Page 86 of Blue Jean Summer

Catherine clutched the edges of her robe, holding it closed like she was trying to hide from me. Her hair was mussed from the night before, but she still looked just as beautiful as when she had been all done up.

“You left,” she said softly.

I glanced at the bedside clock and mentally willed those fucking pill bottles to disappear. “I needed to get started with the day.”

Her eyes fell away from me and dropped to the floor. “Right.”

Dammit. I’m screwing this up already. “Cath—”

“I should get dressed and see if Hallie needs help with brunch,” Catherine said as she stood and headed for the door.

“Catherine.”

But she had already closed it behind her. Footsteps faded and I heard the faint closing of her door.

Great.

I mentally flogged myself as I headed for those damn pills. I dumped one from each bottle into my hand and dry swallowed them down. It wasn’t that I was ashamed that I needed them, I just didn’t want Catherine to know how much I depended on them to feel like myself or how it felt like I became a different person entirely when refills were delayed.

Fine, maybe I was a little ashamed.

I liked my private business to be just that. Private. It had been a long time since I’d had to explain that part of my life to someone. I certainly hadn’t planned on today being that day.

This was why I didn’t like sharing my space. I didn’t like sleepovers. My one relationship that had turned into the two of us living together and her wearing a very pricey diamond ring began and ended with me always waking up an hour early to take my medications, and then hiding the prescription bottles before she was ever awake.

I threw on a shirt and a pair of jeans and had just made it down the stairs when a strong hand grabbed my arm and dragged me into the pantry.

“What did you do?!” Hallie hissed as the pantry door shut behind us.

“What do you mean?” I asked as I pawed around the canisters of oatmeal, grits, and dry cereal.

Hallie jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “You and Cath. What the hell happened last night?”

There was no way she could have heard us, right? There was a whole mansion between her wing and mine.

“Nothing happened,” I lied as I grabbed the Frosted Flakes.

“Oh no. Not you too,” Hallie snapped as she snatched the cereal canister from my hand.

“What are you talking about?”

Hallie huffed. “It’s Zach’s first day of summer break, you two just got married, and I was going to make a nice big brunch for everyone. But my kid won’t come out of his room and he’s too old for me to carry him out like when he was a toddler, and Catherine nearly knocked me over with how fast she ran out of the house this morning. At this rate I’m calling Warren Grey to join me. He seems like he’d be more pleasant company than you lot. I’ve made breakfast, and dammit, someone’s gonna eat it.”

Great. Now she was mad at me too.

I braced my hands on the edge of the countertop. “Is moonshine a breakfast food?”

“According to Walt? Yes. According to the food pyramid or plate or whatever they’re doing these days, no.” Hallie sighed. “Wanna tell me what happened?”

“Not particularly,” I said as I grabbed a picnic basket from a cupboard. Considering I saw both of Catherine’s cars out the window when I came down the stairs, I had an inkling of where she had disappeared to.

“Does it have to do with Catherine?” Hallie asked as she snatched the picnic basket from me and waltzed into the kitchen with it.

“Yes.”

Hallie began to stuff the basket full of diced fruit, quiche, and cherry coffee cake. “Am I going to kill you for it?”

“Possibly.”