Page 130 of Never You

Kathleen Jensen, people, the Wicked Witch of the East, the evil queen, and your worst nightmare all wrapped into one impeccable looking package.

“Don’t you dare go through with that engagement! I’ll be there before dinner.”

“Now, Jared, let’s make one thing clear,” she chastises. “There will be an engagement announced. If it will not be Della’s, it’s going to be yours.”

“Fine.”

“With Emily?”

“Yes,” I seethe, wanting to wrap my hands around my mother’s neck.

“Well, glad we got that sorted,” she replies with a contented tone, as if this was all a big misunderstanding.

It isn’t.

It’s fucking hell, and I can’t seem to find a ticket out of here.

“No more surprises, Jared. Or we will continue with the back-up plan.”

“I understand.”

“Great. I’ll see you tonight.”

40

I’ve fought my way through a shitty childhood, living in the public eye, and sixteen playoffs games to win the fucking Stanley Cup. But it was all a breeze compared to breaking the heart of the girl who captured mine long before I drove across the country with her.

When I turn around, Rae is standing behind me, and a hopeful feeling jams back into my chest until it’s smacked out of me all over again.

I can’t do this.

“You okay?” she asks, her eyes beaming before they slightly narrow in confusion, her blonde hair shining bright under the North Carolina sun.

I shake my head, barely finding the words. “I have to go home.”

Her head cocks, the affection immediately replaced with disappointment, and it kills me inside. I know I’m about to break her, to crush whatever is left of her heart, and I can’t do anything about it. A trainwreck waiting to happen.

“What?” I can hear the distress in her voice.

“That was my mother,” I explain with a heavy heart. “I have to go home.”

Within a split second, her stance goes back seven days. Her shoulders poised, chin up, the same rigid attitude I know so well.

Only this time I deserve every ounce of her fury.

She snickers, her beautiful eyes shooting daggers, and she looks like she’s pulling them straight from her heart. “I see.”

She nods, as if she’s trying to grasp her head around the situation, and I reach out to her.

“Baby,” I plead, grabbing her wrist to pull her into me.

To physically feel her against me, knowing I don’t want to end it like this. But she takes a step back, bringing her hands out of my grasp with a look on her face that hits me right in the heart.

A look that's filled with regret and defeat.

Like she gave up on me.

“I’m not yourbaby, Jensen. Emily is,” she snarls.

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