Page 34 of When I Had You

“That easy,” I reply more for myself. “You didn’t ask, but we never . . .” Why is this so hard to say to them?

“We understand, Marina.” Harbor saves me the pain of having to spell it out in front of my parents.

I slide forward in the chair and pick the phone up again. Taking it off speaker, I hold it to my ear. “I’m sorry about the sponsors.”

“Sponsors are like skittish kittens. They thrive on threatening to pull out their money. It’s their way of feeling like they have control of the situation,” Harbor says with conviction set in his tone. “Unfortunately, I need to go and deal with this mess.” He pauses, and for some reason, it concerns me.

“Hello?” I say, making sure they’re still there.

“Marina,” he says, “you need to keep your distance from Cash and the races in general until this settles down.”

I’m being grounded? Well, this is humiliating. I dip my head and rub my temple that’s starting to throb. I gather the strength anyway and ask on an exhale, “Are you asking me?”

“No.” The answer is blunt, though I know it wasn’t said maliciously.

Why does it feel like I just had the rug pulled out from under me? “Oh . . .Okay,” I whisper, “if that will help.”

“Yeah,” Harbor says, “it’s for the best, Sis.”

I hate this, the pressure they’re under, the tension between us, the mess I caused. My heart has sunk deeper into the pit of my stomach with this news than initially getting in trouble. “I understand.”

Loch says, “We’ll have you out again, but let’s just put a pin in any visits until we can get ahead of this story or it fades. Just for now.”

“I understand. I didn’t mean to—”

“We know,” he adds. “We need time to get things under control.”

“Of course.”

Goodbyes are heard from the other end as I hang up and give the phone back to Poppy. I feel better that they know the truth but sick about how much trouble I’ve caused them.

As much as I’d love for this all to be swept away with the tide tonight, I know it won’t be. I look at her, still slumped in the chair. “What do I do? How do I make it better?”

“I’m not sure you can without risking more bad publicity.”

A knock has us both looking toward the door. She asks, “Did you order something?”

“No.”

“Hm.” She pushes up and goes to answer it. Signing for a package, she waits to say anything until the door is closed and locked again. “A hand-delivered package.” Showing off the purple ribbon wrapped around it, she lets it fall over the side again. “Fancy.”

We stare at the white box and silky bow when she sets it on the table. It’s not big, but big enough to be dangerous. “Is it safe? Should we call the police?”

She laughs. “I’ll open it.” Taking it, she tugs the ribbon first and then lifts the side flap. A sealed box with an image of a rose gold phone slides out. “Ooh, this is nice. Who’s it from?”

I grin, taking it from her. Biting my lip, I’m not sure if I’ll make it worse by telling her or if I should keep my mouth shut. There’s no way she’s going to let this slide, though. I know Poppy too well. For what it’s worth, if I were her, I wouldn’t let it go without knowing who sent it either.

10

Cash

“Hey, buddy, how are you? Miss you.”

“Miss you, Daddy.” My chest tightens hearing Cullen’s voice, the strain of sadness weaving through it. “When do I see you?”

He’s the first one I called after coming off the track, straight in here, hoping to catch him. “Tomorrow. I can’t wait.”

“Do I get ice cream?”

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