Strangely Normal - By Tess Oliver Page 0,75

bad?”

He leaned back against the seat. “Yeah, probably. I guess Jude and I have been putting it off because Dad usually blames us when Finley’s upset. Then he comes back with his entourage, and it only causes more chaos.”

“First of all, I like your dad, but there can’t be anything more unfair than him blaming you both for Finley’s depression. She needs some professional help and a doctor.”

He picked at the fries in his basket but this topic seemed to have thrown a curve in his otherwise seemingly endless hunger. “I think my dad has had so many problems with drugs through the years, even with prescription stuff, he thinks they’re all bad now.”

“But he still drinks.”

He chuckled. “I know, ironic, isn’t it?”

“Couldn’t you convince your dad to come home without his people this one time? Finley adores him, and he might be just what she needs to bring her out of this.”

It was rare to see Cole deep in thought, but he seemed to be considering my suggestion. “You might be right. I’ll talk to Jude about it and see what he thinks.”

As we slid out of the booth, Cole checked his phone. “Huh, there are three missed calls from Jude.” He dialed Jude. “He’s not answering.”

I’d left the phone Jude had given me on my nightstand.

Cole looked back at me and both our thoughts could not have been plainer if they’d been floating around our heads in bold print. The hamburger did a full leap and somersault in my stomach as we raced out the door to the truck.

Cole raced up the street toward his house. My fingers wrapped tightly around the arm rest in the car as my intuition told me the worst had happened. Tension and dread pulsated around Cole too. We spotted the flashing red lights long before we reached the security gates.

My hands were shaking and the blood had drained from my head as his tires screeched up the long driveway to the mansion. A fire truck, police car, and ambulance were blocking the curved driveway. A gurney was just being pushed into the back of the ambulance.

Cole slammed the truck into park and we jumped out. Jude appeared suddenly around the back of the ambulance, looking pale white and in shock. As soon as he saw us, rage added some color back to his face.

“Where the fuck have you two been?” he said. The expression he shot me nearly dropped me to my knees in anguish. Jude blamed me for this.

“What happened?” Cole asked.

“Finley swallowed a bunch of dad’s sleeping pills.”

“Is she all right?” Cole asked.

“I don’t know. They’re taking her to pump her stomach right now. I called Dad. He’s on his way. Why’d you leave her alone?” Again his question was aimed directly toward me. Cole did not jump to my defense, and all I could do is cry. Jude spun around. “I’m going in the ambulance. Follow in the truck.”

Through a flood of tears, I stumbled behind Cole to the car and collapsed into the front seat. I slumped down into a fog of despair, wondering if all this was truly happening. At first the summer job had seemed like a dream come true. It was a way to make money, get a taste of independence, and I couldn’t deny the fun of the luxurious lifestyle, something that was completely out of my range of reality. But it had quickly slid into a heartbreaking nightmare. The shocking reality of the scope of Finley’s problems was only the half of it. I’d fallen for Jude, and now, he’d shown me with no question for misinterpretation that I meant nothing to him. If I had, he would never have looked and spoken to me the way he had. Now I wanted nothing more that to be away from this job and this family.

Cole hadn’t said a word, and it was better that way. I was just as angry at him for not saying anything in my defense. But the person I was most ashamed of was me. I’d let Finley down. I’d failed at my job. Even if it was a job that was way out my skill level, I’d failed miserably and there was nothing I hated more than that.

Finley had already been wheeled inside by the time we reached the emergency room entrance. Jude had followed her into the ward. Because he was family, Cole was allowed past the double doors, but I had to stay in the waiting room.

My