Texas and Tiaras (The Book Cellar Mysteries 2) by Storm Melissa & Hodge K.M

Author:Storm, Melissa & Hodge, K.M. [Storm, Melissa]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Blue Crown Press
Published: 2016-08-10T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Vi

Vi’s body and mind hummed. She couldn't go to sleep even if she wanted to. Likely a result of fudging her dosage schedule. Tomorrow morning she was supposed to go see Joy, which meant she really needed to get some sleep. The asthma attack had frightened Vi. She knew she needed to pay more attention. The TV played the end of the Late Show but she had long since put it on mute. The extra sensory input had been too much for her.

High, Vi, you’re high.

Shut up! No, I’m not.

Let’s be real here, Violeta…

“Knock, knock.”

Vi jumped at the unexpected voice. The door opened a crack and in stepped Jesse. The drugs made everything fuzzy, but she was with it enough to wonder how in the world he had just waltzed into her living room.

I really need to start locking up at night. After all, any Joe Blow could prance in and rob her blind... or worse. The old Vi had been much more on top of things like that.

“You should really lock your doors at night, babe. It wasn’t even closed all the way.” Jesse inched closer into the room and folded his arms over his chest.

“Jesse? What are you doing here?” Vi tightened her cardigan around her.

“I know it’s late and normally I wouldn’t dream of showing up unannounced at this hour, but I’m just coming back from the hospital. And as I drove by, I saw your light on and I—well—I needed to talk to you.”

She turned off the TV and made room on the sofa so he could sit down. He looked pale and had dark rings under his eyes, plus he’d mentioned the hospital. She’d have been the first to know if something new had happened to Joy, but who else could possibly be sick enough to require hospitalization? She tried to puzzle it out, but it all made her head hurt.

Jesse regarded her with that inquisitive gaze of his. “Are you high?”

Nothing got past ol’ Jesse. She could see the headline for the next blog, Local goody-goody, recent gunshot victim, blitzed out of her mind.

His comforting hand brushed against hers and his expression softened. “Talk to me, Vi. I’m worried about you.”

Vi snatched her hand away. His pity and concern bristled her. She didn’t want Jesse to feel sorry for her. She missed their back-and-forth repartee, the easy way they had once gotten along. Ever since the event, all of her relationships were strained, leaving her more alone than she had ever been.

It’s your own doing, Violeta. You pushed them all away.

She shook her head to loosen the shame and guilt that clung to her like barnacles on a ship. “Yeah, I may have taken one too many tonight. I’m fine—”

Jesse got up from the couch and started to pace back and forth on her worn living room rug. “Fine. You’re anything but fine.”

“Jesse—”

She watched as his anger rolled in like a storm. His face reddened and his eyes widened. “Everything is falling apart. Brooke almost died tonight.

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