Page 81 of The Jilted Lovers Club
“I’m not telling you anything,” I say.
He places the phone down, narrowing his eyes. “You know, if this is true, I can do what I want with this information. I can say that you told me everything.”
“And then what? I don’t actually know that much about Alexander’s plans. But the little I do know…” I trail off. “Just keep reading.”
He looks down again. “A corporate town.” He takes a deep breath. “So, this big shot asshole is going to buy out our town, one business at a time, until he owns everything. We’ll lose our farms, our family businesses, our schools, everything that makes this town Lahoma Springs.”
“One could guess that,” I say.
He nods. “I need to get my mom over here.” He juts his chin at me. “And you’re probably freezing. I’ll let you go back home.”
I utter a sharp laugh. “Home, that’d be something of a miracle.”
“I mean the Felix place. I’m surprised Ashton isn’t still here with you.”
“Yeah well, when Alexander got up there and spouted all that crap, dragging me into it like I’d been an accomplice this whole time, everyone believed him—even the Felixes, even Ashton.” I nod at him. “Even you.”
“Fuck. Okay, let me call my mom, and then we’re heading over to the farm. It’s time we put a plan in place.”
Keep Lahoma Small
Ashton
The house feels unnervingly still when I open the front door, Lottie passed out in my arms. She doesn’t even wake up as I carefully lower her into her crib—probably the only person in the whole town who’s going to get a good night’s sleep tonight.
With her door closed, the silence of the house envelopes me with its chilly breath, like a ghost bent on haunting me. I’m so used to Jordy being here that her absence is almost louderthan the thoughts barreling through my head—and yet, she’s everywhere. Her sweatshirt lying over the back of the chair at the center island. Her Vans cast beside the couch. A scarf lying on a side table, and the book she was reading a few days ago. Each item mocks me, casting a spotlight on moments I thought were real.
Floating down the river. Soothing her trauma. Worshipping her body.
I was so stupid.
Grabbing her suitcases and a paper bag, I start tossing everything of Jordy’s inside. It takes about a half hour, though every time I think I’m done, I find something else. I’m meticulous in my search, wanting to guarantee that once I drop her belongings on my front porch, no part of Jordy will enter this house again.
But even that’s a stupid lie. The air in this house is now made up of her perfume. My hands still remember the softness of her skin. My mouth has memorized her taste, and I crave her all the same, despite the shock of tonight.
I can’t believe I was so stupid. I invited a woman I didn’t know into my house, around my daughter, fully trusting she was who she said she was. I should have listened to the rest of the town when they blackballed her. Instead, like a trusting fool, I took pity on her, brought her home to my chosen family, and let her care for my daughter unaccompanied. I’d been there for her when she cried.
Was any of it real, or had it all been a part of drawing me in and lowering my defenses? Am I just one huge joke to her, starting with selling The Till to that asshole, Alexander Winslow?
I can’t forget the way he kissed her on stage. It was a gut-wrenching moment, one that twists my insides just thinking about it. I thought I knew everything I could about Jordy, evenin such a short amount of time. But when he kissed her, it was like seeing her take off her mask. The moment stole everything I felt for her these past few weeks. It explains the chill between us these last few days. It explains the phone call and the way she pretended I was no one.
As if everything we’ve been through was nothing. I mean, she didn’t even push him away when he kissed her in front of everyone.
I feel like a total idiot, and not just with Jordy, but with everything. Alexander Winslow basically spelled out how he’s performing a takeover of this town, and it all started with The Till. Now he has Lock & Key and the Lahoma Hotel.
If he can charm Bernie, the fiercest defender of this town, then no one else is safe. What other businesses is he after?
How much did Jordy know while she warmed my bed? Is this just a fucking game to her?
I drop Jordy’s things on the front porch and pause as I breathe in the cool night air. It’s cool enough that I know tomorrow will be frosty, though it doesn’t snow in these parts. Not like it did in Oregon. I don’t miss living in the snow, not with the amount of shoveling I had to do, or the way it killed off the crops if we didn’t cover them in time. But I do miss the blanket of white that seemed to wash everything clean, allowing for a blank slate to start again.
I need that now.
Why am I always the last to know when it comes to women? Because it isn’t just Jordy who blindsided me.
I wish I could go back in time, back before Sasha left, so I could recognize the signs. Maybe if I’d been a better partner, things would have been different. If I’d noticed that she was unhappy, that she was falling apart. Her moving into her parents’ house should have been a wake-up call. The way she could barely look at Lottie? That should have been the alarm. IfI’d only talked with her about it, maybe she would have revealed her struggle. Maybe I could have helped her through it.
Instead, I pushed her away. Once I realized she wanted nothing to do with our daughter, I wanted nothing to do with her. I mean, what kind of person hates children?
