Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 112249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 561(@200wpm)___ 449(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 561(@200wpm)___ 449(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
“Yeah, okay.”
The only time Delaney’s calls sounded like she was inside a wind farm was when she took the highway with her driver’s window cracked to hide the tendrils of smoke from the handful of cigarettes she allowed herself to smoke everyday.
If anyone asked about the smoking, Delaney lied.
It was hard to call her on it, too, but Gracen knew. What were best friends for if not to run to the gas store at the end of the street five minutes before it closed to get you a pack of cigarettes because it was the only thing to bring you out of a panic attack, right?
Everybody had secrets.
Not everybody would keep them, though.
“Hey, are you okay?” Gracen asked.
With the window noise in the background confirming Delaney’s vice that counteracted her anxiety, Gracen felt like she had to ask. Even if she still believed letting her friend help her family in any way was only asking for heartache, Gracen also wouldn’t stop caring about Delaney. Especially when she was hurting.
It took Delaney more than a few seconds to answer. When she finally did, it was on the long exhale of what Gracen knew to be full of cigarette smoke.
“I didn’t think just having dinner was going to be that bad, to be honest,” she muttered.
Gracen frowned. “What happened?”
“Nothing new. Maybe they share their hurtful thoughts and beliefs in a polite way now that I’m older and not scared to tell them where to shove it, but it’s all the same trash, Gracen. Whatever, I’m used to it.”
That also meant Delaney didn’t want Gracen to push.
Still, she felt obligated to ask, “Do you want to talk about—”
“Not really. I will say you were right, though. There’s no way I can pretend like these people didn’t hurt me for the sake of someone else. Bexley told me tonight I don’t have to come to the engagement party, which made me think they felt like they had to give me an invite because I agreed to do the girls’ hair for the wedding, but not because anybody wants me there.”
Ouch. That probably stung.
“Was the food good at least?” Gracen asked.
A weak laugh answered that.
“Mostly, but then my mother walked into the house, and I lost my appetite,” Delaney said.
Yikes.
Gracen didn’t want to be nosy regarding the dinner meant to serve as an informal way to bring the bride and groom’s family and close friends together before their official announcement, but she couldn’t help it. At least the pit of anxiety digging deep in her stomach proved her reason for being curious wasn’t jealousy.
Right?
“Was the happy couple—”
“Happy,” Delaney interjected. “I talked to Sonny ... he said hey.”
“Hey,” Gracen echoed.
If she heard how irritated it sounded to her own ears, Gracen could only imagine the way it came off to Delaney.
“Yeah, hey. Hello, you know? I guess he asked how you were, too, but frankly, at that point I zoned out because why should he even ask? If he gave a fuck, he could call and ask you himself. It’s not like your number’s changed or anything. He felt obligated to ask me because it was me, that’s all. And it kind of pissed me off that he did when he could have just not bothered in the first place. Don’t pretend to care. Lots of people actually do.”
Gracen blinked, not expecting Delaney’s tirade.
“Was that before or after you saw your mom?”
Delaney only sighed.
Noisily.
“I just ... Listen, I don’t have the Bluetooth connected so the phone is on speaker, and I can’t hear you that well.”
Lies, Gracen knew. They’d been talking just fine until that very moment.
“Roll the window up,” she said.
Delaney didn’t.
“I’ll see you when I get home—”
That wouldn’t work for Gracen. “Well, I was gonna head out—”
“We can talk about it when you get back from your run,” her friend added before Gracen could tell her she wasn’t taking her nightly jog on the boardwalk while the lights across town turned on. She wouldn’t get the chance, either, because Delaney ended the call.
Oh, well.
Delaney would figure it out.
Eventually.
That left Gracen staring at the list of last contacts, and the newest just below Delaney’s. Bike Boy. She opened the last messages from Malachi’s number. His text me later when she’d gotten a minute in between bites of poutine with Margot to tell him she was currently tied up in plans, but later was possibly open.
It was foolish, really.
Gracen understood that.
An early morning with a full day ahead plus the glass of wine earlier meant Gracen’s bed should be the only thing on her mind, but she couldn’t bring herself to head back upstairs. She’d only just realized that past weekend how nothing about the things inside the space had changed since Sonny left her despite the fact it wasn’t even the same room they’d shared. Her sheets—different ones now, yes—were still the same color. She’d simply rearranged the artwork on the walls to fit the new space she and Delaney moved into after their last salon sold. Even the furniture was the same.