Page 61 of The Blackmail of Denise Randall

Who invites someone to someone else’s house for breakfast? Not off to a good start as a part of the family, Noah. As if he wasn’t already walking a fine line.

Rachel turns around and stretches up to look over the couch. She shares a smile with Alice from across the room. I give them a scowl.

Noah smiles at me and waves. “Good morning and happy birthday again.”

I smile. “Morning. Congratulations, again.”

I guess this will double as a birthday and next step for Alice breakfast. Of course.

Keaton gives me a lopsided grin and winks. My mom notices the exchange and clears her throat. She leans toward me. “Sure you don’t want to go freshen up, Dear?”

I whisper to my mom, “This is so awkward.”

She gives me the I tried to tell you smile and a single nod. Then takes a plate full of fresh, hot pancakes to the table. “Denise, sweetie, you’re too kind. You can hurry and change now if you want. I’m all caught up.” She waves a kitchen towel at me, shooing me away. She smiles to everyone. “That’s my girl, helping make her own birthday breakfast.”

My mom’s the best. I smile and head toward my bedroom. I grab a change of clothes and walk back out of my room toward the bathroom down the hall. I need to freshen up just a little bit. The door is shut and I groan, wondering who ran in there right when I was about to. I knock on the door. Keaton opens it and smiles at me. “Looking for me?”

“Sure, I need to return your clothes.”

“I wish you were still in them.”

“That wouldn’t go over well with my family, now would it?”

“Probably not. Your dad would try to drop a support beam on me or something next time at the site.”

“In that case, let me go slip them on real quick.”

He chuckles. “If you’d let me watch, it might be worth it.” His voice is serious now, and there’s concern in his eyes. “Are you okay?”

A little part of me hoped that Keaton hadn’t really been here when I had my anxiety attack. That maybe I had hallucinated him being there. I honestly don’t know what triggered it. Lord knows there’s been plenty of drama over the past couple of days to contribute to it.

“Yeah. What time did you leave?”

“About an hour after you fell asleep. Maybe nine thirty? I heard the door from the main house shut and panicked. I didn’t want your mom catching me here with you, so I went out through your window and hurried off. I wanted to stay.” His fingers lightly trail from my temple down to my chin. “I was worried about you. Do those attacks happen frequently?”

“No. I used to get them bad in high school after…” He nods, letting me know he understands, and I don’t have to finish that sentence. “Then I started getting bullied by Isabelle. She was a great trigger for an episode. But college helped. They became less frequent. I was almost to the point I no longer worried about them.”

“Think being back here triggered something?”

I shrug. “Maybe. I figured at one point I’d get over them. It seems drama comes with being a Randall.” I feel self-conscious under his gaze. “Speaking of your family, you’re in the thick of it. You need to go before they come for you.”

As he slides past me, he lightly places a kiss on my forehead. I lock the door and begin to undress. I notice my reflection in the mirror and want to scream. My hair is a mess and my skin looks pasty. I run a brush through my hair and then brush my teeth. I get dressed and give myself a quick braid. I quickly apply the basics for my makeup. All in all, I was only in the bathroom for fifteen-minutes.

“There she is.” Mom announces in a sing-song voice. She places a pan of biscuits on the table and then sits down in a chair at the end. I look at the small table that has two chairs from outside pulled to it. Only one chair remains open. I sit down next to Keaton.

My father looks from me to Keaton. “Where’s Wyatt? Will he not be joining us?”

I calmly finish plating a spoonful of eggs and reach for my glass of orange juice. Everyone is watching me. “Wyatt won’t be joining us. Ever.”

Mom gasps. “What happened, Honey?”

“I discovered he was seeing someone else on the side. And he spoke very poorly to me when I confronted him about it. End of story.”

Daddy frowns. “What do you mean by poorly?”

I take a sip of my orange juice. Keaton looks around the table and then to me. He looks to my father and says, “Sir, I was with Denise when Wyatt called and was none too happy. I heard the way he spoke to your daughter on the phone. She handled it with more class than he deserved.”

Dad looks to me and nods. “If he wasn’t treating you right then I’m happy you ended the relationship before it turned serious. Had Wyatt treated you like this before? I find it strange that Keaton here crashes your date the other day, and you end a relationship that hadn’t had any signs of trouble.”

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