It was so cruel and so hurtful that it shattered every part of her to the point where she didn’t know if she could ever trust herself to love again.
There were some wounds that cut deep, but others just killed you.
“How much do you love me?” Adalyn gripped the ring that she had hidden in her jacket pocket.
Lake eyed her warily as they sat at the counter, pretending to be interested in their homework. “Depends on what you want me to do. If you want to copy my homework, I love you enough to share it. But if you want me to do something that’s going to get me in trouble with Vincent, it’s debatable.”
“Wow, that hurts. So, you’re picking my brother over me again? I thought it was chicks before dicks?”
“Adalyn!” her friend grumbled, knowing it was hard for her to say no when she pulled that card. “I can’t get in trouble with Vincent right now. He finally loves me again.”
“When’s the last time we got in trouble? We never have any fun anymore …” Adalyn’s voice trailed off, too depressed to continue.
“Uh … Are you trying to make me feel guilty?”
Looking over at her, there was at last, after one month and one week, hope in her eyes. “Is it working?”
“Goddammit.” Lake shut her book with a hard thud. “How much trouble am I about to get into?”
Adalyn smiled, hoping there was still some adventure left in Lake. “The kind where we steal Vincent’s keys and get the hell out of here.”
Regret was already written on her best friend’s face. “Well, fuck me.”
Standing up, Adalyn was more than ready, having thought about him enough. The first four stages of goodbye were hard; it was time for her to meet the last one.
Thirty-Two
And the Last
When the neighborhoods changed from carefully maintained ones to ones that became unkempt and old, she wondered if this really had been a good idea. By the time Lake slowed the car to a crawl, she didn’t think it was.
“Adalyn …”
But she wasn’t going to let her friend know that, because her mind had been made up the second she had put the ring in her pocket.
“I’m going to do it, Lake. What’s the worst that could happen?”
“An axe murderer could open the door.” Her friend paused for a moment. “Or she could be prettier than you.”
She had told Lake on the way about Angel, about the ring, and the name she had been given that had put a sparkle in his eyes.
Swallowing painfully, she unbuckled her seatbelt. Then the nerves really started to hit her as she got out of the car. I would rather it be an axe murderer who opens the door.
Giving Lake a determined glance, Adalyn walked up to the porch of the tiny old house and opened the squeaky screen door to knock on the main door. She tried not to be so scared by the bars that were covering the windows, but it was easier said than done.
When no one answered, she tried one last time, knocking harder.
Hearing the door unlock several times, she backed up, preparing for the person behind it. But when the door was finally opened, revealing a beautiful young woman, her breath was almost knocked out of her.
“Hello?” The beautiful woman seemed frazzled.
“H-hi.” Nervous, Adalyn tried to catch her breath. “Are you Bella?”
She seemed to be a bit nervous herself, especially that Adalyn knew her name. “Yes. Who’s asking?”
“Um, my na—” When smoke started to pour out from behind Bella, she watched as the woman quickly left her.
Not knowing what to do, hearing frantic groaning coming from inside the house, she decided to go inside to see if Bella needed help.
When she walked in, her eyes scanned the tiny home that was meticulously clean and neat. She could even see the vacuum trails on the carpet that went in the same direction. The throw pillows on the couch were so evenly spaced apart that Adalyn wondered if she had used a ruler.
It was easy to find the path to the small kitchen that was consumed by smoke. Waving it away from her face, she saw Bella opening the kitchen window to release the heavy air, then pulling out a burnt casserole dish from the oven.
Watching Bella bow her head in frustration, she thought about how this was going very differently than she had thought it would. And the longer she stared at the woman, the more her heart dropped.
She could see why Angel had had that look in his eye when he had said her name. Her name did her justice because no man would be able to resist the exquisite beauty of this dainty woman. Her natural, dirty blonde curls tumbled to her shoulders with a glossy shine that perfectly matched her strong, dark brows. She was without a doubt gorgeous, not needing a stitch of makeup or fancy clothes to prove it.