Page 30 of Borden 3

“Well, who did?”

I looked around at the staff of men and women, all dressed in their black OWLS’ shirts, now looking anywhere but at me.

None of them took responsibility.

That infuriated me…and then made me look around the club suspiciously.

Linda stood in front of me to block everyone out. “Calm down, Em.”

I just shook my head, feeling stressed and like I wanted to vomit. “I just don’t like it, alright? Don’t do it again.”

“We didn’t know.”

When I didn’t respond, Linda took me by the arm and steered me out. Within a minute, we were in a separate room. Now I was breathing fast, realising how utterly stupid I looked. She wrapped an arm around me, surprising me with her gentleness. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “Emma, whatever it is, it’s gone. You’re not back there anymore, okay?”

Without expecting it, my eyes erupted in tears. I turned into her, wrapping my arms around her and sobbing. She was stiff for a second, like the affection was unexpected, and then she melted, returning the hug. It was a pretty skeletal hug. I was worried she was so stressed with the club, she wasn’t eating. She smelled like Chanel—

I stopped my thoughts, knowing my real issue was that she didn’t smell like Granny. And Granny used to hug me like this every time I fell apart to that fucking song.

“You’re not back there, okay?” Linda kept telling me. She fucking knew the song triggered me. “The past might be gone, but it still has a voice. Don’t let it in.”

I nodded, pulling back after I’d calmed down. I felt embarrassed—and annoyed because Gerry had opened the door and poked his head out at us, and Linda had practically breathed fire at him when she hissed, “Shut the fucking door, Gerry!”

Gerry sheepishly did just that. A laugh escaped my lungs at the look of utter fear on his face. “Sometimes I think you’re scarier than Borden.”

Linda smirked, though her eyes were loaded with sympathy as she peered back at me. “I gotta take care of this fucking club, Emma. I am scarier than Borden.”

I smiled, though I felt awkward when I whispered, “Please don’t say anything to him. I don’t want him to worry about me…plus, I don’t want to have to explain, you know?”

She nodded. “I know.”

She did.

Linda was rough around the edges, but her heart wasn’t as hard as she pretended it was. She was good at pretending. I was good, too.

But when that song came on…

When that song came on, nothing stopped me from wanting to obliterate that part of me that seemed to surface when loneliness crept in. And like a ghost, it whispered, “Boo.”

Yeah, boo to you, too.

Chapter Ten

Emma

Past

“Where have you been?”

I’d hardly taken a step inside the tiny house when Granny pounced on me.

Exhausted, I unzipped my jacket and hung it up on the coat hook. “Just out.”

“It’s nearly three in the morning.”

She appeared in front of me, looking like she hadn’t slept a wink tonight. Her white and brown hair was in a messy bun. Her eyes were sunken in. She looked terrified when she should have been relieved I’d come through the door.

“I lost track of time,” I simply said, kicking off my shoes.

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