Page 81 of Say You Remember Me
Grant and I still deserved our fresh start in Eden Falls, and I wasn’t going to mess that up all because I’d gotten caught up in a fairytale and my feelings had been bruised in the process.
I took a deep breath, then stepped back from the mirror.
I could do this. Iwoulddo this.
One more day as Ian’s fake fiancée, and then I’d be more careful.
Professional.
Detached.
Because even if listening to Slade’s words had sucked, last night had at least made one thing abundantly clear: I didn’t know Ian as well as I thought I did. And as much as I wanted to believe he’d changed in the ways he claimed he had, I couldn’t afford to let myself be blind to the truth.
Not again.
I had a son to think about.
A life to rebuild.
And getting caught up in Ian’s charm, no matter how genuine it seemed, wasn’t worth the risk.
I turned on the shower, resigned to facing the day. After today, I’d guard my heart more carefully. I’d make sure to keep Ian at a distance where he couldn’t hurt me.
Because I couldn’t afford to be careless this time. Not when Grant was counting on me to get this right.
I was curling my hair—the final step before heading out to face Ian—when my phone buzzed against the bathroom counter. My sister Lexi’s name lit up the screen.
Frowning, I set the curling iron down and grabbed the phone. Lexi never called this early. Was she hoping for more details about my fake relationship with Ian?
Probably, since my last text to her and Juliette had been a picture of me in that gorgeous red dress from last night, accompanied by a playful,Wish me luck!
My stomach twisted at the thought of explaining how the evening had actually gone. The night I’d hoped would dazzle had ended in disaster instead. But I couldn’t ignore Lexi’s call, so I answered, pressing the phone to my ear.
“Hey, Lexi,” I said, forcing a lightness I didn’t feel. “What’s up?”
“Maddie.” Her voice was tight, panicked, and that single word made my heart lurch.
“What’s wrong?” My voice rose.
Has something happened with her baby?
“It’s Dad.” She sucked in a shaky breath. “He had a heart attack.”
The words slammed into me like a freight train, and my entire body went cold. “What?” My knees wobbled, threatening to buckle beneath me as my stomach churned violently. “Dad had a heart attack? Is he okay? Is he alive?”
“He’s alive,” she rushed to say, but her voice was trembling, shaky with emotion. “Sorry—I should’ve led with that. Yes, he’s okay as far as I know.”
“Okay, good.” A small wave of relief crashed over me at her reassurance that he was alive. “What happened?”
“He went out for a jog this morning,” she said quickly, “and Juliette’s mom was driving past and found him on the sidewalk on the corner. She noticed he was struggling and was able tohelp him in time for them to life-flight him to the hospital in Syracuse. He’s in surgery now.”
“He’s in surgery?” I closed my eyes, a wave of nausea sweeping through me. “Is he stable? Is he—will he be okay?”
“They don’t know yet,” Lexi said, her voice cracking. “I just heard about this a minute ago from Juliette and Easton, but I guess it depends on what they find. Noah and I are heading to Syracuse now to be there when he gets out of surgery.”
“How can this even be happening?” I asked, my breath coming in shallow gasps, the edges of my vision darkening.
My dad.
