“Yeah. Before Rochelle started working. That’s, like, how they met.” She bit her lip and thought. “I think at a street fair, or something like that.”
I leaned in. “So she didn’t know Zane was … well, Zane then, right?”
She shrugged. “I doubt it. She told me that Zane swept her off her feet, they fell in love, and blah, blah, blah … ya know, all that romantic shit that doesn’t really happen.”
“And it didn’t happen.”
She sighed. “Black.”
“What?”
Her eyes widened and she shook her head. “The card, dummy.”
“Oh, yeah. Uh, yes.”
“Awesome!”
“So how did Rochelle end up down here?” I set the cards on the table.
“I don’t really know.” Lily brushed her strawberry blonde hair behind her shoulders. “Phoebe thinks it's so she can keep an eye on us or something. You know she’ll tell Zane anything.”
“That’s …” I trailed off, not knowing what to say.
“Creepy?” Lily offered.
“Among other things.”
Lily stretched her arms above her head. “I’m tired.” She stood and went back to her cot.
“Me too,” I said, though I thought my sleepiness was brought on by boredom. I retreated to my uncomfortable cot and climbed under the covers. I closed my eyes and conjured up the comforting image of my family seated around the dining room table, eating and talking. I didn’t realize I had even fallen asleep until I heard Jackson whisper my name.
“Adeline,” Jackson repeated, speaking softly, pulling me from my sleep. I blinked open my eyes. “Sorry for waking you up.”
I sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. “It’s okay, but why are you?”#p#分页标题#e#
“Nate sent me down to get you.” As soon as the words left his mouth, my body went rigid with fear. “He wants us to shovel the driveway.”
“Really?”
Jackson nodded. “Several clients come on Tuesdays.”
“Oh.” I threw back the covers, stood, and realized that I didn’t have any sort of winter gear. As if he could read my mind, Jackson motioned to the stairs.
“I have boots you can wear. They’ll be big, but at least your feet will stay warm and dry.”
“Thanks,” I told him.
His dark eyes met mine. He looked at me with the same empty look that he always had, but I saw the real Jackson now. There was sorrow on his face, and it hurt. I now knew that the anger he held back was directed at Nate and Zane.
I put as many layers on as humanly possible and followed Jackson up the stairs. He was right. The boots were big, but I was thankful for them anyway. The sun was low in the gray, cloud-covered sky, and the wind had picked up. The shovels were already leaning against the house. I took one and started scraping snow off the porch steps while Jackson worked on the sidewalk.
“I can’t believe you’ve never seen all the Harry Potter movies,” I said, looking over my shoulder. My breath clouded around me.
Jackson’s frown turned into a small smile. “I want to see them,” he said. The smile disappeared. “I can’t see movies though. Nate makes sure I don’t watch TV or listen to the radio.”
My stomach twisted with guilt. Way to go, Addie. What a great topic to bring up. The dejection in his voice hurt my heart.
“I went to the theme park two years ago. It was awesome. I got a wand,” I said.
“I heard about that park. It sounds amazing.” Jackson stopped shoveling and looked at me. A glimmer of hope sparkled in his dark eyes.
“It is,” I said and went on to tell him about the park, only to get overcome with emotion since the memory involved my family and Lynn. I blinked back the tears, not wanting them to freeze as the streamed down my face. We went back to shoveling.
“Did you really want Zane to kill me?” I asked rather suddenly.
“Huh?” Jackson said and looked up.
I turned around to face him. “When he took me. You said there were other ways to handle it and Zane made it sound like you were suggesting he kill me.”
Jackson shook his head and his wavy hair fell into his eyes. “No. I was hoping he’d beat the shit out of you and leave after the usual threats,” he explained. I made a face, and he shook his head again. “Not that I wanted you to get the shit beaten out of you, but anything is better than this, isn’t it?”
“That is very true.”
“What were you doing at the parade?” he asked slowly. “Are you … ?” he trailed off and looked at the ground.