Free The Girl of Diamonds and Rust (The Half Shell Series Book 3) by Unknown Page A

room. I don’t know what to take back to Santa Barbara, what to leave, and what to give to Rene. It is so much harder to figure this out than I thought it would be, and I can’t find the will to pull things apart and tuck them away into boxes.
    I’ve slowly carved out a life here. I never would have thought that possible when I started Cal, but now that it’s time to take it apart that’s exactly what it feels like. Like I’m disassembling my life. Maybe this is all that life is: an endless series of assembling a life only to take it apart later. I hope not. The endings are too hard for me.
    I grab another scrapbook and slowly flip through the pages. The door opens and I look up. Jeez, Rene and Neil are already back from the food run.
    Rene’s eyes do a fast examination of the room as she marches briskly toward the kitchen, Chinese cartons in hand. “It doesn’t look like you’ve packed even one thing. Crap, Chrissie. We were gone an hour. You’re not leaving everything for me to get done, are you?”
    I flush. “Nope. Just trying to figure out how to split the photo albums. You’ve left me the hard decisions.”
    Rene pauses in the kitchen doorway and rolls her eyes at me. “Keep them. I don’t care anymore. I just want this done so I can go to bed.”
    She sounds agitated and impatient, and her words hit me like a punch. She’s so excited about the future, her new life, medical school, her new apartment, her new everything… without me.
    I scoop up the scrapbooks and drop them into the box Rene said was mine.
    “There. I’ve packed something. Happy now, Rene?”
    She rolls her eyes and continues into the kitchen. I turn and find Neil watching me strangely.
    “Come eat, Chrissie,” he says quietly. “We’ll finish this together after we eat.”
    That has the unpardonable power to make me feel like crying. Stupid. My emotions are so lame today. Without a word, I follow Neil into the kitchen. Rene is busily setting paper plates on the table since she’s packed up absolutely everything in here she could take for her new apartment, and Neil is opening the cartons.
    I drop heavily into my chair. Neil starts scooping chicken chow mein onto my plate and then settles at the table in his chair between mine and Rene.
    There is a heavy tension in the room and I know that the tension is me and I hate that.
    I move my chopsticks in my food and don’t really eat. “What would I do if I go to Seattle and on the road with you?” I ask softly.
    Neil looks up and sits back in his chair. “I don’t know. Whatever you want. Maybe just be with me. We’d be together, Chrissie. I haven’t thought beyond that.”
    Rene’s face snaps up from her plate. “What? What have I missed?”
    I shake my head. “Nothing.”
    She frowns. “Are you moving to Seattle? Not Santa Barbara? Does Jack know? Why didn’t you tell me?”
    I shrug and say, “I haven’t decided,” and then drop my gaze to fix back on my plate.
    “Would someone tell me what’s going on here?” Rene demands, alarmed.
    I feel the pressure of Neil’s gaze and lift my chin, meeting the lush green of his eyes. “Nothing is going on, Rene. Stay out of it for once, for Christ’s sake.”
    Rene’s eyes widen and I don’t like the way her expression changes. In a minute, Neil picks up his empty plate, dumps it in the trash and leaves the room.
    My eyes follow him from the kitchen, then shift to Rene. Damn, she’s staring at me in that way she has— overly analytical and not pleased with Chrissie.
    Rene frowns. “Did he ask you to move to Seattle with him? Does he want to get back together with you?”
    I ignore the question.
    “God, you’re an idiot,” she hisses under her breath.
    My temper flares. “What is that supposed to mean?”
    Rene springs up from the table and starts to angrily scrape the food from the plate into the garbage disposal.
    “You’ve been fucked up since you broke up with him. Neil is a great guy and you’ve done nothing