“Jude is a great man,” Angela said. “I know he’s not perfect, but then neither am I.”
Kiara shrugged. “I guess if he makes you happy, that’s what matters most.”
Angela appreciated the sentiment, but she didn’t think Kiara was completely sincere.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Kiara said. “Just bored. Never would have thought I’d miss working.”
“How about college courses?”
“I can’t start taking anything yet,” she said. “I probably can’t start until the fall.”
Even though Kiara was an avid reader, she wasn’t one to sit around and read for hours on end.
Angela sat back in the chair and crossed her legs and arms. “So what would you like to do?”
“I don’t know,” Kiara said. “I have all this money, and yet I feel like a prisoner. I want to be able to go into town and do some shopping or pick up a coffee. Maybe walk around and see what the town has to offer. Go to the library.”
“There’s no reason you can’t do that, I wouldn’t think,” Angela said. “As long as you take Lucy with you.”
“And that’s another thing. I’m not thrilled that I have to have a guard with me everywhere I go.”
Angela tightened her arms around herself. “You don’t need to stay here. This doesn’t have to be your life.”
“Do you want me to leave?”
“Of course not,” Angela replied. “But it’s not fair to ask you to completely change your life just because I am.”
Kiara sighed heavily, shifting on the loveseat to stare out the window. “It’s not that I don’t want to be here with you. I just need… more.”
“Let’s ask Duncan about you having a bit more freedom. I know why I have to be limited in being seen around here because I look like Annie, but there’s no reason you have to be so restricted.”
“I just wish I knew what the future looked like for me. In Briar, we always had a plan. Something we were workingtowards. Now, it feels like we don’t need goals anymore. We’re being handed everything on a silver platter. It makes me feel… unanchored, useless.”
“We’re still working toward things. Getting our licenses. Learning self-defense. Learning to use a gun.”
“I know. It just feels different now.”
Angela felt helpless to know how to help her sister. Kiara had always taken the lead in their lives, but it felt like that wasn’t as necessary now.
This wasn’t how she’d expected the conversation to go with Kiara when she’d come to tell her about Jude, but she knew it was important to hear Kiara’s thoughts.
Kiara had been there for the worst part of her life. She’d stood by her. Supported her. Helped her get to safety. Angela wouldn’t just abandon her now. She needed to help Kiara find peace in her life on the estate.
It might help once they moved into their own place. However, even though they’d broken ground on the site and work was underway, it wasn’t going to be ready for awhile.
“Sorry,” Kiara murmured. “I’m in a bit of a mood today. Just need to snap out of it.”
“You’ve always told me that my feelings are valid,” Angela reminded her. “And so are yours. It’s been a big change for us.”
“I should be happy,” Kiara said. “There’s really no reason to be unhappy in this current situation.”
Angela didn’t know how to respond to that becauseshewasn’t unhappy. But it hurt that Kiara was struggling so much.
“I’ll be fine,” Kiara said after a minute of silence between them. “I just need some time.”
Angela got to her feet and went to hug Kiara. “I’ll let you be. But remember that I love you.”
