Running From the Law by Jami Albright
Author:Jami Albright [Albright, Jami]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-11-13T05:00:00+00:00
Chapter Twenty-Nine
âDo you want to puke before or after you sweep the peanut shells?â Hailey came around the bar and handed Charlie the broom and dustpan.
She took the instruments of her trade. âHaha. Sue me. I donât like the smell of peanuts.â A lot of aspects of her job had gotten easier over the last two weeksâeverything but the smell. Every time she walked into the bar Pod threatened to stage a mutiny. Ironically, the stale beer and cologne aroma seemed to help neutralize the effects of the peanut stink. Pregnancy was weird.
Hailey leaned her back against the bar and crossed her arms. âYou know, Ariel is going to probably charge you a thousand dollars for her dry cleaning.â
Charlie tied her apron around her waist. It was still early, and the bar was empty except for a group of guys playing darts in the beer garden. âWorth it.â
A smile pushed against Haileyâs lips. âYeah?â
âYeah. Nobody messes with my friend.â Charlie couldnât help the hopeful tone in her voice.
The amused expression on Haileyâs face slid away like ice melting on a warm winterâs day. âWeâre not friends.â
âWe used to be. Iâd like to be again. I know youâre mad at me because I left without saying goodbye, butââ
Hailey pushed off the bar, and her fists went to her hips. âThatâs what you think Iâm mad at you about? You donât have a clue, do you? I didnât blame you for leaving without saying goodbye. I understood. It was hard for all of us.â
âThen whyâ¦â Why do you hate me? But she couldnât say the words. It gave them too much power.
âBecause I needed you, and you turned me away.â
âWhat are you talking about, Hailey? I never turned you away.â
The tears swimming in her oldest friendâs eyes sliced at her heart. âAfter Lottie was born, and I was lonely and depressed, I tried to get in touch with you. I called you, but youâd changed your number, so I called your mom. At least she was nice to me, unlike her superstar daughter who didnât have time for her small-town friends.â
âHailey, I never got any messages. I wouldâve called you back.â
Her boss swiped the tear that ran down her cheek like it personally offended her. âDonât lie, Charlie. Your mom told me that she gave you the messages. I wasnât important enough for your time.â
Her mother was the worst person ever. Lord, sheâd probably be in therapy for the rest of her life dealing with that shit. âI swear to you that she never gave me any messages from you. She kept my phone and monitored my calls. I wasnât allowed to call anyone back home. I tried more than once, and she finally changed my number. By the time I realized I didnât have to do everything she said, itâd been so long since weâd talked that I thought youâd have moved on without me.â Her voice shredded as she thought of the years of anger at her mother and herself for not standing up to the people around her.
Download
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.
Spell It Out by David Crystal(35822)
Professional Troublemaker by Luvvie Ajayi Jones(29408)
We're Going to Need More Wine by Gabrielle Union(18606)
The Secret History by Donna Tartt(18083)
Cat's cradle by Kurt Vonnegut(14721)
The Goal (Off-Campus #4) by Elle Kennedy(13175)
The Social Justice Warrior Handbook by Lisa De Pasquale(11941)
The Break by Marian Keyes(9065)
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan(8860)
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher(8416)
The remains of the day by Kazuo Ishiguro(8350)
Educated by Tara Westover(7659)
The handmaid's tale by Margaret Atwood(7416)
Win Bigly by Scott Adams(6799)
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin(6770)
This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz(6411)
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion(5808)
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty(5791)
The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish(5395)
