Page 37 of Sacrifice
“Listen, I know I don’t know everything that happened between you and Atlas, but I know enough. It’s not fair to you or to Corbin to compare him to your ex.”
She’s right. Although, there were a lot of red flags I overlooked. I chose to believe what he was telling me rather than listening to my intuition.
I don’t get those feelings when I’m around Corbin, though. There’s nothing in my mind or in my gut warning me to tread lightly.
Maybe she’s right, maybe I just need to trust him and see where it goes.
Makenna leaves me to get logged in for the day, warning me I’ll have a lot to get caught up on.
I hadn’t even been online or checked in on things. Corbin scooted out the door before Huxton woke up. I didn’t want him to find Corbin in my bed and ask questions I wasn’t prepared to answer yet. I was pleasantly surprised when I had an unexpected delivery in the form of breakfast show up.
Corbin ended up leaving, running home to clean up and stopping back with breakfast from Oh My Goodies. He didn’t stay long, sneaking in a kiss before saying he had to stop by his parents’ house.
After a long night of love making, we curled up in bed with nothing between us, and he opened up about why he decided to go into law enforcement.
He shared with me about his family background, how his mom had also moved to Arbor Creek with the hopes of a fresh start. Although our circumstances were vastly different, I couldn’t help but recognize how similar our paths were. We both knew what it was like to be betrayed by the people we loved. I admired her courage after all she’d gone through.
The way he described her, as this strong and nurturing woman, explained so much about why he is the way he is, especially in how he treats me and Huxton.
The rest of the day and into the afternoon flew by uneventfully. I was slammed with emails and messages to respond to, but I wasn’t complaining in the least because it kept me busy.
Makenna came up for air around lunch time and we ate together, before she took off back to her office to do more photo editing for clients.
It’s after four-thirty when I finally shut down my computer. My mom is meeting me at the house to drop off Huxton. She’s been helping me pick him up after school. Normally I will stop by her house on the way home, but tonight was a bit different from our routine since Atlas asked to switch his night with Huxton to tonight, leaving me with little time.
I didn’t want to bother Makenna on my way out, knowing how stressed she’s been these last few days. When we talked over lunch, I offered to take more off her plate, but she assured me I was doing enough by keeping a handle on her social media and schedule.
Corbin planned on stopping over for dinner, giving us a chance to spend time alone while Huxton was with his dad.
I step outside, locking up behind me while Makenna was hiding in her office. I didn’t want anyone showing up unannounced.
“Haelynn?” The voice coming from behind me catches me off guard. I spin on my heels, nearly falling against the side of the building.
My eyes land on Gage.
“Gage, hey. I’m sorry, I didn’t even see or hear you coming.”
“I’m sorry. Did I scare you? I wasn’t trying to.” He feigns innocence, shrugging his shoulders. It’s the condescending nature of his tone that throws me off.
“It’s okay…” I try to assure him and myself in the process. Something about this conversation isn’t sitting well with me.
“It’s Haelynn, right? Is that what scared you? Me calling you by your name?”
“No?” I question. “I didn’t hear you. Do you often sneak up on women?”
He steps back, holding his hands up and shakes his head.
“Listen, I’m not trying to freak you out, so I’m sorry if I did.” This time he sounds sincere, so I force myself to let it go. If Corbin trusts him, I should too.
“I have a question for you, and I’m hoping you can help clear this up and we can put it to rest. What do you know about me and my family?”
“Excuse me?”
“You had to have recognized my name, right? Gage Shaw… did that not raise any questions for you when Corbin introduced us?”
“I’m sorry, I’m not following,” I say, my brows furrow, looking around trying to piece this together.
“Your father is Marc Krate, right? Were you ever going to tell Corbin, or did that not seem like an important piece of detail to share when you showed up here?”
