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Chapter Five
Jodie
Maybe I shouldn’t have said those hurtful things to Leo, I silently surmise as I dig into the orange and coffee mousse hidden beneath the dome of tempered chocolate on my plate.
Yes, he caught me at a bad time and yes, he was annoying as always, but those were no reasons for me to snap at him the way I did, especially since he was just telling the truth. What happened in the library wasn’t his fault. It was mine. I was just too embarrassed to admit that to his face. It was easier for me to get mad at him, for that and for all the other things he’s done to me. I gave in to my instinct and hurt him before he could hurt me, like he’s done before. But that doesn’t mean what I did was right. I should have been more in control.
I should have at least asked what he wanted from me instead of just assuming that he showed up out of the blue just to annoy me. Really, why would he do that?
I shake my head. I shouldn’t have been so rough.
“What’s so rough?” Gladys, who’s sitting across the table from me, asks me with her fork still between her lips.
My eyebrows arch. Did I say that last one out loud?
“Nothing,” I answer as I glance at my plate. “This dessert is perfect.”
“Are you sure?”
I must have looked more upset than I thought. What am I doing, anyway, letting my mind wander when I’m having lunch with a friend? I finally agreed to go out with her so she would stop worrying about me. Yet here I am, physically present but mentally absent. I’m just making her worry more.
“Yeah,” I tell her with a smile that I hope comes across as convincing before eating another spoonful of the mousse. “You can tell Tom I love it.”
The corners of her mouth turn up. “Good. He’ll be glad. I asked him to whip up something special for you to cheer you up.”
She did?
“You didn’t have to do that.”
Gladys sighs. “Oh, please. It’s the least I can do after missing your father’s funeral.”
She’s still going on about that? Is that why she was so desperate for me to have lunch with her?
“I already told you it’s fine.”
She shakes her head. “I should have been there.”
Hard on herself as always. Then again, that’s one of the things we have in common.
“Fine. I was mad you weren’t there, but since you’re here now and you asked your boyfriend to make me this amazing dessert, I forgive you. Okay?”
Gladys smiles. “Thank you.”
A moment of silence hangs in the air as we savor our desserts. It really is good. Not too sweet thanks to the tartness of the orange and the bitter note of the coffee, both of which have been added in restraint as well. And there’s texture with the chocolate shards and the coffee jelly and the crushed nuts. And the surprise of the gooey chocolate mint center. Tom outdid himself this time.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” Gladys asks after putting her fork down.
She’s already done with dessert. She must have been eating spoonfuls while I was swimming in my thoughts earlier.
“Yes,” I answer. “I even won a case a few days ago.”
Her eyebrows crease. “You’re back to work already?”
“Just one case I accepted before my dad died. I’m taking a breather now.”
“At your father’s house?”
I nod. “I guess it’s mine now. I’ve already had my stuff sent over.”
“Sure that’s a good idea?” Gladys asks me. “Reminding yourself of your father every day? Living with his ghost?”
“I’ll manage,” I tell her. “Besides, I don’t believe in ghosts.”
Nope. They don’t exist.
“And what do you do at that house, exactly? Watch courtroom drama all day while stuffing yourself with ice cream and drowning yourself in wine?”
“No,” I answer.
Gladys arches an eyebrow.
“I did drown myself in wine after the funeral,” I admit. “But I haven’t touched a bottle since.”
“Were you able to cry?” she asks next.
I pause. The only other person who’s asked me that since my dad died is my mom, which goes to show how well Gladys knows me.
“Yes,” I reply.
Because Leo made me cry, just like he did that time he put the frog in my boot. He’s good at that.
“Jodie?” Gladys captures my gaze.
Shit. My mind wandered off again.
“I’m fine, Gladys,” I tell her as I dab my lips with the corner of the table napkin. “Stop interrogating me like I’m a witness.”
She pouts.
I throw the napkin back on my lap and reach for her hand. “Really. You don’t have to keep worrying about me.”
She lets out a sigh. “I wouldn’t be so worried if you had a boyfriend.”
I let her hand go with a frown. “Now you’re sounding like Carla.”
Carla Spencer, the girl from law school that we both hated. Governor’s daughter. Natural redhead and gossipmonger. Engaged to a businessman. First class bitch. I heard she’s a junior partner at a firm in New York now, probably thanks to Daddy. I bet she’s still a pain in the ass.
