Page 75 of Sweet Little Thing

When we reached the top of the stairs, I paused as he stepped around me and unlocked the door. He waved his hand for me to go inside first.

The lights came on as we walked in, and I scrambled for the right words to say. If I had just come up here when I got home, I would have had time to prepare my thoughts. But now I was nervous and unsure how to broach last night’s subject.

“Good night,” Stone said simply, then headed down thehallway to his bedroom. I stood there speechless as I watched him leave me standing there. He’d come to get me as if we needed to talk. But he was going to bed? Seriously?

“You came to get me to make me go to bed?” I asked, unable to stop myself.

He stopped walking and stood there for a few moments before turning back to me. “No. I came to get you because you’re naïve. Mack is a known womanizer. He’s not like Jasper. He’s a professional at using women.”

With that explanation, he continued to his room. He was gone before I could think of something else to say or formulate more questions to ask. His door closed firmly behind him.

And I was left alone. We hadn’t discussed anything. Not about me leaving or how long he expected me to stay here. Nothing.

For the next week, Stone wasn’t home when I left for work in the morning or when I got home in the evening. Geraldine had even asked about him. Wondering why he hadn’t been by to visit. She’d asked if I had decided on his birthday gift since I had asked her for ideas before things got weird between us. I hadn’t. I feared my moving out may be the gift he wanted. I had typed out so many texts to him, then deleted them, I’d lost count.

The studio apartment I had found wouldn’t stay available forever. I knew I had to discuss it with him before it was gone. I’d spent my evenings searching for somewhere I could afford on my phone. That had been the only place I’d found that was in my price range and not too terribly far from Geraldine’s and Heidi.

The apartment hunt had kept me busy while I had sat alone in my bedroom each evening, trying not to worry about Stone’s disappearance and my possible role in it. I lay awake at night, listening for him to return, anxious about what I would say if he did.

Seven days after my last interaction with Stone, I pulled into a parking spot in front of the apartments and found Jasper standing there. His hands were tucked in his front pockets. His head down. His shoulders were slumped slightly as if he were defeated.

The sight of him made my chest hurt. I didn’t like seeing him like this. With him out of sight, I was able to block out my fear that he would take Heidi from me. That she was legally his sister, not mine. He could be considered the villain in my story if I let myself dwell on it too long. I worked up all kinds of what ifs where Jasper and or Portia took her from me.

Seeing him there, however, made that impossible. He looked wounded not evil. Nothing like his parents. He’d been a victim as much as Heidi had. His parents had lied to everyone. Heidi would never know or understand their actions, but Jasper did. He had to live with that knowledge.

I turned off my car and got out. His head lifted to meet my gaze. He seemed broken. The gleam of playfulness in his eyes was gone. His easy smile that once made my heart race was no longer there. He seemed older. The easygoing guy I’d thought I had fallen in love with was gone.

I stepped onto the sidewalk and stood there. I was several feet away, waiting for him to explain why he was here. I wondered at the same time if I should have gotten out of the car. Our last confrontation hadn’t gone well, and Stone wasn’t here to run interference. Was I strong enough to handle speaking to him alone?

“I’m not going to pursue finding out the truth about Heidi. You’re right. She had a mother and a family. You’re her family. You’re what she knows and loves. My need to prove the truth will just cause more pain,” his voice sounded beaten down and hollow.

“Thank you,” I replied with relief. The weight on my chestlifted. I’d been living with that fear since this all began unraveling with Portia’s lies. It had haunted me when I allowed it to take over my thoughts.

“I won’t be back. I leave for Manhattan tomorrow. My things are already set up in my place there. I’ll be running things from the main office. Away from this town, Portia, and,” he paused. He closed his eyes tightly and exhaled. “You.”

That should have stung. But it didn’t. Even though I now understood that the emotion I had felt for Jasper hadn’t been love but a strong affection. My need to be wanted, to belong, to not be alone anymore had made me think I was in love because he filled all those holes. Having never fallen in love it had been an easy mistake. But I still wasn’t sure how I’d feel watching Jasper move on with his life. If he was here and I saw him with other women. Would that hurt? I didn’t know. His leaving was a god thing. There could never be an us.

“What about your Savannah office?” I asked because I didn’t know what to say. I had no idea what response to give that wouldn’t hurt us. I wanted him to walk away with closure.

“It was a waste of time. I have enough to handle with my father gone. I need to focus on what was already built. Being here was never meant to be permanent but then it had become something I wanted. Portia’s lies and the truth I face daily in this town make it the last place I want to be now.”

He could start over somewhere else. Make a new life. A life I wouldn’t have to witness by accident when I ran into him someday in town. His moving away made it easier for me to heal from the lies.

“You’ll be happy there. This will become the past, and you can forget it all,” I finally said.

A sad smile barely tugged on his lips. “Yeah. Sure.”

“Thank you for everything, Jasper. For being there when I needed someone. For paying for Heidi’s care. You have beenmore than I could have asked for.”

A frown creased his brow. I didn’t know what I’d said that had upset him. He looked concerned and apologetic.

“Shit, Beulah, I didn’t pay for Heidi’s care. I was going to, but I forgot. With all this shit going on, I never got around to it. I’ll do it today. I want to do it.”

He was still talking, apologizing. I didn’t hear his words, though. They were muffled by the pounding in my head. The knowledge that I knew was there. The truth. And what that meant. I shook my head, trying to grasp the reasons behind this. One name repeating over and over in my mind.

When I realized he wasn’t talking anymore, I focused on him. “You never paid it?” I asked for confirmation. Still in disbelief.

“No. But I will, I swear. I won’t leave that on you,” he replied. His expression determined.

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