Page 73 of Chasing Stars
As soon as my breathing is under control, I text Morgan.
Me:
It’s over with Miles.
She FaceTimes me immediately, holding one of her babies in a rocking chair.
“Geez, Jenna,” she gasps when she sees my puffy red face. “Are you okay? What the hell happened?”
So, I fill her in. I tell her how he told me he loves me, and dare I say I saw her swoon. Then I tell her how Erin showed up this morning, breaking up our lovefest.
“That bitch,” Morgan growls. “I can’t even believe that. And he just let you walk out the door?”
“Yes.” I wipe at the fresh tears streaming down my face. I fill her in on the photos in the attic, the article, and what happened when I confronted Miles. “Now I’m sitting in my car and dinner at Aunt Leona’s is in twenty minutes. I’m a complete disaster.”
“Oh, Jenna.” Morgan’s face crumbles. “I’m so sorry,” she whispers.
“What am I going to do, Morg? I can’t stay here.” I tremble. “I thought I could, but I need to get out of here as soon as possible.”
“Well, take some time to sleep on it. You can come here, I told you. We’ll help you get back on your feet.” Morgan’s reassurance immediately sets me at ease.I’m not alone.
I’m startled by a knock on the window, but it’s not Miles, it’s Jake.
“I've got to go, I’ll call you tomorrow, Morgan.” I sniffle and hang up.
I push open the car door.
“I thought that was you. Mom’s condo is on the other side,” Jake says cheerfully, but concern clouds his features when he sees me. “Jenna, what the hell? Are you okay? Move over.”
I push the clothes I’m lying on to the floor and scoot over, letting Jake slide into the backseat. “What did that asshole do to you?” Jake snarls.
“Do I need to go knock down his door? I know where he lives,” Jake growls, gripping the door handle.
I grab his arm. “No, Jake. Don’t.” I sit up and wipe my eyes. “I have to ask you something.” I chew on my lower lip, raw and chapped from tears and the cold air.
“Anything,” Jake says, shifting his body to face mine.
“Did you know that my dad died rescuing a kid—and that it was Miles?” I hold my breath waiting for his answer.
Jake sighs, defeated. “I did, yeah. I wasn’t sure you knew but that’s why I told you I didn’t want you to get hurt.” Jake looks down at his hands instead of at my face.
“I thought you were worried he was a serial dater,” I mumble, wiping my nose again. “It feels like everyone knew but me.”
Jake reaches into the pocket of his hoodie and pulls out a tissue.
I smirk, blowing my nose into a tissue. “You just carry these around with you? You really are the son of an Italian lady.”
“Hey, I have a cold.” He gives me half a smile. “Listen, I only knew because when your mom took you back home all those years ago, my mom was pissed about it. She knows Miles’s family and she wanted her to meet them. My mom thought shemight feel better if she saw that Uncle Nick saved a kid, helped a family. But your mom refused.”
“She was depressed forsolong. That’s all I can remember about that time in my life. My mom never got out of bed. She called out of work all the time. I got myself ready for school, made my own lunches. I would come home from school and crawl into bed with her and all we would do is cry.” I let out a breath and close my eyes. The memories are too painful to endure.
“I know. For a while, my mom and dad would call your mom, asking her to move you guys down here. I think my mom really hoped she would at least talk to the Corbins, but one day, your mom flipped out. She told my mom to leave her alone and never call her again…so she didn’t.” Jake reaches for my hand. “I was so happy to see you at Drexel. To know you were doing okay.”
I shrug helplessly. “I mean, I don’t know when things started to get better, but they did, eventually. My mom found a therapist. We both went. We healed. But she never wanted to come back here.” I sniffle. “So much so, she didn’t clean out the house atall. I guess that’s my job now.”
Jake is quiet for a moment before asking, “So, what happened with Miles?”
My eyes fill again, and I use the tissue to catch the falling tears, sniffling. “He knew. Ijustfound out that he’s suspected for weeks who I am. He never told me.”
