Complicated Relationships (The Southern Devotion Series Book 3) by Amy McClung
Book: Complicated Relationships (The Southern Devotion Series Book 3) by Amy McClung
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Authors: Amy McClung
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for the night while Angel and I began to detox the house. "I didn’t realize we had this many bottles of alcohol in the house." We pulled three bottles of Vodka out from under the sink, two bottles of Jack Daniels from above the refrigerator, and four bottles of Bacardi 151 in the back of the pantry.
Angel shamefully confessed, "I've been buying it and hiding it so you wouldn't notice how much." Her problem was more advanced than I realized, and I felt like the worst friend in the world for not noticing the severity sooner. Allowing her to deal with this on her own didn't work the first time, I'm not sure why I think this time will be different. It also angered me that she had so much strong alcohol in the house easily accessible by my teenage sister.
"Do you have it hidden anywhere else?
Angel hangs her head down once more. "In my car and the bedroom closet."
"In your car?" I shriek out like a high pitched female. "Tell me you didn’t drink and drive, Angel. Especially after the drunk driver killed the father of three of our close friends."
"No, I never drove after I drank. I kept it in there for safe keeping. Sometimes I'd go out there at night and drink."
"Jesus, Angel. I don’t even know what to say." We had loaded up four cardboard boxes with liquor by this time. We're taking them to A Shot in the Dark to go in the bar. The back of my SUV was now loaded down with the boxes, and I promised that I wouldn't tell them from where they came. If I'm lucky, I can sneak them into the inventory without anyone seeing me. If not, I'll come up with a story about a vague friend.
"I'm scared; T. What if I fail again?" She stumbled back a bit in fear. I pulled her into my arms for comfort. Running my fingers through her hair I tried to calm the trembles of fear her body was releasing.
"I'll be here for you. Last time we tried this I let you do it all alone, but I'm not making that mistake again. If it's too much to deal with then, we'll go to the professionals. In fact, I'm going to find you a weekly meeting, and I'll go with you."
"Thank you. I do better when someone else is with me. I went for years without facing my rape until Gracie had to face hers, and then we went to counseling together. I guess that was a bad example since I haven't dealt so well with it."
My mind still reeled hearing that someone had raped her. "Rape? When were you raped?"
"Sorry, I forgot you didn’t know. My first time was in high school, and it was by rape. I never told anyone until a couple of years ago when Gracie confessed that Hudson raped her. She and I went to group counseling together after that, and I thought it was helping. Apparently once the therapy stopped, I dove into liquid therapy instead."
"How long have you been drinking like this?"
Her shoulders rise and fall as she kicks at imaginary objects in the grass beneath her feet. "Maybe a year now."
"Jesus, Angel."
She laughed, and I offer a look of confusion. "You've been saying that a lot. If I were a dog, I'd start answering to Jesus Angel." She laughed teasingly then became serious as she said. "You're a great friend, T."
"If I'm such a great friend why did it take a year to notice you had a problem?"
Chapter Sixteen
Mixing it up
Lanie hadn’t called, texted, or even emailed me since that day we came home from the falls. Every time I picked up the phone to text her I had to stop myself so I could give her the time she needed. It's been almost two weeks now, and it was time to take action. Sitting around doing nothing was not the way I rolled. Lanie had told me once that she thought the best romantic moments were in movies from the eighties' era, and she missed those small gestures nowadays. She wasn’t one who enjoyed the cliché of giving flowers or jewelry, but would rather have something from the heart. I called up my eighties movies expert to get some ideas for romantic gestures.
The doorbell rang,
Angel shamefully confessed, "I've been buying it and hiding it so you wouldn't notice how much." Her problem was more advanced than I realized, and I felt like the worst friend in the world for not noticing the severity sooner. Allowing her to deal with this on her own didn't work the first time, I'm not sure why I think this time will be different. It also angered me that she had so much strong alcohol in the house easily accessible by my teenage sister.
"Do you have it hidden anywhere else?
Angel hangs her head down once more. "In my car and the bedroom closet."
"In your car?" I shriek out like a high pitched female. "Tell me you didn’t drink and drive, Angel. Especially after the drunk driver killed the father of three of our close friends."
"No, I never drove after I drank. I kept it in there for safe keeping. Sometimes I'd go out there at night and drink."
"Jesus, Angel. I don’t even know what to say." We had loaded up four cardboard boxes with liquor by this time. We're taking them to A Shot in the Dark to go in the bar. The back of my SUV was now loaded down with the boxes, and I promised that I wouldn't tell them from where they came. If I'm lucky, I can sneak them into the inventory without anyone seeing me. If not, I'll come up with a story about a vague friend.
"I'm scared; T. What if I fail again?" She stumbled back a bit in fear. I pulled her into my arms for comfort. Running my fingers through her hair I tried to calm the trembles of fear her body was releasing.
"I'll be here for you. Last time we tried this I let you do it all alone, but I'm not making that mistake again. If it's too much to deal with then, we'll go to the professionals. In fact, I'm going to find you a weekly meeting, and I'll go with you."
"Thank you. I do better when someone else is with me. I went for years without facing my rape until Gracie had to face hers, and then we went to counseling together. I guess that was a bad example since I haven't dealt so well with it."
My mind still reeled hearing that someone had raped her. "Rape? When were you raped?"
"Sorry, I forgot you didn’t know. My first time was in high school, and it was by rape. I never told anyone until a couple of years ago when Gracie confessed that Hudson raped her. She and I went to group counseling together after that, and I thought it was helping. Apparently once the therapy stopped, I dove into liquid therapy instead."
"How long have you been drinking like this?"
Her shoulders rise and fall as she kicks at imaginary objects in the grass beneath her feet. "Maybe a year now."
"Jesus, Angel."
She laughed, and I offer a look of confusion. "You've been saying that a lot. If I were a dog, I'd start answering to Jesus Angel." She laughed teasingly then became serious as she said. "You're a great friend, T."
"If I'm such a great friend why did it take a year to notice you had a problem?"
Chapter Sixteen
Mixing it up
Lanie hadn’t called, texted, or even emailed me since that day we came home from the falls. Every time I picked up the phone to text her I had to stop myself so I could give her the time she needed. It's been almost two weeks now, and it was time to take action. Sitting around doing nothing was not the way I rolled. Lanie had told me once that she thought the best romantic moments were in movies from the eighties' era, and she missed those small gestures nowadays. She wasn’t one who enjoyed the cliché of giving flowers or jewelry, but would rather have something from the heart. I called up my eighties movies expert to get some ideas for romantic gestures.
The doorbell rang,
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