Page 141 of Darling Obsession

I’m supposed to be there, with them.

I can hear Mom crying.

As I climb the stairs to the second floor, I hear helicopter blades in the distance.

When I get to the top of the stairs, I see the door to the room where the terrible thing is going to happen, and I know they’re waiting for me.

I hear my dad’s voice, calling to me, and I start to cry.

I hear thewhump whump whumpof the helicopter blades as I walk toward the door.

When I finally reach it, I start to open it. And I hear my dad say my name, close in my ear.Harlan.

I wake up in a panic, with his voice still in my head.

I didn’t know I could still remember the sound of his voice.

I haven’t heard it in so long.

And for a long time, I just lie here in the dark, trying not to lose it again.

“Megan and I were talking about her wedding cake,” Savannah tells me. “Darla’s name came up. Quinn, I mean.” My sister pauses dramatically, waiting for my reaction to this.

It’s been three weeks since our birthday dinner, and I haven’t seen Savannah since. I’ve barely seen Quinn, either, since she’s not really speaking to me.

At least, that’s how it seems.

And since’s there’s no one other than Quinn who I really want to speak to right now, I’m not inclined to make small talk about my brother’s wedding preparations.

I’ve been having that old dream almost every night, and I’m not sleeping well. And every time I hear my dad say my name, I wake up, soaked in sweat and panicking all over again.

I’m on the verge of calling up one of my old therapists.

But I fucking hate therapy.

Savi is studying me like she’s reading me for signals, so I do my best not to give her any. No twitching. No picking at things with my fingernails. No straightening items on my desk.

I don’t keep much on my desk, so I don’t have to worry about temptation. But my cell phone is sitting there, fucking crooked. I have to resist the almost irresistible urge to straighten it.

I just keep staring at my computer screen. Savannah just walked into my office unannounced, and now she’s hovering, neither of which she ever does.

“Don’t you have work to do at the resort?” I say flatly.

“You make it sound like it’s a vacation.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Very funny. I’m actually thinking I’ll need a vacation after it finally opens. A long one. And you can all just call each other to fix your shit instead of communicating through me.”

“Good luck with that. Graysen wouldn’t last a day.”

She sighs. “Isn’t that the truth.”

“So what have you come to say on his behalf this time?”

“Not his. Jameson’s. His fiancée’s, actually. You know, Megan…”

I frown. Are we back to this?

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