SECRETS Vol. 4 Read Online Free Page A

heart soars. It deafens me to my mother’s voice as she screeches about how irresponsible it is for me to not finish something I started. She doesn’t understand, but Daddy does. I am finishing what I started. My time with Cole changed me, for the better, and I’m ready to be that woman.
     

 
     
     
    CHAPTER 5
     
    Sitting at the counter, I shovel a spoon filled with Cheerios into my mouth. This will be the lunch of Anna Lamore until I can generate some income. From my awesome math skills, I deduced that I can live off of Ramen noodles, spaghetti , and Cheerios for seventy-three months and still manage to pay rent. If I can’t manage to make my studio profitable in six years, then I’ll move onto plan B. Honestly, I don’t have plan B. This is it. And right now, I’m looking at the newspaper trying to find studio space, but everything is so expensive.
    Jesse sits across from me and Emma is on the couch. Jesse shakes his head and says, “I can’t believe you did it.”
    “Neither can I .” I’m beaming, I can’t help it. I’m so excited and terrified. I glance up at Jesse to see his big blue eyes looking at me in awe.
    “I bet your mother chewed you out and threatened to throw you off the Brooklyn Bridge,” Emma says, frowning. She’s trying to figure out how to use crochet hooks. It’s not going well. So far , she’s managed to create a lovely knot.
    “Pretty much,” I agree. “But , Dad understood.”
    “I don’t understand,” Emma replies with her dark eyebrows disappearing under her bangs . She loops more yarn around the needles and moves them like chopsticks. “I mean, you did a 180, like a total reversal in a couple of months. You were all wedding photography this and bridal pictures that for the past half-decade and now you’re all wanting to shoot naked chicks. It’s not like you.”
    Jesse grins. I kick him with my foot and answer Em , “ It’s not naked chicks, you perv .”
    I finally focus on Emma. She’s biting her tongue and beating the crap out of the yarn, stabbing it with the needles into the couch cushions. “Die, beanie hat, die ! I hate you!” She stills and looks at me. “What?”
    “You have the attention span of a chimp.” I smile at her, but she looks like she still wants to stab the yarn.
    Jesse shakes his head, “Nah, chimps can knit. It’s more like the attention span of a fish. They seem to forget what they’re doing and blink a lot.” I laugh, which makes Jesse happy.
    Emma on the other hand, slaps down the yarn and walks over to me. “Chimps can knit ,” she mocks, and makes a face at Jesse. Em stops behind me and looks over my shoulder at the newspaper in my hands . “So, say I want to be supportive of this new you. What do I do?”
    “Well, let’s see.” I tick the things off on my fingers as I say them. “You can kee p an eye out for studio space, e ncourage me when I’m sick of cereal and noodles, a nd pretty much accept that this is what’s going to make me happy.” When I say it , my voice drops. I would have been happy with Cole. This will make me content. Happy is the wrong word. Emma sees it in my eyes.
    I’m trying hard to keep moving forward and not look back. Cole hasn’t called me. He didn’t show up, crawling to me on his knees , apologizing . I don’t know where he is and I don’t want to know. He rejected me. I did nothing wrong, and he turned on me. From talking to my Dad I can understand how Cole could act that way , but I can’t let it go. Maybe Cole was blindsided, but I could have turned on him when I first heard of the lawsuit and I didn’t. Sottero’s allegation was crap. I knew it. I didn’t even ask him.
    The empty place in my c hest aches. I want to hear Cole’s voice again, but I know I won’t.
    Jesse senses my mood and quickly tries to lighten it again. “ There’s one other thing she forgot to add to that list: B e nice to Jesse, who is the best friend I never had.”
    Emma’s hands are on her hips; her