Page 16 of Betrayal & New Beginnings

“What is that?”Wadeasked as he looked at my odd choice of weapon.

“It’s, uh…a crochet needle,”Ipractically whispered. “Itwas the bestIcould come up with.”

“Why?” he asked, his expression blank.

“BecauseIcrochet.”Isaid it like that was obvious. “Mygran taught me, andIlike to do it because it calms me down and helps me relax,”Isaid, a little defensive about my choice of hobby.

“I meant, why did you grab that and not your phone or a knife or something better?” he asked as he finally started to move away from me.Iinstantly felt sad and missed his body heat and wonderful scent.

“I think my phone is on the kitchen counter, and obviously my knives are too.”Isaid asImoved toward the kitchen to grab my phone. “Thecrochet needle was the closest thingIhad.”

“That would explain why you didn’t answer.”

I looked down at my phone and sure enough,I’dhad a few missed calls and texts fromWade, butIalso saw a few missed calls from an unknown number.Iinstantly felt cold and worried it could beRandall.

“What’s wrong?”

Wade was always so perceptive.Iboth liked it and hated it.

“Can you tell me what happened tonight?” he asked softly.

“It’s a long story,”Isighed.

“I’ve got nowhere to be,” he said.Evenif he did,Isensed he would have canceled those plans.

“How much didJacktell you about our parents?”Iasked.

“Not much.Iknow they died in a car accident and then you went to live with your grandma inTennessee,” he said with sympathy on his face.

After a long pause,Itook a deep breath and told him everything.

“I always wanted to go to college, butGrancouldn’t afford it.Myparents left us some money when they died, but they didn’t have any kind of life-insurance policy, so most of the money went toGranso she could take care of us.Iwas a good student, but after my parents died andJackleft for theArmy,Ibecame depressed and struggled with school, so a scholarship wasn’t going to happen.Grandid a great job caring for us, but she had my mom late in life, so she was very old and frail.”

I took a deep breath to gather my courage.

“WhenIgraduated high school,Iwas planning to spend that next year working as much as possible and try to apply the following year at a college nearby.”

“So, the following summer,Iwent out with some friends, andImetRandall.Heseemed really nice, charming, and had a good job working at the bank.Heseemed stable and safe.Wewent on a few dates the next few months, and then he asked me to move in with him.Iliked him, butIwasn’t ready yet, soItold him no.Hewas the only serious boyfriendI’dever had, butIknew deep down something felt off.”Inearly groaned at how rightIhad been.

“I also didn’t want to leaveGranall by herself.It’swhyIwas going to go to college nearby.Afew months later,Icame home from my shift at the restaurant and foundGranunconscious on the floor.”Myvoice strained asIstarted to get choked up. “Itappears she may have had a stroke or something and fell down the s-s-stairs.”

“You can take a break,”Wadesaid calmly.

“I’m okay,”Isaid and twisted my hands in my lap asIcontinued.

“Jack came home for the funeral, and he metRandall.Jackpulled me aside at the wake and told me he thoughtRandallwas smug and a tool, and to get rid of him.Hewas right, but at the timeIwas so emotional fromGran’sdeath thatIcouldn’t see it.AllIcould see was that everyoneIloved kept leaving me, butRandallwas still there.Jackleft the next day to go back overseas and finish his tour, since he was only home for emergency bereavement leave.”

I paused, swallowing back my emotions.Wadewaited patiently for me to continue.

“AfterGrandied,Idecided to postpone classes until the spring semester becauseIjust couldn’t handle everything that was going on.Randallmoved in with me temporarily to help me out,”Isaid, barely able to keep the disgust in my voice at bay.

I looked up atWadeand saw the silent support he was trying to give me, and it encouraged me to continue.Ipaused, took a breath, and looked straight into his eyes whenItold him the rest.

“A few weeks later, the yelling and fighting began.Hewanted me to sellGran’shouse so we could buy a home together, butIwasn’t ready to part with her home yet.Itried explaining this to him, and at first, he would just get angry and accuse me of not being committed to the relationship like he was, but that quickly turned to yelling and screaming and accusations of me liking other men,”Isaid, noticing a tic inWade’scheek, but otherwise no reaction.

“I realized at that point thatIdidn’t want to be with him anymore and asked him to move out.Hegot angry and stormed out, but then he came back and apologized—multiple times.Eventually, he moved out, though, and reluctantly bought his own place.Ithought he had finally moved on for good.”

I should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy.

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