Page 146 of Dead Pretty

What was I thinking about just now?

I try to force my thought back, but it doesn’t work.

I rub at my forehead, feeling an ache coming on.

My mind feels so clogged up. Clouded. Hazy.

Like the fog is so thick and I can’t find my way through it.

The doctor said it was due to the trauma. That the memories from what happened that night will possibly return in the future … or they might never.

I pick my glass of wine up and take a sip, savoring the taste of it. I focus on the world through the window.

It’s early evening here in Los Angeles, the sun still bright in the sky.

LA is my home now.

I left Jackson not long after I got out of the hospital. Cole said that I needed a change of scenery. That I needed to be away from all memories of Jack. It didn’t take much to persuade me.

But obviously, Chicago wasn’t an option for me.

Cole suggested LA. I agreed.

I had tried a small town, and that hadn’t worked out. I thought maybe the sunshine might be good for me.

Cole moved here with me too.

I had been stupid to ever leave him behind like I did.

I’ve learned my lesson. I won’t ever leave my brother again.

I need him.

Cole and I share a house in Long Beach, and I’ve got a job, working at a local library. I like it there. The people are nice.

I’m trying to be a little more social nowadays. Hence why I’m sitting in a bar. I force myself to come most days after work and just be around people.

Okay, I’m alone. And I wouldn’t exactly say that I’m making friends. I don’t think I ever will. But shutting myself off to people evidently didn’t work. So, here I am.

And I have all the friends I need anyway.

Eleven lives with me now. She is the only link I have left to Jack.

I know it’s stupid to still think about him after everything that happened. But I do.

Not that I would ever tell Cole this. He’d be angry with me. He thinks I adopted Eleven because I couldn’t bear the thought of her not having a home. Which is the same reason that, before I left Jackson, I adopted Gary and Pork Chop, and I brought them all to LA to live with me.

Cole loves the dogs. And he likes Eleven, and she him. Which I was surprised at. Not at Eleven liking him, but Cole liking her.

I thought he’d dislike her because she was Jack’s cat. But he seems to have a bond with her.

It makes me happy.

So, yeah, we definitely have a full house with those three. But I love going home to them all after a day at work. They give me purpose.

“Is anyone sitting here?”

I turn my head at the deep male voice close behind me.