Chapter Forty-Two.

"Hello." Georgia opens the door to let us in for girls' night.

"Dude, you are huge." I pat my god baby in Georgia's belly. "The baby, not you."

"Get in here." She pulls me in. "You're not going to believe what I've got to tell you."

We find Prudence in the family room twirling her finger around one of her curls.

"I say its pregnancy hormones." Prudence already made Cosmos for everyone and stands up to hand them out. "Dan said she's been crazy all day with news and won't tell him either." Prudence is referring to Georgia's husband.

"It's not pregnancy hormones. It's excitement for all of us. This is going to change the course of your life." She points directly at me with the sternest face I've ever seen.

Georgia's face reminds me of Inas, the voodoo lady.

"Georgia honey." I sit down next to her on the couch, and try to stay calm."You're scaring me."

I'm uneasy and there's a pit in my stomach. Whatever she's talking about has to do with me. Does it have to do with Bo?

"What? What's going to change my life?" I question her.

She paces back and forth in her family room. "I've had such good response for the new Gucci ad in Fit Pregnancy." She doesn't look at me or any of the other girls. "They love the jewelry and a few of the girls wants to order some bracelets." She nods towards me.

"Okay, great." My lip flinches. "Is that it? Is that the big news?"

"I'm not done." She rubs her belly and quits me with her hand, "One of the girls took the ad home. Her sister works for Harpo magazine. She took the ad to work to show off your jewelry and O Magazine wants to feature your bracelets in *my favorite things' O magazine in December!"

"What? What!" I scream, jumping up and down.

My life just took a turn, not a nice sweet curve, but a big V curve going 200 mph.

Suddenly I'm scared and feel like throwing up.

"What?" Georgia puts her arms around me. "This is what you need to get on the map with your jewelry."

"I don't know." I rub my hands together finding it hard to find the words to describe my feelings. "It's real now. I'm scared."

"Oh, sweetie." Prudence stands up and puts her arms around me and Georgia.

"You have us." Lucy stands up with the vodka bottle. "And Mr. Goose."

With a few more details and a couple shots, we start talking about the first trip we are going to take on my newfound money. It's funny how life works. I guess this is what bittersweet means. Bitter in the love department, but super duper sweet in the success department.

Chapter Forty-Three.

Before Lucy and I drove back to Cincinnati, the girls help finish another one hundred on our O Magazine high. Even though we were a little tipsy, the bracelets turned out great.

Monk's questions have been playing over and over in my head. Are you ready to take it to the next level or is it just a fun hobby?

I'm ready.

The next level isn't going to be a hobby, nor will it be as much fun. It'll a job and I'm going to have to treat it as such. What's going to happen when the Fit Pregnancy ad hits or if and when O magazine calls me? Am I up for the task to make more, if people want more? And, oh, God, what if they don't want more? What if these ads hit and nobody calls?

I'm going to have to take a leap of faith. A big leap.

The bead shipment is stacked up next to the door when we pull up from our fabulous weekend in Chicago. Seeing Beadnicks and my tax ID on the labels feel good, real good. The drive home gave me time to think about my future. I want to bead, I want to be successful at it, and now I'm on my way.

I have three weeks left on my Gucci contract. I have five days to ship more than four hundred pieces of jewelry to Chicago by week's end. And now, I have Aunt Grace calling.

"Hi, Aunt Grace." I start to open another package of beads.

"You are psychic just like your..."

I interrupt her.

"My mother?" I haven't talked to Aunt Grace since the entire horse-racing crap. I only answer out of obligation.

"I knew you were special when you were born. You're gonna live a long life just like me."

"No, God, please don't do that to me." That will be a really cruel joke on me. Alone, no kids, no cats, but beads. Lots and lots of beads.

"Now you know I wouldn't call unless I need you." I sit in silence waiting for her to blurt out whatever she has to spring on me.

"Are you still mad about the horse thingy with Jimmy? Because if you are, I can let you go." Aunt Grace waits for my answer and when I don't give one she continues. "Or you can forgive him? He is family, you know."

I do know! Family that will screw you and your friends out of thousands of dollars and if that isn't enough, embarrass the shit right out of you by climbing a flagpole and kissing the eagle at the top on the nose. That's what I know!

"No, I'm not mad. I'm trying to work on something." I lie, because she can't help Uncle Jimmy's actions. "You have my full attention. What's your favor?"

"We have these bugs," she continues, "and the state is going to condemn our building if we don't get it taken care of."

No? Really? Tell me something I don't know. Then I cringe. She's going to ask me for money. It would be better if they bomb the place.

"How much?" I brace myself against my table.

"We don't need money. We need a place to stay for a couple nights."

STOP! I. WILL. GIVE. MONEY.

I've got it. I'll put them up in a hotel. I've got a little more money left on my Visa. It's a good cause, right?

"The Cincinnatian is close to you. What about staying there?" I'm a genius, happy and I just dodged a bullet. It might be the most expensive hotel in downtown, but well worth it in this case.

"I don't think you understand. We don't want to stay with strangers. We want to stay at your house for a couple days."

I have to sit down. I am, for sure, going to pass out.

