Page 4 of Absolution

“Well,” I say again. “I should…”

He nods. “Yeah.”

I turn with a sinking feeling, forcing myself to walk away. Of course I read too much into it. I was a travel companion. Not a soulmate. He’s a lawyer. I’m someone who hasn’t even gone to college. I shake my head.

Idiot.

“Wait!” he calls out. “Jackie!”

I stop, spin around. “Yeah?”

He jogs a few steps toward me. “I know we just met and this is probably stupid, but… I really had a good time. Do you think I could… maybe have your number?”

“For the money?” I ask, grinning.

He laughs. “For that. And maybe also… so we could get dinner or something?”

My smile answers before I do. “I’d love to.”

He hands me his phone, and I type my number in. When I give it back, I lean up on my toes to kiss his cheek, but I catch the corner of his mouth instead.

We both freeze for a second.

I step back, heart thudding. “Call me,” I say, smiling as I walk backwards, still watching him.

He stands there, looking like he wants to say more, but I turn toward my mom, who is definitely making googly eyes at me from the driver’s seat.

And I don’t even care.

Not today.

Chapter Two

Kyle ~January 2013

One year. Exactly one year ago I met the love of my life on a day I thought was the worst I’d had in years.

Connecting flight cancelled. Credit card maxed. Job on the line. Chicago snow up to my knees and a gate agent telling me there was nothing she could do. I was five seconds from losing it.

My luck? Impeccable. I’d broken my lease in Queens, shipped half my stuff ahead, and signed for a new apartment in Austin sight unseen. Somewhere in the middle of that mess, someone skimmed my info. I lost my identity before I even got on the damn plane. Had to freeze everything. Every card declined but one and that one, I maxed trying to book a flight with a different airline, which also ended up getting cancelled.

So, there I was. No flight. No money. No patience. Less than two days away from starting a new job I couldn’t afford to lose. My hands were cold, my back hurt from hauling luggage through snow, and the terminal smelled like feet and panic.

And then she stepped in, five-foot-nothing. Blonde. Mouth like a firecracker. Jackie.

And somehow, from that mess, everything changed.

Texas wasn’t just the job anymore. It was her.

We’re touring another house tomorrow. Fourth one this week. My father gave me access to my trust fund the day I got married. Didn’t congratulate me. Didn’t shake my hand. Just said,“Don’t waste it.”

He was a force. Senior partner at one of the biggest firms in Manhattan. He didn’t need to be loud to be powerful, hewaspower. Walked into a room and people stopped mid-sentence. I watched him win cases, clients, rooms, people. Over and over. He taught me how to think, how to calculate ten steps ahead. How to win.

He may not have been emotional. But he showed me the way. And that was enough.

My mother, on paper, was a stay-at-home mom. But in reality? She was rarely home enough tobeone. Always at luncheons, charity events, fundraisers. Always dressed to the nines, always smiling just right. She said she chose that life, but even as a kid, I knew better. She orbited around my dad like a moon trying to matter. She hosted his dinners, laughed at his jokes, smiled when he belittled her in public like it was foreplay. She was sweet. She was beautiful. But she lived in his shadow and called it a marriage.

I loved her. Still do. But I never wanted to be with someone like her.

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