and they obviously cared about each other. Kate was definitely a
few years younger and could probably get any guy she wanted, but
Helen didn?t think she?d ever find a better man than her father.
67/395
And Jerry definitely deserved a fresh start. He?d been treated horribly
by Helen?s mother and he?d never gotten over her, which
ticked Helen off to no end.
She rubbed the charm on her necklace. For the hundredth time
she considered taking the wretched thing off, but she knew she
wouldn?t. Every time she?d tried to go without wearing it she obsessed
over it, unable to stop picturing it in her head. Eventually,
she?d give in and put it back on in order to regain some mental
peace and quiet. She realized that this probably meant she had
some serious mommy issues, but compared to all the other things
that were wrong with her, that was the least of her problems. An
image of Lucas?s face hovering over hers in the dark, his eyes
scrunched tight, popped into her head. She had to think up a task
to distract herself before she started throwing things, so she decided
to go grocery shopping.
Helen?s official term as kitchen slave?a system of alternating
weeks that had started as soon as she was old enough to
cook?began on Sunday morning, but there was nothing in the
house for them to eat that night. She made a list, took the housekeeping
cash out of the cookie-less cookie jar, and drove Kate?s car
to the market. In the parking lot she saw a gigantic luxury SUV and
shook her head disapprovingly at it. There were a lot of disgustingly
rich people on the island who drove vehicles that were too big
for the old cobblestone streets, but this SUV was especially annoying
for some reason. It was a hybrid, so she couldn?t really get too
wound up about the environment, but she felt herself getting irritated,