This time, Keira’s smile falters. “Do you miss Rafe?”
My head jerks back of its own volition. “Rafe? Hell no. That motherfucker is gone forever. If he comes back, we’ll havewaybigger problems to be worrying about.” I slap three painted fingertips over my lips to cover the cursing. “Shit.Crap. I’m just gonna stop talking before Rory starts dropping f-bombs and her daddy looks tomefor an explanation.”
My mess-up does the trick, because Keira laughs again.
“He’s just as guilty of it as you. I promise he’ll never know.” She nudges the heel of my pump with her toe. “It’s been too long since I’ve seen you, though. What have you been doing?”
“My remodel has been a nightmare, but it’s almost done. Less than a week to go, and I can finally move in. I can’t wait for you to see it all finished.”
“Finally! I can give you the housewarming gift I got you. I’ve been holding on to it since the week after you closed on the place.”
That means she bought whatever it is almost ten months ago, when I purchased my very own house in the French Quarter. It’s a small two-bedroom place whose charm had long since worn off or been covered up, but the moment I saw it, I knew it was mine.
I shake my head, because really, Keira’s too fucking good for me. “Of course you went out and bought something, even when it was just a pit.”
She brings her shoulders up to her ears. “Like you expect anything different from me.”
“No, I guess I don’t. I imagine you’ll bring whiskey too, so I won’t need to stock up for us.”
This comment launches an exaggerated eye roll. “You never need to buy another bottle of Seven Sinners. You know that.”
The taste of the whiskey is still on my tongue from Mount’s office. “Much appreciated.” When Aurora reaches out to grab some puffed cereal and shoves it in her mouth, I say, “Well, I should let you get back to what you’re doing. I’ve gotta make a pass at Bernadette’s before I head back to meet with the contractor about the punch list for the finish work.”
“Already? But you just got here.” Keira catches Aurora’s hand before she flips her container of cereal onto the ground.
“You know me. I never stay still for long.”
A gentle and warm expression crosses her face. “Whatever it is that’s really going on with you ... I can handle it, Mags. When you’re ready to tell me, I’ll be ready to listen.”
The memory of Moses’s glowing eyes flashes through my brain, and it takes everything I have to offer her a thin smile. “I’ll let you know.”
“Take care. We love you.”
“And I love you right back.” I lean in and press a kiss to Aurora’s wild hair. “I’ll see you two later.”
As I turn to where V stands at the doorway, Aurora yells, “Yeeee!”
A pang of longing stabs me in my chest, where my heart should be. I’ll never have that. I’ll never know what it feels like to bring life into this world.
Then again, it’s a fucked-up place, and God knows I’m not fit to be a mother anyway.
V shows me out of the inner sanctum a different way than we came in. Shockingly, he doesn’t blindfold me so I can’t see where we’re going. I must have passed some kind of trust test since the last time I was here. He proves that further by handing my pink revolver and knife back to me before he opens the huge metal door.
The exit he takes me out leads to a different street than the one the bar is on. Sunshine beats down on my face, and I take a deep breath.
Moses is in that building, and I don’t care. I won’t let myself care.
As I walk past a shiny black Rolls Royce parked at the curb, I remind myself I’m an emotional fucking fortress. I only feel what I want to feel, and not a damn thing more.
Put that man out of your mind, Mags. He’s got no business taking up your time or your thoughts.
Even though I know it’s true, I struggle to not look back.
Four
Magnolia
“Idon’t know why you keep coming here.” Bitchy Bernadette spits words at me from her recliner across the room, where she sits with a blanket over her lap as she watches her stories on TV.