Page 57 of Secrets of Riverside

‘Under the driver’s seat of her car.’

‘And what were you doing, snooping through her car?’ Jarrah used everything he had to keep his voice steady, his tone even.

‘I dunno, a hunch, what does it matter?’ Tommy shrugged. ‘I don’t trust her, and now I know why.’ He sank down in the chair on the opposite side of the desk. ‘And there’s something else I need to tell you too.’

Feeling as if his entire world had just been pulled out from beneath his boots, Jarrah was having trouble drawing a breath. ‘Go ahead, I’m listening.’ His fingers drummed the desk.

‘I’m the one who delivered it to her apartment block.’

And there it was, the frankness he’d been praying for. ‘Your grandfather got you to deliver it?’

‘Yeah, he did, and he paid me a thousand dollars for it.’ Tommy’s downhearted gaze was filled with regret and sorrow. ‘I didn’t know it was anything to do with you, or Riverside Acres, or your past being dragged up.’ He shook his head sadly. ‘I’m so sorry, Uncle, I can see what you mean by him being a master manipulator now. He told me it was to do with some rent a woman owed him.’

Jarrah whooshed a breath. ‘I tried to warn you, Tommy, but I think you had to experience it firsthand to know I wasn’t exaggerating.’

‘Yes, my bad.’

‘Yes, it is.’ He caught Tommy’s eyes and tried to hold his attention. ‘I can forgive you this time, but just remember that if you do it again, it’s not a mistake, it’s a choice.’

‘I one hundred percent get that.’ Tommy nodded. ‘So what are you going to do about Millie?’

‘I need to have a think before I act rashly, and I need you to give me the time and space I need to deal with this properly, okay?’

Tommy’s next nod was swift. ‘Yup, done deal.’

‘Promise me, Tommy.’ Jarrah’s tone was cautionary. ‘Because I don’t want this ending up messier than it already is.’

Tommy looked Jarrah dead in the eyes. ‘You have my word, Uncle J.’

And Jarrah believed him. ‘Good, now can you leave it with me?’

‘Yup, sure can.’ Tommy straightened and took steps towards the doorway. ‘I’m around if you need me, okay.’

‘Thanks, Tommy, that means a lot.’

Jarrah wished he could feel complete relief in knowing Tommy was now being sincere with him. But hell, no. There was only a smidgen of relief swirling beneath the mountain of heartache he now had to deal with. He wasn’t sure if he was going to beat around the bush or come right out and say it. Either way, he and Millie needed to talk. And he knew this wasn’t going to go well. Not in the slightest. If anything, this would be the reason she ran for the hills and never looked back.

Losing no time between walking from his office to the front door of her motel room, he sighed, then knocked. ‘Millie, you here?’

The door opened and her smile met him, then faded. ‘Jarrah, hey.’ He must have appeared anxious, hesitant even, because her hand came to his arm. ‘Is everything okay?’

‘No, not really, we need to talk.’ He could feel the flames that had been dancing between them since the very first time they’d met, but right now, given what he knew, the heat of it was suffocating. ‘Can I come in, or do you want to sit out here?’

She bit down on her lip. ‘Out here, it’s less stuffy.’

‘Righto.’ He settled in his usual chair, as did she.

Placing her elbows on the little table, she rested her chin in her hands. ‘So, what’s up?’

Words that were going to shatter both their worlds got stuck in his voice box. He cleared his throat. Shifted uneasily. The silence stretched, lingered, as he did his best to calm his galloping heart. ‘I don’t think either of us have been honest about who we are, Millie, wouldn’t you agree?’ There, that was as good a start as any.

‘Huh?’ Confusion, or fear, or possibly both, crinkled the corners of her eyes. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

He swivelled in his chair to face her. ‘Millie, please, this is our one chance to be completely honest with each other.’

Bearing witness to her rigid posture, and the way she was now gnawing on her fingernail, he gathered she must have some idea as to what he was on about. ‘Millie, please talk to me.’ He willed himself not to spill everything that was weighing down upon his heart in his next breath, because he wanted to give her time to be honest too.

She finally brought her gaze to his. ‘Honest about what, exactly, Jarrah?’ There was no softness in her tone now, just defensiveness.

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