Page 51 of Unmistakably Us

Seventeen

The Uber driver didn’t bother helping her with her bags or even saying goodbye to her. January understood why, though. She hadn’t engaged him in conversation or answered any of his questions as he tried to make the ride a little less awkward. She simply stared out the window of the sedan and watched the Florida coastline pass by.

She had never taken an Uber before so she wasn’t sure of the etiquette anyway, but she was positive being nice was part of it. She felt bad, but she could do nothing about it now as she stood and knocked on her parents’ room door.

Even with that awkward as fuck ride, January had no regrets about leaving Demon behind. That’s the only thing in my fucking life I don’t regret right now.

“Hello, darling,” January’s mother spoke sarcastically the second her dad opened the hotel door for her.

“No need to play nice, mother. That ship sailed a long fucking time ago.”

Her mother seemed overly affronted at her language. “January, language.” Her mother had said and heard worse. She still had her nose out of joint over January’s token act of rebellion by even daring to go to Florida and enjoy a small portion of her own life.

“Get over it, Mother. I’m here. What more do you want from me?” She spat the title like a curse, wondering for just a moment if her mother picked up on it. When Melody stood from her seat and put on her pissed face, January had her answer.

“You will not speak to me in that tone. Are we clear? I’ll never understand your attitude, January. We gave you everything, and you’re about to be married to one of the most eligible bachelors in the Wiregrass area. You’ll have a prestigious job, why, you’ll have a perfect life. You should show more gratitude and less attitude. Do you know how many young ladies would kill for your life?”

Her mother paused for dramatic effect, not because she actually wanted an answer to the question.

“Besides, look at that…cozy home your ungrateful sister is living in and surround by those rednecks, no less. Is that the kind of life you want, January Snow? It would be a shame if her life wasn’t even that, not like it’s much to start with…”

Melody Thorne trailed off, leaving her veiled threat hanging there like the eye of a storm. Calm from the center, but hell in the outer bands.

With her message clearly delivered, January’s mother brushed her sleeves of invisible lint and returned to her seat.

January wanted to scream, YES! That’s exactly the life I want, but her fight left her the minute she saw the hurt in Logan’s eyes. He was something worth fighting for, but now he was gone, and so was her heart.

Her shoulders deflated along with her hopes. Her mother’s smug look told her that. Her body bore the signs of her heartbreak and the death of her soul, and Melody relished it.

In that moment, it hit her like a rocket to the chest—she was and had always been, just Melody. She was never a true mother to either of her daughters. January had plenty of revelations over her lifetime concerning Melody, but deep down, she always still thought of her as a mother. One that sucked, but still, January justified her behavior. Making excuses and explaining why she acted the way she did. Now she realized there wasn’t anything remotely mothering in any cell of her being.

It should have felt more of a loss to her, but it didn’t. After all she had lost, this felt more like a relief. At least she saw things for what they were, and there was no way she would spend ten more years doing her bidding. January just needed to be clever to get out of it with minimal emotional pain to anyone else she loved.

She headed toward one of the doors in the suite. “I assume there’s a bed for me in there? I’ll be ready to go before check out.” Yes, she would feign compliance to bide her time with as little suspicion on her mother’s part as she could manage. She’d even go through with the wedding if that is what it took, but she’d be damned if she’d sleep with that bastard.

“Yes, dear. Oh, January?” January knew if she didn’t look at her, she’d never launch the verbal grenade she was wielding.

With a non-audible sigh, January turned and raised her eyes. Not trusting her voice to be as compliant as she was already making a herculean effort to be, she simply raised an eyebrow and waited.

“Chadwick will not raise another man’s child. I want a grandkid of proper lineage.” The expression on her mother’s face said it all. She was basically indicating January should just grab a coat hanger and fix any little problems that might arise.

A wave of sadness washed over January as she remembered Logan’s face when he told her he wasn’t someone who should ever have kids. The fact that she couldn’t possibly be pregnant wasn’t a pleasant one.

Her mother dismissed her just like that. Controlling her temper became a damn near impossible task. If it weren’t for her voice in her head chanting, remember the long-term goal, remember the long-term goal, she would have lost her shit.

Not validating her mother’s nastiness with even a sound, she turned and headed through the door.

Her mother’s voice trailed after her. “Sleep well, we have a big week when we get back home, starting with a dress fitting Monday morning. You don’t want bags under your eyes.”

January shut the door, more gently than she wanted to, then fell face down on the bed. When that failed to be as therapeutic as she’d hoped, she curled up in a ball and cried.

Guess she would have bags for days, because once she started, she didn’t think she could stop.

She had single-handedly just destroyed the man she loved. If she continued the path she was on, she would destroy herself, and if she came up with a plan to follow her own path, she would destroy her sister.

It was the very definition of a no-win situation, no wonder Kirk cheated.

Cheating wouldn’t get her out of this. Right now, she needed to be more Spock than Kirk. She needed logic. It was time to break down the problem into manageable segments, then tackle the smaller bites one at a time.

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