AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Do I?
What even is right anymore?
Chapter 7
Aubrey
“I still can’t believe you’re here,” Lauren tells me as she drives Marian’s old pickup toward Breckenridge.
“You doubted I’d come?” I ask. It’s not that crazy. When I told her I might want to come by, it had been a fleeting thought then. I can’t explain that coming to see her here has literally become my last resort though.
“No. Yes. I don’t know. When I called you that day, way back when, I was still getting used to being away from Jeremy. Then I got pulled into his sphere again.”
I giggle, thinking back to that day Dalton and Caleb showed up to get Lauren out of there. “And then pulled right back out once more.”
She takes my hand. “And for good.”
I return the squeeze, grateful she escaped.
“Caleb’s got his lawyers looking into my trust fund. I’ve already decided I’m going to donate it all. We were chatting earlier about Dalton’s foundations.”
I glance at her. “Foundations? Plural?”
She nods as she drives. “Yes. He’s quite the philanthropist. There’s more than one cause he supports.”
Huh. I gaze out the window as the scenery passes by. Maybe he needs to give back because he’s convinced his karma will suck being so damn filthy rich. Still, it makes me wonder about him.
“If I don’t donate to his foundations, I’ll give it back other ways. I don’t need it.”
I chew on my lip.
Silence fills the truck, and I know she’s analyzing and regretting her words. It’s the one thing that’s always stood between us. Rich girl and poor girl. Upper class and lower. What she never realizes when she speaks those words is that she’s addressing them to someone who does need it.
No, that’s not true. When I was in college, my scholarships provided for me. I worked part-time jobs too, to supplement my income when my studies could afford that time off. Then after, I landed my job at the prestigious grade school, and I could pay my own way. I never would reach the heights of Lauren Hendrickson’s wealth, but I never wanted to.
“I mean…”
This time, I take her hand. She can’t possibly realize her error here. Without my job, without my apartment I could no longer afford the rent for, I am someone who would need money. But I’m not ready to go there. I can’t confess the truth of what Jeremy’s done to me yet. Not when she’s so happy and carefree. I can’t bring her down like that.
“It’s fine.”
There’s that word again, the one I never understand and wonder why I should. It’s been a stand-in for so long it’s my default whatever.
We soon reach town and walk around. While I’m too conservative and frugal to even window shop with pleasure, knowing I’d never be able to afford any splurges, I find plenty of treasure in my best friend’s company. This is what we used to be like. Before she met Jeremy, and he controlled her. Before I got way too busy teaching while holding down a couple of part-time jobs to make ends meet. Later, when she was engaged, we became even more estranged, relying more on keeping in touch via messages than seeing each other in person—thanks, again, to Jeremy.
Damn, I hate his name.
Later, we grab lunch and sit out on an outside patio. Bees are buzzing, the sun is bright overhead and baking us, and for the first time, I feel no relief from an infrequent breeze.
“I’ve been wondering something,” Lauren says once she takes the check. I would’ve fought harder if I had the money to spend. I only have my last paycheck, and I’m not sure when I’ll see another. She does win the argument though, claiming she has to pay because she missed my birthday. She did, but only because she had to try on dresses for the wedding she didn’t want.
“Shoot,” I tell her, praying she won’t pry on something I can’t answer, particularly about my job.
“Why do you hate Dalton so much?”
I furrow my brow. “Hate is a strong word,” I say, referencing a line I use with my students. Or, a line I used to tell them.
She lifts one brow, not letting me hedge. “Well, you sure aren’t very nice to him. Like those comments at dinner last night. Caleb told me what you said,” she teases.
