Hanging on (Jessica Brodie Diaries #2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

told me. I did wonder. I've known him since he was a boy. He wasn't acting the way he usually did since he was forced to grow up. But how could I know? How could I know that you would come along and defrost his ice cold determination?” Her face crackled in a smile of delight.
    “Gladis, didn’t you know? I am good!” We both giggled. Even Lady cracked a smile in the corner. It probably hurt her face.
    “Don’t think it will be a cake walk, deary. Oh no! You have to go into the snake pit, now. We have to get you ready to talk to people that have had money all their lives. They are not all as hip as me!”
    “Hip, Gladis? You aren’t so hip using words like that!”
    “Her hip is broken,” Lady supplied, tickled with her own joke.
    She was used to our blank stares, and didn’t bother looking up.
     
    A while later William came back in with a disheveled look. The weather was starting to cool off, but he looked flushed.
    “What’s the verdict, Doc?” I asked from the corner, a stack of cards in my hand.
    He shook his head, continuing to the bathroom to wash his greasy hands. Once that was accomplished, he gave me the news. “Well, I’ve got good news and bad. Which would you like to hear first?”
    “Bad news, please.”
    “It needs repairs to be drivable. Radiator, hoses, maybe other things, I’m not sure. If you get all these things it will probably only last another couple months, maybe half a year before something else breaks.”
    “I see. Good news?”
    “Two things. First, I was able to drive it to the street where it will be safe for a week, or until you decide what to do with it. Second, I can probably fix all of those things if you really want me to.”
    “Which means, you would really rather not but with a strong arm I could get ‘r done?”
    “Hit the nail on the head.”
    I sighed loudly. Fuck .
    I looked up at William, who was intently studying me. Gladis had a perfectly blank face, which was not characteristic of the usually lively older lady. Even Lady was glancing at me through her eyelashes.
    It was clear they all thought this was my crossroads. Either I patched it up, which meant I was probably still planning on jumping ship, heading back to LA or over to Australia like I had planned when I incredibly heartbroken--so, a day ago--or I thought more long term and found a solution to match. But a car payment was a commitment all in itself. One requiring money. That I didn’t have. Conundrum.
    So I shrugged. “I’ll need to think on it.”
    William seemed to wind up before my eyes, and Gladis stayed still as a stone. Not much I could do about it. They had cobs of money. Not like they had to worry about a car payment, rent, food, and a thousand other things all coming out of one measly paycheck. Even if those things were dirt cheap, school loans were kicking my ass. This sucked.
    I stood up. Time to get a move on. “Kay Gladis, I am going to head. Shall I stop in later tonight?”
    “Oh no honey. One of the kids said they were going to stop in. I want to look old and alone when they get here.”
    “Is this the first visit?” William asked.
    “A-yup,” she answered blandly. “And just the one, too. They all live under sixty miles away and they couldn’t be bothered to visit the woman that fed ‘em. Spoiled rotten!”
    William wisely kept his face neutral. I pretended like I didn’t hear the outburst.
    “Okay, well, I’ll see you gals for dinner tomorrow then,” I said lightly.
    Lady nodded and Gladis said good-bye.
    When we got back into William’s car he was strangely quiet. I tried a few starts at conversation, but everything fell flat. We drove for about twenty minutes and finally ended up in a plaza of shops.
    When the car was in park, and usually when two people would normally exit the vehicle, William sat staring straight ahead. Unfortunately, I knew why. I thought it best to wait for the wave to crash over me instead of swimming out to meet it. The end result would be the