Page 61 of Even if It Hurts

The wounded, pleading look she shot my way had the rest of my words lodging in my throat just as the elevator arrived.

And even though every part of me was demanding I stop her and try to find some way to explain, I simply stood there as she left.

Shifting my niece closer to my chest when she let out another exhausted cry, I muttered, “I know, Kaia...I know.”

I’d deleted the unintentional voicemail after realizing Asher hadn’t meant to call when I’d been changing Kaia and that—even though one of his friends had clearly been trying to prove otherwise—he had no feelings for me other than irritation. But I could still hear his words as if I were listening to the muffled message right then.

I’d been hearing them in my mind all day, and they hurt more than Jackson’s crushing grip had.

It was sad that a man I’d onlyreallyknown for less than a week could affect me more than a man I’d loved most my life, but I’d been absolutely wrecked by his words. Hearing him praise me for how I was doing with Kaia had only made my bruised heart ache worse.

But this day had been the wake-up call I’d needed to realize I was truly only there for Kaia.

At the last second, I turned onto my favorite street in Huntley and whipped into one of the spots at the coffee shop, desperately needing a pick-me-up after this soul-shredding day.

I reached over to right one of the plants that had fallen over, embarrassment pulsing through me at the reminder of why it was in my car in the first place. Before I could do somethingridiculous like cry all over again, I grabbed my bag and hurried out of my SUV and into the Huntley Square shop...

And immediately wished I hadn’t decided to stop when I nearly bumped into one of the last people I wanted to see right then.

“Heather, hi,” I said awkwardly as I side-stepped the girl I’d grown up with. “How are you?”

She drew in a deep breath and glanced at the door as if she planned to leave without saying a word to me. Making the small space between us even more uncomfortable than when I’d walked in on her and Jackson’s conversation in the General Store last week.

Releasing the breath she’d just taken, she rocked toward the door before looking at me and hissing, “I’m not gonna pretend with you for the sake of playing nice because I have nothing kind to say to you.” Before I had the chance to fully grasp her words or spite, she leaned closer to say, “You should’ve let him go six years ago.”

Shock kept me in place for long seconds after the door shut behind Heather. When I finally glanced around as I took a step toward the small line, I found nearly every curious and prying stare on me as the townspeople whispered things I really didn’t want to hear.

I tried to put on a brave face; tried to take another step in the right direction. But as everything from this ridiculous day threatened to overwhelm me, my feet carried me out of the shop and to my car before I could order.

By the time I got home, both of my parents were in the kitchen talking, but with the frail grip I had on my emotions, I wasn’t sure that was a conversation I could handle just yet. So, I slipped by without their notice and stole through the halls until I was opening my sister’s door.

Wren tapped on her phone a few more times before slowly looking up, her eyes widening when she saw me. “Who are we burying?”

A shaky laugh burst from me as I shut her door to lean against it. “The other night, you said Jackson might’ve grown apart from me like you knew hehad.” I studied the worry and apprehension on her face before asking, “You meant Heather, didn’t you?”

“Possibly,” she admitted after long moments of hesitation.

It felt like my entire body sagged under the weight of everything that had been kept from me, and I wasn’t at all ignorant to the irony of it.

Karma hurt.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I wasn’t sure,” she quickly claimed. “I’m still not. I just...I’ve just had my suspicions.”

I trudged across her room to sink onto her bed. “Explain.”

“After you left for school, I started running into Jackson at the General Store.” As if sensing I was about to remind her that he made deliveries every morning, she held up a hand and added, “Notin the mornings and way too often.”

My head slowly dipped in acceptance even though I knew that wasn’t all.

“So, I started going there all the time to see if he’d be there, and nearly every time, he was. Whenever I ran into him, they always looked like I’d caught them doing something, even though I never did.” She made an irritated face as if she would’ve preferred to. “But even though Jackson would rush out whenever I showed because he needed to ‘get back to the ranch’ or whatever, he’d always be waiting in his truck by the time I left. Every time.”

“I see,” I murmured as I thought over Jackson and Heather’s conversation from last week, seeing it in an entirely different way as I did.

“So, what?”Heather had challenged him.“She comes back from Tennessee, and you just act like the last six years never happened?”

“She was nevergonefor me,”Jackson had said after sending a warning look her way, prompting a bitter-sounding laugh from Heather.

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