Page 84 of That One Night
“Drink me and be happy. Very, very happy.” Her mom frowned.
“And that didn’t give you a clue that it was spiked?”
Her mom groaned, putting her palm against her brow. “No. Why would anybody add alcohol to a perfectly good punch?”
Emery had suggested her mom rest, so she was laying upstairs, a cold compress on her head.
Which was a good thing. Because she didn’t need to overhear this call.
“You’ve reached Trenton Montclair. Leave a message.”
The sound of his voice was enough to make her grit her teeth. But she wasn’t going to let the fact that he was obviously still avoiding her stop her from doing what she needed to do.
He’d called the shots from the start. Looking back, from the moment they’d started dating there’d been a power imbalance between them. He’d been slightly older and a lot more sophisticated, with the money and social class that came from being born into a long established family. And she’d been the young, naïve farm girl.
He’d managed to pick away at her confidence bit by bit. Suggesting he take over their finances because she could make mistakes. Overruling her suggestions on where they should go to eat or on vacation. Making suggestions that she’d be more attractive if she ate less or if she talked less when he took her out to dinner with a client.
She’d made herself so small for him that she felt like she’d disappeared.
But she wasn’t going to do that anymore. And it wasn’t even like she was disturbing him at work. It was a Saturday. Plenty of time for him to get used to what she had to say.
“This is Emery,” she told him, her voice clear as she spoke down the phone. “I want you to know that the deal is off. I’m tired of lying to people to make your life easier. I’ll be telling my mom next week that our engagement is over. I suggest you do the same with your parents.” She paused, her heart racing. “And I expect you to sign off the lien. Because I’m putting the farm up for sale on Monday.”
She ended the call, knowing that Trenton would be furious when he listened to it. But that wasn’t her problem. Notanymore. She wasn’t his verbal punching bag. It wasn’t her job to make his life easier.
Her only concern was herself and the people she loved. And that didn’t include Trenton, not anymore.
It might include the man who’d held her all night, though.
His mom had left about twenty minutes after Emery arrived home. Not that she was looking.
Okay, she was totally looking. Maddie Hartson hadn’t looked upset with her son. She’d hugged him on the stoop and walked away, a smile on her lips. Five minutes later she’d seen Hendrix get on his motorcycle and leave – presumably to catch up on the work he’d missed by sleeping in.
He’d sent her a message, though. Probably when he was taking his first break.
Did you make it home without your mom noticing? By the way, you’re hot when you’re sneaking around. – Hendrix
She liked the way his messages sounded exactly like him. He’d told her he typically used voice to text to reply. It was easier than trying to work through his dyslexia with his fingers.
So she’d started replying to his texts with a voice message. Her lips curled as she whispered into her microphone. “You’re pretty beautiful yourself.”
It took a minute for him to reply.
“Nobody’s ever called me beautiful before.” His voice was thick.
That made her heart tighten. It was funny, because they could probably call each other rather than message. Since they were both so clearly on their phones right now. But there wassomething special about this. The way she could save his voice notes and listen to them when she was alone.
“Then you’d better get used to it, buddy.”
They messaged a couple more times before he told her he needed to get back to work. But not before he sent her one last voice recording.
“What time can you get to mine later?”
“Not until late. I need to wait until my mom’s gone to bed.” She smiled at that. “I’ll come over as soon as I’m free.”
This time his reply was typed. Like there was somebody around listening.
Good. – Hendrix
