Page 56 of Lost Petal

“He said he couldn’t let that happen,” she finally utters, looking up at me through watery eyes. “I tried to go behind his back and marry Kade anyway. But he found me. He flew all the way over to California to get me. He showed up at our door, yelling, threatening Kade and literally tearing me away from him. Of course, Kade was shocked and disgusted. The look on his face… I will never forget it. He looked so scared, so utterly disappointed, as if there was something rotten about me. He broke up with me right then and there, saying he wanted nothing to do with such craziness, with a father-in-law who threatens his life upon seeing him for the very first time.”

A pitiful wail escapes her. “I can’t even blame him, because I get it. Who would want to do that to themselves?”

Fuck. I clench my fists, wishing for nothing more than to smash this boy’s head in. What a fucking coward. I know about the power Robert holds over his daughter, his only child, his precious treasure. I know how fucking possessive and intimidating he gets when it comes to her.

But what kind of man would refuse to stand up against him if he claims to be in love with her?

Yes, what kind of man…

She snivels, wiping away the fresh tears from her face and taking a deep breath as she straightens her back. Her demeanor changes, the sadness on her face getting replaced by determination. My father dragged me home. I let it happen. I thought it was the only choice left, because at least here I’d have... something, you know. A place to return to.”

Her eyelashes flicker nervously when she throws me a tentative look. “I felt like the dumbest person on Earth. I should never have told him.”

She chuckles, confusing me with that unexpected interlude before she continues.

“Then again, I probably shouldn’t have been so stupid to begin with. Stop school to be with a boy I barely knew. What did I expect?”

“You were in love,” I add for consideration. “You’d be surprised how often I’ve heard stories full of regret and failure—and they all started with love.”

Her expression freezes when she looks at me, pressing her lips together with such force that they’re nothing but thin lines, almost as bright as the color of her cheeks.

“What does that feel like?” she asks in a low voice that’s laced with an ominous undertone. “To know all these sad stories, to relieve others of those memories and carry them with you. It must be such a burden.”

I reciprocate her probing look with a stern gaze. She wants something from me. She’s not just here to talk to an old friend—if that’s even what she sees in me. She’s here with a request for help. Help that I’m not sure I can give her.

Either way, she will have to give voice to her appeal, as much as it may scare her.

“What brings you here today?” I ask, relishing the spooked flicker in her green eyes.

Her shoulders tense when I place my elbows on the table, leaning forward while I pierce her with an intense gaze. My pulse is speeding with prospect, fueled by the hot imprint of memories that have haunted me for years.

She’s right, carrying all those things with me is a burden, a burden that comes with the job. However, there’s one thing she doesn’t know.

The darkest secret I harbor is hers.

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