Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 50811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
I’d been right, too. Lexi was gorgeous under all that shit, even when she was crying. I just wished she still believed what I’d told her. She didn’t need makeup to be beautiful, and those boys who liked her push-up bra would never understand she was supposed to be their princess.
That’s why you’re moving back here, I told myself. Someone needs to remind her and Kayden how wonderful they are, every day.
“You have to make me a promise, though.” I reached up, wiping at her cheek with my thumb. I’d miss my life in Missoula, but I’d missed this, too. Being with my people.
“What?”
“Use that two hundred bucks to buy something special,” I said. “Something fun. You’re too young for a push-up bra. You should enjoy being a kid while you still can.”
“You can’t tell me what to wear,” she snuffled defiantly, then dropped her head down on my shoulder, starting to cry again.
“I know,” I whispered. “Never forget how much I love you, okay?”
“I love you, too, Randi. I’m so glad you’re coming back to us. We’ve missed you so much.”
“How do I look?” I asked Mom. I wore a little black dress that had bare shoulders and enough skirt to flare up as I spun around.
“You look beautiful, even with the black eye,” she said, smiling at me. Wow—someone was in a better mood tonight. She sat on the couch, playing cards with Kayden, looking so healthy you’d never think she’d had an asthma attack that morning. Then I spotted the glass on the coffee table… Ah, that explained it. Rum and Coke always cheered her up. “Lexi, you did a great job on her hair. I swear, kiddo. You got a gift. I still think it’s missing something, though.”
“What?”
“Come with me,” she said, pushing to her feet with effort, then reaching down for her glass. I followed her back into her bedroom, where she opened her closet. “Grab my jewelry box—it’s up there on the top.”
I pulled it down, handing it over. She set it on the bed and started digging through it. Reminded me of all the times I’d watched her getting ready for a night out. She always started with rum and Coke—that set the mood. After her second glass, she’d let me play with her jewelry, and by the third I was allowed to put on as much of it as I liked. My favorite had been a bunch of thin silver bangles. I loved to jingle them and pretend I was a Gypsy fortune teller.
Mom pulled out a small gray box and handed it to me, swaying slightly.
“These were your grandmother’s,” she said, and I caught a hint of moisture in her eyes. “She gave them to me right before she died, but I think it’s time for you to have them. They’d look beautiful with your dress.”
Opening the box, I found an antique-looking necklace with a large green pendant surrounded by tiny diamonds. Nestled next to it was a pair of matching earrings.
“They’re real,” she said softly. “Emeralds.”
“How?” I asked, stunned. “They never had any money. There’s no way Grandpa could buy these.”
“You know they ran off together, right?” she asked. “Her family was fancy people, from Chicago, and they didn’t approve of my dad. Thought he was trash.”
“Yeah, she told me once.” It’d always made me sad, because my grandparents had adored each other, right up to the end.
“Well, these came from her grandmother,” Mom said, touching one reverently. “She sent them to her after they got married. Said they were her inheritance. She told her not to feel guilty about selling them if she needed to—the original note is still folded up in the bottom of the box if you want to see it. Anyway, no matter how hard times got, they always managed to find a way to pay the bills. She gave them to me right before she died. Told me the same thing.”
I looked around the tiny bedroom, thinking about the kids and all the things they didn’t have.
“Why haven’t you?”
She gave me a sad smile. “I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. And now they’re yours… I’ve never had much to give you, but I can give you this. Consider them insurance for when things get bad, and don’t feel guilty if you need to sell them. But if you don’t, they should go to your daughter someday, okay?”
I pulled out the pendant, turning so she could fasten it around my neck. Then I hugged her, wondering how it was possible to love someone so much, even as I smelled the booze on her breath.
“Lexi told me that you’re moving back to Hallies Falls,” she said, sighing. “I know I fucked up, baby. I tried, but can’t seem to pull it together and now I can’t do anything anymore. It’s not fair to you, but I’m glad you’re coming home.”