normal. “I mean, thank you.”
June had to stop herself from saying that she would do the same thing for
any friend, without hesitation. She and Arabella might have discussed the
past and put it to rest—Arabella had apologized, and June had believed her
and accepted her apology—but did that mean they were friends? She
sucked that back and justified her action with the acknowledgment that she
would do the same thing for any of her employees. That felt much safer. It
was much safer.
Chapter 12
Arabella
It was embarrassing for Arabella to have June drop her off, but she
reminded herself that June had seen the house once before. After spending
hours at the hospital, did she really even care what the house looked like?
Did Arabella? She felt frayed thin, like at any moment that last strand
holding her emotions, her sanity, herself together could unravel and that
unraveling would be like falling into a deep cavern she couldn’t pick herself
out of.
June pulled up in the driveway, her headlights flashing on the dilapidated
garage. Arabella sat for a moment, trying to figure out how to properly
thank June for everything she’d done, but she didn’t have the w
ords. It was
so late that June offered to bring her straight to the house. She said she’d be
by to pick her up in the morning to take her to the office because her car
was still there.
Arabella didn’t know where June lived, but she was sure it was way on
the other side of what everyone liked to call the tracks.
Her brain felt sluggish, her head heavy. There wasn’t a whole lot of
creative thinking action going on upstairs. All she could think about was her
dad. His heart was okay. It was probably just a lot of stress. He was being
kept overnight for monitoring, and her mom was staying at the hospital with