Totlandia: Summer Read Online Free PDF Page A

you’ll still have a roof over your head—that is, if you get moving. Otherwise, I’ll return the keys to the landlord. It doesn’t matter to me, one way or another.”
    What he means is that I don’t matter to him, she thought miserably. Ally is all he cares about.
    Jade held her tears as she stumbled after the van, clothing bag in hand.
    Oliver’s wails followed her around the corner, and down the street.
     
    ***
     
    By the time Jade caught up to the van, the movers had already completed their last drop-off and were pulling away from the curb. She ignored their pitying looks. Instead she held her head high as she shoved open the wrought-iron gate leading to the house.
    It was a two-story white stucco cottage, topped with a turret and a slanted red Spanish-tile roof—a typical Marina neighborhood home, probably built in the 1920s. A large bay window jutted out next to the arched wooden front door. On the second floor, French windows opened up onto a Juliet balcony. The leafy tendrils of a bougainvillea bush wrapped the front of the house in hot-pink blossoms. Jade had admired the house on her many strolls with Oliver to and from the Moscone Playground a few blocks over.
    What she had once thought of as a cozy cottage suddenly looked like her prison.
    Away from her son. Away from the man she’d loved but had lost—to Ally.
    She steeled herself, went inside, and slammed the door behind her.
    She was halfway up the narrow winding stairwell when she heard Reggie mutter, “Welcome home.”
    She froze. Slowly, she made her way back down and peeked into the living room.
    It annoyed her to find his feet dangling over the couch. He was reading a copy of the latest New Yorker.
    “What the hell are you doing here?” she asked crossly.
    He looked up from the magazine. “By the way, they’ve put your things in the master suite. Oliver’s room is up there, too. I’ve taken the small bedroom, down here.”
    “You’re staying here—with me? ”
    “You invited me to move in with you, or have you forgotten?”
    “Yes but…that was when…”
    “Yeah, I know—when milady graced Camelot.” He waved his hand in a northwesterly direction. “Okay, granted, this isn’t Brady’s palatial palace, but you must admit this place is not too shabby, either.”
    She shrugged. “I don’t know about this. I mean, what will people think?”
    “My guess is that they’ll presume you came to your senses over that horse’s ass with whom you’re so enthralled.”
    She felt her face redden. “No, I don’t mean about us—him and me. I mean, what will people think if they know about us —you know, you, living here, with me?”
    Reggie stood up. “Look, Jade, if this arrangement makes you uncomfortable, I’ll move on.” He plucked his jacket off the wingback chair and folded it over his arm, then leaned down and picked up the small valise at his feet.
    She shook her head, perplexed. “You’ll still teach the class, won’t you?”
    He shook his head. “Sorry, old girl. You can’t have your cake and eat it, too. A crash pad was part of the bargain we made. And since Brady has made it quite clear that I’m persona non grata at Château Pierce, it’s either here, or I’ll have to pass on the honor of hearing a bunch of four-year-olds lisp their way through the iambic pentameter of King Lear. ”
    If Reggie pulled a no-show, Bettina would be livid—perhaps to the point that Jade’s one ace in the hole with Brady would bogey out.
    She couldn’t let that happen.
    Jade shrugged. “Well…okay. I guess this place is big enough for the both of us.”
    Too big, really. And too empty.
    She would never admit it to him—or even to herself—but she was relieved he was there. For now, anyway.
     

Chapter 2
    Tuesday, 14 May
    10:11 a.m .
    “You’re a silly little fool, you know it? Whatever is happening between Ally and Brady has nothing to do with your asshole ex, and his lady friend.” Caleb Martin’s mouth may have been