Unapologetically, Juliet

Chapter Fifteen

"MOM is going to kill you."

I bit back the snarky response on the tip of my tongue. "Yep. But maybe I'll get lucky and everything will be fine..." I tried for everlasting optimism, but even Rosalie was getting fed up with it.

"No, seriously. You are the unluckiest person on the planet, Jules." She glared at me through her piercing eyes.

"Me? Why is it my fault?" The light changed to green and the traffic ahead of me inched forward at a snail's pace. Behind us, someone lost their marbles and leaned on their horn, like one loud continuous honk was going to make anyone move any faster.

"Because. Stuff like all that only happens when I'm with you," she snapped back, and I couldn't exactly refute it.

"If you're hungry, there are still snacks in the cooler." My reminder seemed to jar her out of her annoyance for a few moments, while she twisted around in her seat and dug a few snacks out of the old tin cooler that Howie always let me borrow.

"I still can't believe that cop didn't haul you off to jail." Rosalie laughed as she opened the Tupperware with one of the homemade snack-packs Saber made for our trip back to Clearwater. They each had crackers, cheese, some kind of lunch meat, and a little dessert thing. A couple of them had stuff to make a little taco, and some were like tiny mini pizza things. It reminded me of being a little kid and having lunches packed by my mom.

Rosalie loved it.

"I can. He had no reason to harass me. He was just being an asshole," I grumbled, trying not to think of the encounter. He just got pissed 'cause I honked at him for cutting me off for no reason. Honestly, I would've done the same thing to anyone, cop or not. He wasn't getting any special treatment from me. Especially after he admitted that he wasn't pursuing anybody. He was just being a careless driver, and I had a kid in the car.

"He's still a cop, Juliet!" Rosalie scolded me, but it was halfhearted at best. She laughed until I thought she'd pee herself once we were finally allowed to get back on the road again. After that we ran into a bunch of detours that took me so far out of familiar territory, I wasn't sure I'd ever get back on track.

"He's still a citizen who has to follow the law, Roro. Oh, look, I think we're almost to the right highway." We passed a sign that said, Clearwater Falls 75 Miles. At least we were finally going in the right direction. A drive that I'd done a million times and should've only lasted four hours, had already taken us six and a half.

Rosalie leaned her head back against the seat of Grimm's car. "It was nice knowing ya, Jules. I'll miss you like crazy." Melancholy dripped from her voice.

"She can't kill me. First, I'm her kid. Second, who'd cook Thanksgiving if that happened?" That got her to laugh.

"I heard Mom and Dad saying they'll probably have to order a backup feast just in case everything you cook is poison." The amount of faith my family had in me was staggering.

"You'll see, everything I make will be amazing," I stated confidently as I drove through the dark, blizzardy, winding mountain roads. I wished I could've been that confident when I was around everyone else in my life, but few people ever really brought that out of me.

"I know it will." I felt my jaw drop open at her easy agreement.

"What? How do you know?" Wasn't she the one just mentioning that I might poison everyone I know?

Rosalie shot me a secretive grin. "'Cause you've got Saber and he likes to help you."

"Yeah, but he's got his own family Thanksgiving to worry about. I think I'm on my own for this one." She wasn't exactly wrong. He'd offered to help me prep for it and everything, but I felt like I was taking up way too much of his time lately.