AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Caroline rolls her eyes. “I’m doing you a favor.”
“Are you walking me to my execution? Is that what this is about?”
“Not at all.”
Before Caroline can park the car, I spot Gram on the veranda. She waves at us with a pleasant smile on her lips.
This definitely feels like I’m walking to my execution.
Caroline stops the car and takes my hand. “Jude, look at me.”
I do. Begrudgingly.
“I can’t stand you being so sad anymore. It’s not worth all that.”
“How can you tell me what’s worth being sad over? How can you –”
“That’s not what I mean. I know that the feelings you have for Chase are deep and… longstanding. You’re not so slick.”
I flush.
“Go talk to Gram. It’ll help.”
I glance at the veranda again where the matriarch of the Gladstone family stands, ready to hand down my sentence. “Fine. I’ll do this. But you owe me.”
“We’ll see about that,” Caroline says with a smirk.
“Weirdo.” I get out of the car. My shoes immediately squelch in the mud.Crap. “Hi, Gram.”
“Hello dear.”
I go up to meet her, stomping the mud off as I go, and, to my surprise, she takes me in her arms and gives me a soft kiss on the cheek.
“You’re looking well.”
That’s a lie and we both know it. “Thank you. So are you.”
Gram takes my arm and guides me through the front door. “Come with me.”
We walk through the house, arm in arm.
“I understand that things between you and Chase were rather complicated when everything came to pass as it did.”
What a polite way of saying, “When everything went to shit.”
“I owe you an apology, Gram. You’ve been kind to me my whole life and I took advantage and –”
“Hush, Judith. That’s not what this is about.” We reach the French doors at the back of the house. Gram opens the door for me and ushers me through with a wave of her arm. “After you, dear.”
This all feels like I’ve stepped into an alternate universe where Gram is suddenly overly polite and Caroline is sneaky and –
I stop in my tracks when I see Chase at the end of the yard, breaking his back, digging up a hunk of land. My heart races, leaping into my throat, causing warmth to spread throughout my body.
I’m not ready to see him. Not ready to be face to face and have to listen to his excuses. The donation to the school was one thing, but having to look him in the eye –
I turn around to dart back inside and find that Gram has not only closed the door behind me but locked it. “Gram! Let me in!”
Gram pokes her head in the window and waves her hand at me. “Go on,” she mouths.
