Pure Redemption (Tainted Legacy) Read Free

her parents. They nearly had to force her out of the house because it was her birthday. They had been walking down a crowded street, toward her favorite restaurant. A glimpse of golden blond hair had caught her eye. She’d darted away, but the person had rounded a corner. By the time she’d reached the corner, no one with hair that color was in sight.
    And then there were the other times…
    “Maybe it was him,” she whispered. It couldn’t be possible. Or at least, it shouldn’t be possible. At the same time, nothing that happened those last few days she’d had with Gabe should have been possible. And yet they had been. They had happened. She mindlessly began rubbing her fingers around the cross on her neck. The one that should have been lost to her forever and yet, inexplicably, it had been found.
    “I need to go!” she said as she shot up from her chair yet again.
    This time, each of her friends grabbed one of her wrists, anchoring her in place. Ava was oblivious to the curious glances of the other patrons.
    “Please, sit down for a minute,” Julia soothingly requested.
    Ava shook her head, already gently trying to pull away.
    “We’ll make a deal with you,” Molly said diplom atically. “You sit down and eat every last bite and we’ll go to the boardwalk with you. After you eat,” Molly said as she pushed Ava’s plate back to her yet again. “I’ll even show you exactly where Julia and I were standing. Where he was walking. Which way he went. Whatever you want to know. As soon as you eat.”
    With a look or resignation, Ava plopped back into her chair. For the first time in nearly a month, she ate a complete meal.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 2
    Ava took one obnoxious last slurp of her lemonade to satisfy her friends before setting the empty glass down heavily on the table. “Done.”
    They had been patiently waiting as Ava picked her way through her sandwich. Finally, she had been able to slide her empty plate to the side. She tried to ignore the fact that since she’d eaten so little lately she felt as if her stomach might explode. It didn’t matter. It was a small price to pay for the information she wanted. Since she knew Molly wasn’t going to budge until she’d eaten every last bite, she’d decided she’d better eat every last bite.
    She scooted her chair back yet again. This time, her friends followed.
    It seemed to take forever to pay their bill s . Ava fidgeted as she waited in line, the last of the three to pay. She hurriedly threw down some money, told the cashier to give the waitress all of the change for her tip, didn’t say thank you as she normally would have, and took off once more.
    “So, where are we going?” she asked over her shoulder . S he was ru shing through the indoor dining area of Bella’s to reach the door that led outside.
    “Shopping,” Molly announced as they spilled out onto the sidewalk, into the beautiful, gloriously sunny summer day.
    Ava stopped so abruptly, Julia slammed into her and bounced right back off.
    “No,” Ava firmly replied. “Not shopping. You said you would show me where you saw Gabe.”
    “We saw a guy ,” Julia corrected. “Not necessarily Gabe.”
    Ava huffed in annoyance.
    “Also,” Molly said without remorse, “I said we’d make a deal with you. But eating your lunch was only half of it.” Ava started to shake her head but Molly ignored her. “The other half of the deal is that we have to take you shopping.”
    Ava didn’t typically get upset with her friends. However, Molly’s comment was more than she could handle at that moment. She needed to find this person. Now. She was trying not to get her hopes up, though it was hard. How could she not? She wanted Gabe back, safe , more than she wanted the air that she breathed.
    And if it wasn’t Gabe?