Rebel Heart by Jane Slate Read Free Book Online Page B

I get you? We have very good tostadas on special.”
    She spoke in broken English and had a heavy accent but Stella had been coming here long enough to understand her.
    “We’ll share an order of fajitas.”
    She looked over at Mel for approval and she nodded.
    “And I’ll have a strawberry margarita.”
    “Same here,” Mel piped in.
    The waitress nodded and gathered up both menus. She capped her pen and walked away, handing the order on her notepad over to someone in the kitchen.
    Stella took in the scenery. The restaurant was more or less empty aside from an elderly couple seated a few tables away and a leather-clad man, an obvious straggler from the festival, at the bar. It was quiet and desolate and cool and Stella couldn’t have been happier.
    “So,” she spoke up, scooping a large amount of salsa onto a chip.
    “Not that I’m trying to kill the mood but...are you ever going to tell me what exactly happened between you and Maddox?”
    She thought of Scarlett and waved a hand in the air.
    “Besides, you know, the obvious.”
    A heat flooded through Mel as her cheeks drained of color. Clearly Stella had hit a sore spot.
    “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to...” she trailed off.
    “No.”
    “It’s fine. It’s just...”
    “Just?” Stella questioned, nodding for Mel to continue.
    Mel shook her head and backtracked.
    “Actually, yeah, I don’t feel like talking about it.”
    Stella sighed and shoved another salsa-covered chip into her mouth. She kicked Mel softly beneath the table.
    “Come on Mel. If you can’t tell me, your best friend, who can you tell?”
    Mel furrowed her perfectly plucked brows in thought.
    “He told me he would leave her,” she whispered, lowering her eyes as she caressed a spot on the table.
    “And I guess...I don’t know. I guess it scared the shit out of me.”
    “He what ?” Stella hissed.
    “Jesus. Do you think he would really do that to Scarlett and the kids? I mean-”
    Mel held up a hand to stop Stella from continuing.
    “Stop. See...this is why I didn’t tell you. It’s always about Scarlett and the kids. And I’m not saying it shouldn’t be. I know my role, Stel. Don’t think I don’t. It’s just...why don’t my feelings ever matter?”
    Mel’s voice cracked as the final words left her mouth. Stella’s face softened. She reached across the table for Mel’s hand but she snatched it away.
    “I’m sorry,” Stella said.
    “I didn’t mean for it to come out like that. Your feelings do matter. It’s just...do you really want to be with a man who would do that? Leave his family, I mean?”
    The waitress reappeared with a tray of drinks in her hands. She set the margaritas down in front of Stella and Mel and informed them in broken English that their food would be out soon. When she was out of earshot, Mel spoke up.
    “Duh,” she said.
    “Why do you think I told him we were through?”
    Stella took a long sip of her drink and Mel did the same.
    “You made the right choice,” Stella said with a nod.
    “Really, you know Maddox and the boys are trouble. Sexy as hell, sure, but trouble all the same. Besides, how long would it be before Maddox did to you what he’s doing to Scarlett? A week? Five months? A year?”
    “How dependable is he really ?”
    Mel sighed.
    “I know, I know,” she said with a wave of her hand.
    She took another long drink and began to relax against the back of the booth.
    “Trust me. I’ve asked myself the same questions dozens of times. I just wish we didn’t have so much history. It would certainly make things easier.”
    “He’s a jerk,” Stella shrugged.
    “He’s not worth your time, Mel.”
    “He never was.”
    Mel cleared her throat and relented.
    “Still,” she continued with a pout.
    “Why must he be so hot?”
    Stella laughed and raised her glass in the air.
    “To Maddox,” she said with a nod.
    “May he crash and burn.”
    Mel chuckled.
    “Stel! That’s awful!”
    “I’m