m going out to Daddy’s shed for a bit,”

Oh this is gonna be SO disrespectful later xD I love it

Summer house?

When did you go to this house? Never? It's for more than the summer.

Harrington, the private school Adam started in January,

Wait so he might be the kid in Sol's daughter's class. The lunch buddy

I miss a lot of social cues.

Aww Judah T.T it's cool king

“For someone who needs to go,” I answer by not answering, “you sure have a lot to say this morning.” “Now that’s the evasive, emotionally avoidant man I know and love.”

She thinks not accessing her bank account is bad. She has no idea how bad it’s about to get. CalPot won’t care that she and her daughters are a casualty of their war with Edward. But I do.