Blue Dahlia (The Dahlia Trilogy of The Gilded Flower Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

Are you doing what you’re passionate about? Because the girl who took these pictures and drew the most beautiful portraits didn’t give a shit about what anyone else thought.”
    “I’m still that person,” she says in a low voice. But the tightness in her chest tells her she’s lying. True, she’s had glimpses of that girl, but she hasn’t done anything creative since she left California.
    “Does he know that part of you? Did he make you come in your sleep?”
    Dahlia turns away and heads toward the door. “You don’t have a right to ask about him, Shane.” Opening the door she says, “Let’s leave the past where it belongs. For both our sakes.”
    “Wait, D, I’m sorry,” Shane says. He pauses and takes a long exhale before continuing. “I brought you in here to show you these photos, but there’s something else. Just wait.” He runs up the steps. Dahlia crosses her arms, determined to leave today, divorce or not. She’ll explain everything to Rodrigo. He’ll learn to deal with it.
    A few minutes later Shane comes back down the stairs holding a small box. “Have a look at these.”
     

Chapter 19
    Dahlia tosses the box on her bed and stares at it. She runs through her options in her head. Get on the next flight to Miami out of SFO. Have her family’s plane fly up from Santa Barbara to pick her up. Or wait it out with Shane. The first two are incredibly appealing. She sighs. Still, if she’s going to leave him for the last time, she’ll have to give him the benefit of the doubt.
    She lifts the lid off the box and gasps. Inside, she finds series of photographs she took for an online surf magazine she freelanced for. She looks at them critically, noticing how rough her technique was at times. But seeing these brings a smile to her face as she remembers how exciting her life felt at the time. Being behind the lens gave her a kind of anonymity she didn’t have in her life in New York, where she was always on the other end of the lens.
    Dahlia takes out a Pentax camera and pulls out a roll of undeveloped film, replacing it with a new one in the case.
    Her warm nostalgia begins to fade as she glimpses a picture she didn’t want to see again. Buried beneath the photo essays were the ultrasound pictures of her baby. Her heart sinks as she studies them carefully. She reaches in and pulls out a picture of her with Shane after he placed fifth down in Huntington Beach, taken two days after their wedding. She returns it to the box, her hands shaking as she places the lid on it.
    Dahlia takes a few deep breaths and dials Rodrigo.
    “Hey, baby,” he answers in a low voice.
    “Hey,” she replies, her voice devoid of emotion. Dahlia isn’t sure how much longer she can put herself through the emotional ringer like this.
    “I’m going to be in California another few days,” she says quickly before she gets cold feet.
    “Everything alright?”
    “Yeah, it’s just . . .”
    “Look, D, Lily told me. I saw her and Alejandro for dinner last night.”
    “She told you about Shane?”
    “What? Who’s Shane?” Urgency enters his voice.
    “What did Lily tell you?”
    “Dahlia, who’s Shane?”
    “Tell me, Rodrigo, what did Lily say?”
    “Just that you had gone to college in Santa Barbara, and had lost someone close to you. Was it Shane?”
    A sudden knock on the door interrupts them, “Hey D, can you talk?”
    “Who is that?” Rodrigo asks.
    “No one,” she replies.
    “Is that Shane?”
    Dahlia’s heart begins to race as she feels her life begin to slip through her fingers.
    “Yes,” she sighs.
    “Who is he?”
    “I’d rather tell you in person, Rodrigo.”
    “I don’t understand, Dahlia. Why can’t you tell me now?”
    “It’s too complicated.”
    “I can’t wait, tell me now, D.” The desperation in his tone is clear.
    “Please, just . . .” her voice trails off.
    “Why do I feel like you’re playing me, Dahlia? The fact that you can’t tell me over the phone means this is a