Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 141951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 710(@200wpm)___ 568(@250wpm)___ 473(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 710(@200wpm)___ 568(@250wpm)___ 473(@300wpm)
Once upon a time, all her nervous energy went into flicking ash from the tip of a cigarette and burning lungsful of secret smoke. Until the smell of smoke made her want to puke. She still needed somewhere to put the rest of her anxiety, though.
Her fingers were it.
Nobody said Delaney was perfect.
“I’ve considered taking up smoking again,” Delaney said.
Margot gasped, her attention swinging from packing away her tools to Delaney. “No.”
“Not seriously, Margot. I’m just …”
“Struggling?” her friend asked, as she took the recliner across from the matching blue couch.
“I don’t like that word.”
It implied weakness and Delaney took issue with that. Instead of saying so, because nobody liked to pick at a raw wound, she toyed with one of the many cushions on the couch. The fringe edge gave her fingers something else to do except be there for her to pick.
Like the sofa, the recliner got the same treatment with too many sham pillows with images of various boating objects.
Bexley took decorating way too seriously.
Mostly, because her cousin just didn’t know when to stop. A color started a theme and then it would spread until it took over everything. She even managed to find lamps with large conch shell bases for the space. It was starting to bleed over into the two-bedroom apartment’s tiny kitchen in little ways.
Delaney tried not to notice.
Most of the time.
“Okay, I’m starting to think you don’t like the nose ring,” Margot blurted out worriedly.
Delaney barked out a laugh. “Really?”
Across the way, with studs in both sides of her nose, and one gold hoop next to her right diamond nose ring, Margot shrugged. “I’m used to people telling me by now, and yeah—so you’re a little lost in your head. You do that sometimes. I want to know what you think of your face.”
Margot pointed at her own for effect. It did the job.
Delaney grinned big.
Margot smiled back, and her eyes twinkled. “You okay, hon?”
Delaney sighed.
She got asked that question a lot more than she wanted to admit. Usually by the same few people who took notice of her lack of laughter and smiles—or really, how quickly it died or fell. Delaney had been stuck in this loop of lingering unhappiness for a while, and it was getting harder and harder to climb back out every time she made another trip around Sad-ville.
Population one.
A terrible place for a vacation, anyway.
“Delaney?” Margot pressed the longer she remained silent on the couch.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she lied lamely. Standing up, Delaney rubbed at her forehead and eyed the muted news playing on the television mounted between the living room’s two tall windows. She could pretend like the busy Fredericton street, dusted with blustering snow, gave her something interesting to stare at. Really, she just didn’t want to meet Margot’s gaze. “Some days are better than others, but I’m making it work. Do you want something to drink?”
“No, I’m gonna grab tea from Timmies with Leya on the way out,” Margot said.
Delaney saw her shrug out of the corner of her eye.
“Sorry, I did say I couldn’t stay too long,” she added. “The flight’s at seven.”
“No worries.”
I need something to drink, though, Delaney thought. Preferably liquor because something in her gut said it was going to be a long night once Margot headed out to catch her evening flight to Toronto.
Margot said nothing as Delaney cut through the living room to make a beeline for the fridge at the far side of the apartment. She nestled what remained of her red wine from the night before and a clean glass in her arms to make her way back to the couch.
“I have missed you a lot,” Delaney said, focusing on pouring the wine and not spilling it over blue fabric that had never washed well.
“I missed you, too.”
Delaney glanced up over the glass on the coffee table. “But the expo, right?”
Margot laughed at that. “Yeah, the expo was what I really wanted to do.”
A year traveling Canada with a team that put on a beauty expo displaying the talents of artists from all over the country kept Margot moving constantly. From one city to the next. New faces and personalities greeted her at every show. She met amazing people, learned from the best in her field along the way, and made connections that would not have been possible, otherwise. It sucked that she didn’t make it home as often as her friends would like so they could catch up, but a life on the road seemed to suit Margot better.
Not even Delaney could ignore it, and nobody—not even her sorry ass—blamed Margot for running through the door that opened for her. The girlfriend Margot met along the way probably helped, too.
But Leya?
That girl was raised in a cement zoo—she wasn’t cut out for small town, or even rural life. The handful of times Margot did bring her girlfriend home, it was abundantly obvious that the high-energy blonde with her manic energy couldn’t stand remaining in one place for too long. Especially not a small place. Not to mention, Leya didn’t pretend to want to spend real, quality time with Margot’s family and friends.