Page 30 of Turn

He shot me a look and I bit my lip, wishing I hadn’t hinted at his criminal history.

“Thank you,” I said. “For having my back here.”

“No problem.” He looked at the door again as if daring Parker to reappear. “You can let me know if he bothers you again. I’ll take care of it.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what Curtis’s version of ‘take care of it’ meant.

“I’m pretty sure just the sight of you will scare him off,” I said with a laugh.

Curtis smiled. He actually had a really nice smile. I had a feeling it didn’t materialize often enough.

“That might be true,” he said. “Except sometimes I scare people without really meaning to.”

He walked away without saying anything else.

I sank down into my chair. I picked up a pen and began clicking it just because having something in my hands made me feel a little less anxious.

Less than a hundred yards away Parker Neely was presumably waiting for me to step through the door of Coffee Hole and offer him absolution. The whole idea made me furious. Did he think it was no big deal to just waltz in here, smile and tell me the he sure was sorry he ruined my life once upon a time? I wasn’t generous enough to forgive him just like that.

And yet…

I hated the hold that terrible time still had over me. I’d allowed it to shape the course of my life and not in a good way. Perhaps I could use the kind of closure that Parker was offering.

If I took too much time to think about it I wouldn’t go.

And if I didn’t go I might regret losing the opportunity to say the things that have been on my mind for years.

A flash of purple hair caught my eye. Freya was emerging from the ladies’ room. She turned when I called her name.

“You have a customer right now?” I asked her.

She shook her head. “Not unless you have someone waiting out here.” She took a look at the empty chairs in the lobby. “Ah, well. Almost lunch hour anyway.”

“You mind handling the reception desk for fifteen minutes?”

“Sure, no problem.”

I stuck my phone in my back pocket and seized my purse from the bottom drawer of the desk before pushing the chair back. “I’ve just got to run a quick errand,” I explained as Freya and I switched places.

Freya made herself comfortable. “Take your time.”

“Thanks.”

My heart was thudding in my chest during the short walk down to the coffee place. I reminded myself I had no reason to be anxious. There were so many times when I’d thought about telling Parker Neely to take the short road to hell and now I had the chance.

He was waiting there, just as he said he’d be. There was a single coffee cup in front of him but he wasn’t touching it. He actually looked a little lonely and pathetic sitting there. Ordinarily that would have delighted me but I was here to close old wounds not rub salt in them.

Parker glanced my way when I opened the door and his eyes widened. He stood up immediately but I took my time at the counter getting a cup of coffee for myself before approaching his table.

“I’m glad you came,” Parker said and he really did look glad.

I sat down across from him and hung my purse on the chair. “Five minutes,” I said.

“Cassie,” he started to say. His elbow was on the table and he moved two fingers to his lips, a thinking pose. I waited.

“What I did to you was indefensible,” he said. “So I’m not here to give you some idiotic excuse about why I did it. But not a day has gone by where I didn’t feel complete remorse. I’m sorry. I’ll regret hurting you forever.” He leaned forward with an earnest expression. “And the biggest hell of it, Cassie? I really liked you. More than I’d ever liked any other girl before. Or since.”

I cupped the mug of coffee in my hands, wanting to hold onto something solid while I struggled to keep my voice even. “I got sick, Parker. The way people treated me, looked at me, I couldn’t deal with it. I left school. I haven’t had a real boyfriend since then. Whenever I go out with a guy now I have to wonder if he’s really what he seems. Or if an evil liar lurks underneath. I hated you. If someone had asked me twenty-four hours ago I would have said that I still hate you. I wouldn’t even have hesitated to say it.”

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