She keeps rambling and sputtering words I can't comprehend in my current state of mind. "Hallie? Dear?"

"Hhh..." I clear my throat because it isn't coming out. "How long?"

"Just a few days." She sounds confident in it only being a few days. "The entire building has to be clear of all tenants, but they have to find their own place to go. If they weren't so dirty, we wouldn't have this problem."

If they weren't dirty?Hello, pot, this is kettle calling. I prepare for the aftershocks that my body is going to have when these words leave my mouth.

"You can stay here." It's out like daggers being thrown into the air. I hold onto a little bit of hope she'll say no.

"You are the sweetest child. We'd love to. Can you come now?"

Of course I'm the sweetest child. Or is it my time to pay her back for taking me in? I'm quickly beginning to remember why I've spent most of my life getting out of this city.

I slip on a pair of flip-flops, and get in my car to head south.

Apparently, now isn't soon enough. She calls seven times before I get there. They are standing on the curb waiting as I pull up. I put their plastic grocery overnight bags in the trunk. Again, no bugs in my house.

"Slow down." Uncle Jimmy has one hand on the dash with the other tightly grasping the door strap. I speed up. His actions at the track still have me angry and making him a little uncomfortable gives me a tiny bit of evil pleasure. "I wouldn't learn how to drive in this day and age. This is exactly why we see car wrecks. All the fancy cars going fast." Uncle Jimmy rants and raves the entire fifteen-minute drive, only causing my right foot to press down harder.

"Very nice." Aunt Grace refers to my little Hyde Park cottage. "I really like your home away from home."

Uncle Jimmy growls under his breath and I ignore him all the way up to Lucy's room. He's walking a thin line and he better be on his best behavior. Besides, I haven't even told Wilson about this yet.

Thankfully, Lucy went back to Mason Crossing as soon as we pulled in from Chicago. She couldn't wait to see Beck. But she'll die when she finds out about Aunt Grace and Uncle Jimmy staying in her room.

"Listen," Aunt Grace takes my hand, "did you put all the china and silver away. If he sees it, he'll steal it back."

The china is still in my Prada bag in the back of the Solara. I'm not messing with bugs and keeping them in a hot Prada bag in the trunk of my car for the summer will be a nice slow death sentence. I smile, not revealing my secret.

I get their plastic bags and empty them on the cobblestone walk to inspect them for cockroaches.

"What are you doing with our undergarments left out for the world to see?" Uncle Jimmy is angry. He grabs his things and stuff them in the plastic garbage bags. "Grace, get out here. She's gone and showin' the world our things."

I stand back listening to him curse and scramble. He flings the door open. I jump back and see the disappointment on Aunt Grace's face.

"What?" I ask.

I might've been a little disrespectful. Doesn't she understand I don't want to fumigate my house too.

She puts her head down in shame. Shame in me, not in her.

"What?" I ask with a little guilt. "You said you have bugs. I don't want bugs in here. I just rent from Wilson."

Aunt Grace goes upstairs to check on Uncle Jimmy. It's late and I don't want to face Aunt Grace. I'm ashamed of myself. I see the disappointment in her eyes and I can feel the lack of gratitude in my heart.

Week Nine.

He who has the most beads...WIN!

Author Unknown.

Chapter Forty-Four.

"You do this every morning?" Aunt Grace startles me sitting on the front porch when I get back from my run, with her barely-there hair, fox stole, red curly wig and Beadnicks bracelets up to her elbows.

I roll my eyes, I'm going to waste precious time cleaning them.

"Where did you get these?" I rub my hands up her arm, fearing she has opened one of the sealed boxes ready for shipment that's sitting by the door.

"I asked you a question about this." She points to my running outfit. "Not these." She acts like a hand model and gently rubs the back of her hand down from her elbow to stopping shy of her wrist.

I reach over and take them off of her one by one.

"Yes, I run. You know that and I'm still training for the marathon." I swear she has twenty of them on. I poke the fox's nose. "Why are you out here and all dressed up?"

"You're living in a fancy neighborhood." She caresses the fox. "I'm dressing the part. When in Rome." She stands up to follow me inside and visibly a little wobbly.

My mom always said, "Hallie, don't mess with crazy. It will get you nowhere." I'm listening to her today.

"How's it feel to live where you've always wanted to live?"

"What do you mean?" I act like I don't know what she's talking about.

Aunt Grace catches me off guard. I can't compare my past life with my real life. Besides, she's done the best she can.

"You always wanted to live uptown." She follows me to the kitchen.

"I didn't pick the house. It's where my company put me." I don't want to admit how excited I am that they rented me a house in Hyde Park.

I get a cup of coffee and keep an eye on her at the same time. She walks around looking at the appliances in awe. She touches the Breville blender as if it will burst in flames if she gets too close. The toaster oven door creaks as she opens it.

She isn't used to living this way. A clean, tidy home. As far back as I can remember, her house has always been the same. Fun and mysterious, as a child. Dreadful, as an adult.

"I bet your parents are proud of you, Hallie." Aunt Grace daintily takes the cup and put it up to her nose to smell. The hot steam dances in the air as she sips. "Ah. That's a good cup of coffee." She sits down at the table next to me. She's more unstable than I've ever seen her.