Page 61 of Old Money
I flop down into one of the overstuffed armchairs in the little seating area beside the windows. I reach over and crank open the nearest one, letting in a muggy breeze.
“Well, I saw my old car parked out front this morning. So that was my first clue.” She cranks open the other window. “My office is two streets down.”
“God,” I mutter. “Small town.”
“Small village. As they say.”
I shut my eyes and prop an elbow on the chair, dropping my head heavily against my hand. Maybe I’m not being paranoid. Maybe everyone in the villagecansee me.
“I’m sorry about leaving like that,” I say. “And shit, I’m so sorry about your anniversary.”
Jules sits across from me and takes a long drink from her water bottle.
“Don’t be,” she exhales. “I wasnotup for putting on heels and going out tonight anyway. And neither was Theo. He’s probably passed out on the couch right now, while the boys tear the house apart.”
“Or watchDirty Dancingon YouTube.”
She gives me a closed-lip grin.
“Anyway, that’s why I’m here. Theo told me about the argument.”
I shut my eyes—I don’t have room in my brain for this either.
Jules sits forward in her chair.
“I didn’t press him for details, and I won’t press you. I’ve got two brothersanda sister, okay? Someone’s always furious about something; it’s called having a family. But Alice, believe me, he feels awful.”
“Oh,” I say, in a toneless voice. “Really?”
“Awful,”she repeats. “He came home, and he’s like, ‘Where’s Alice?’ I said, ‘Well, honey, she called me and said she was leaving this morning. Any idea why she didn’t callyou?’ And he just fell apart.”
This raises my eyebrows.
“Oh yeah.” She nods, continuing in a sad-Theo voice. “ ‘We argued. I was a jerk, I overreacted.’ I said, ‘Okay, so call her!’ But he just—you know.”
She shakes her head and sits back.
“Look, it’s no excuse. But things ramped up fast this summer. Campaigning has become a full-time job—asecondfull-time job. And between us, I think he thought it would be easier.”
I snort. I bet he did. Theo who blew through the SATs like a word jumble.
“Still.” I fiddle with a loose thread on the arm of the chair. “I think it’s best I’m out of the house.”
Jules stands with a breezy smile, pulling her bag onto her shoulder.
“Well, honey, you’re wrong.”
“No, like you said, it’s a busy summer. It’s not a good time for visitors, and I—”
She lifts a hand, refusing my rebuttal.
“Nope, sorry, don’t peddle your WASP bullshit here. If you need a breather,fine. But you don’t stay in a hotel in your hometown. You stay with your family and have a fight, and then guess what? You get over it.”
She waves me onto my feet, and I stand, sighing like a child as she scolds me like one. She takes me by the shoulders.
“You know if this were any other moment in time, he’d be the one here saying this, right?”
She gives me a little jostle. And something comes loose.
