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“I’m not leaving here when that?—”
“The fuck you aren’t,” Rome’s voice booms through the kitchen.
Gwen walks in behind him, and I look at her.
“I’m not going to Texas, but Cora needs to get the fuck out of here.”
“Gonna have to agree with Roman. You need to leave, too,” Abe O’Donnell states.
“I’m not going to let his life get fucked up because of me!”
22
F’ing Friday
By eleven in the morning, Cora, Fawna, and Francesca have posted pictures together in a private jet and checked into a resort in Miami. Then, they took hours touring hot spots all over the area while I was at Wags, liking all their posts. It wasn’t me of course, Gwen was playing the role of me, red wig and all. I told her the social media thing was a stupid idea because I havn’t been active on social media since I’d broke up with it, and that no one could play me better than me.
To this, she responded, “Let me do the detective work, and you go bond with your sisters.”
After they took enough pictures, we were taken to an airfield in Boca and boarded a different private plane. Then, we were flown to yet another private field in Texas, three hours from Walton.
Right now, I am standing in the driveway of the Aiken family lake with my brother-in-law’s arm slung around me. Tears stream down my face as I watch Chloe and Cora holding each other.
“Is she going to be okay?” I ask as I use my sleeve to wipe my face.
“Yeah, she is.”
I swallow so hard that I hear it.
Looking up at him, I ask, “And you?”
“I’ve known about Chloe having a baby when she was still a kid for a few years now. I should have been prepared for it, but this is …” He clears his throat. “It’s fucked up, CeCe. So fucked up.”
“It’s far from normal. It’s wrong, but?—”
“Not only is it wrong that she was raped, but she was also too young and afraid to even wonder if she was pregnant, let alone know she was sick. Then, to have a child…” He stops. “Fuck.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what? This isn’t your fault, or hers, or Cora’s.” He shakes his head. “She doesn’t see Cora as his, and I don’t understand how this isn’t killing her.”
“Danny”—I wait until he looks down at me—“she didn’t see me as his either.”
“Fuck, CeCe, I’m sorry. That’s not?—”
“With all my heart, I know that.”
He shakes his head. “No, I was?—”
“Chloe is otherworldly. She’s a superhero. She loves at a level most can’t imagine.” I put my hand on his chest, right above his heart. “Except those of us she’s allowed to love her.”
“She’s an angel,” he sighs.
“And Cora, is too. How could she not be? She’s part Chloe and part the people who raised and loved her.”
He wipes at his face. “I believe that — I do. There’s just that little part of me that doesn’t want anyone to hurt her, and Cora could.”
“As we both know, I’m not really a big people person.”
