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She hesitated just outside and looked at me while still clutching her face. “Why are you helping me?”
“Because I think your husband is a bigger dick than you. Do you have a car or are you getting into mine?” I saw her look down and sighed. “Get in, Jules. I’ll take you somewhere safe.”
“You shouldn’t help me, Ada. Not after what I did to you.”
I pushed her into the front seat and slammed the door shut before running around and getting behind the wheel. “I’m not a monster. He hit you. That’s not okay. You let me listen to that, didn’t you? You wanted me to hear something.”
She stared out the window. “I knew you came here for something and I wanted to help. No offense, Ada, but you’re a terrible actor.”
I scoffed. “That’s rude.”
She didn’t say anything as I drove out of her neighborhood. It wasn’t until I kept going in a circle around the lake and put on my turn signal to head towards the Carrington Estate that she sat up. “Ada? Why are you turning here?”
“Because, Jules, what you did was bad and you need to make it right. You need to tell Joe or Collin what I just overheard.” I saw her pale and shook my head. “But you also need protection from your husband and whoever he owes money to. If you’re really in trouble, they’ll help you.”
“No, they won’t.” She began to panic as I turned. “Ada, what I did to you really hurt them. They aren’t going to just get over it. They’d have every right to hand me over to David or worse.”
“They won’t do that. Tell them everything, Jules. Or…I guess I should call you Julia now.” I stopped short at the closed gate and felt a sharp pain go through my whole body. Tears filled my eyes and I didn’t bother stopping them.
“What? What is it?”
“The gate’s closed.” I let out a bitter laugh and shook my head. “They never closed the gate before. It’s a pretty clear sign about how they feel about me. Thanks again for that, Julia.”
“Call me Jules, Ada. Once upon a time, before all of this, that was who I was.” She grabbed my hand. “I’m sorry. I knew it was wrong and I did it anyway. You should’ve left me to face whatever it was David was going to do to me but you didn’t… I’ll do it. I’ll tell them everything. Will… Will you come with me?”
A heavy knock on my window made me jump and scream but when I looked out and saw the same guard who had tried to remove me from the house under Joe’s orders, I felt even worse. I rolled down the window and held up my hands. “I’m just dropping someone off to see them.”
“You need to leave, ma’am. Whatever the story between you and my boss, it’s not my business. I have orders, though, and if you don’t turn around and leave right now, you’re going to end up in jail.”
I looked over at Jules. “Does that answer your question?”
She wiped her eyes and reached over the console to hug me. When I didn’t hug her back, she squeezed me tighter before letting go. “I’m so sorry, Ada.”
“Ma’am.” The guard was growing impatient. “Leave the premises now.”
Angry and hurt, I glared up at him and snapped. “I’m leaving, asshole. Give me two seconds to get the woman out of my car, would you? Your boss will be pretty glad to hear what she has to say so just wait a minute and back off!”
Jules slammed the door shut and rushed around the front of the car. “I’m out. Just let her go.”
I continued to glare up at him. “Are you going to let her up to see Joe?”
He growled. “Yes. Now get out of here before I arrest you for being a pain in the ass.”
“Gladly.”
60
***Ada***
“Ifyouburnthosecookies, I’ll never forgive you and I’ll write you out of my will, young lady.”
I frowned up at my great-aunt Maxine and grunted. “What will? You don’t have anything to leave behind except for your dozens of cats and I don’t want them. They’re all just as mean as you.”
She threw her head back and laughed. “I like the new Ada. She’s got sass.”
Aunt Maxine was just as crazy as my parents. She was my dad’s aunt and lived in a tiny cottage on Key West. She claimed her cats were the children of Hemingway’s cats and treated them like they were royalty. She dyed her hair periwinkle and drove a motorcycle at the age of eighty and she was the first person I’d thought of when I realized I needed to get far, far away from my life. Aunt Maxine was about as far from my life as I could get, in every way possible. Living with her made me feel like Lake Dun was all just a dream.
“Shit, girl. The cookies!” She pushed me out of the way and reached into the oven with her bare hand. Pulling out the cookies, she dropped the pan on the counter and sighed. “You’re lucky.”
