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“What the hell? You can’t just grab things out of the oven with no mits, Aunt Maxine!” I grabbed her hand, expecting to see horrible red patches.
“I was a chef for forty years! I could reach into a fire and stoke it with these hands, girl. Now stop trying to hold my hand and get another batch of cookies ready.”
I sagged against the counter and sighed. “You’re exhausting.”
“You knew that before you decided to run away to your Aunt Maxine’s. Welcome to the consequences of your own actions.” She pushed me out of the way again and started prepping more cookies. “You have the energy of a sloth. Are you always this slow or does heartbreak turn your feet into stones?”
“You’re a bully.”
“And you’re a crybaby.” She laughed at my expression. “What? It’s true. You think I can’t hear you sniffling and whining through these thin walls? In my day, we didn’t cry over lousy men this much. Maybe a day or two and then you moved on. You’d think you lost Jesus himself with the way you’ve been crying.”
I scoffed and pulled off my apron. “How has no one pushed you out of a boat with an anchor tied to your leg yet?”
She grinned. “Many have tried. If you’re going out, will you go to the store and pick up more milk? I need it with these cookies. And if you see John Folks there, tell him I said to go fuck himself. He’ll know what it means.”
I rubbed my hands down my face. “Yep. Sure.”
“And if you see Brenda Holmes? Tell her I said that thing about the boat about her. That was good. I’m going to claim it.”
“Okay. Will do.” I rushed to get out of there before she gave me any more instructions. Two days earlier, she’d told me to stop by the dock closet to her house and flip off the third fisherman I saw. The day before that, it was to find an old man in a red tank top and push him over.
I heard her saying something else but I pretended I didn’t hear and slammed the door behind me. Instead of going straight to the store I went to a bar down the street and sat at a stool at the counter so I could order a coke and watch the TV hanging overhead. Aunt Maxine didn’t have a TV because she was worried about it causing brain cancer and shortening her life…
The bartender pushed a glass towards me and nodded. “Figured you’d be here any minute. In case you haven’t noticed, you end up here about the same time everyday.”
I shrugged at him. “I guess. I just leave when Aunt Maxine gets extra crazy.”
He leaned on the other side of the bar and smirked. “Your aunt Maxine gets a visit from Hank Vaughn at the same time every day. Just so happens to be the time you end up here.”
Frowning, I took a drink of my coke and nearly spit it out when two and two added up to make four in my brain. “She’s annoying me on purpose so I’ll leave and she can have her bootycall?”
“Yep.” He laughed and stuck out his hand for me to shake. “Seems like you might be around for a little while. Name’s Paul.”
I shook his hand but I was still shuddering at the reality that my great aunt was kicking me out to have sex. “Ada.”
“Oh, I know.”
I glanced up at the TV and looked away. “You know?”
“Maxine talks. She’s crazy but it seems like she loves you.” He laughed at my expression. “No one can know for sure with her.”
“If only that weren’t true…”
“Oh, and your face has been on the news a lot lately.” He knocked on the bar and grinned. “If you ask me, I don’t think anyone should care what consenting adults do with their bodies.”
I drained my coke and pushed away from the car. Putting down a ten, I nodded at him and backed away. “Have a good day, Paul.”
“Shit, I didn’t mean to run you off.”
“I was leaving anyway. No worries.” I forced a smile and headed out to the store.
It’d only been a week since I got on a plane and fled Lake Dun but time moved so slowly on the little island that I felt like I’d been gone for months. Until someone mentioned the news and I was forced to remember that everything with the Carringtons and Mayhews was still happening in live time. Our faces were plastered across TVs everywhere daily. Everything that had come out about David Mayhew, including the allegations of abuse against his wife, had caused a major stir in the political world.
The guys were coming out smelling pretty fresh against Mayhew. The latest poll results showed Carlos Cortez ahead by a landslide. The Carringtons were going to win again and all would be right in their world. At least for Joe and Collin. I could almost feel Jud’s pain as much as my own. I knew I’d hurt him and that he wasn’t the type to bounce right back. I just hoped that the family would be better off for it.
I felt like the world was ending everytime I sat down at the bar and caught sight of one of their faces. It hurt so much but I couldn’t stop myself from going back every day in hopes of seeing them again. I told myself that it’d only been a week since I left and that it would get easier with time but that didn’t feel true. It felt like the gaping hole in my chest just grew larger with every hour that passed. I worried that eventually it would consume me whole.
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