Page 109 of Return to Us
Dr. Warvel moves her chair a bit closer. “Explain that.”
“I want to be here. I want to be with Grayson and Amelia. We are going to tell her about us and make plans.”
Her eyes are soft as she stares at me. “Why do you think that changes because you’re cleared?”
Grayson has this thing about me wanting to fly and be away from Willow Creek Valley. He says how he knows I don’t want to be here. How clipping my wings will break me.
He’s what makes me soar, not my job.
“I just feel like he’ll push me away.”
She nods. “I see, and that scares you because you want . . .”
“I want him.”
“Then tell him that, Jessica. Be honest and communicate because you two have been doing that very well. If you can be open and start off by saying how happy you are about being cleared but that it changes nothing about your desire to stay with him, then what can he say?”
Maybe she’s right, but I don’t think that’s the case.
Chapter 27
Grayson
There’s a knock at the door, and I’m hoping it’s Jessica. It’s been a rough few days. Amelia came down with some virus that had her running a fever, vomiting, and completely miserable for almost nine days.
Then I got a call from my mother, who demanded I be at dinner next weekend, a dinner in which I am forbidden to walk out on and have been ordered to bring Jessica.
I open the door, but it’s not Jess, it’s Jack. Normally, this wouldn’t be an issue, except I can smell the whiskey coming off of him in waves.
“Did you know . . .” He slurs. “I don’t even want to like her.”
“Like who?”
“Her!” Jack yells and then slams his hand on the porch railing. “She’s insane.”
“Most women are. How much have you had to drink?”
He shrugs. “Don’t matter. It’s gone. She’s gone.”
“Are you talking about Misty?”
He shakes his head. “Not this time.”
Considering my best friend hasn’t dated anyone since college, I have no idea what the hell he’s talking about, but it’s clear he’s a mess and needs to sleep.
“Did something happen?”
His eyes meet mine, and he leans against the railing, head resting on the side of the house. “Did you know that whiskey does not make you forget? I remember. I remember it all, and I remember that I shouldn’t remember.”
Whiskey and I were very good friends for quite a while after I found out Yvonne was pregnant. I would’ve done the right thing by marrying her because we were heading that way regardless.
She didn’t love me enough to try.
She didn’t want a family with me because of her career.
I found myself circling the drain, wondering how the fuck I kept doing this to myself.
“What do you remember?” I ask, hoping to get a semi-coherent answer from him.
