Page 29 of I Choose You
“I was given a plus-one, and I invited someone to be my date.”
“Well,” she huffed. “Isn’t that lovely.”
“Mom, I have to go, but I’ll see you in a few days.”
The call ended.
Shit. I stared at my phone in my hands, wondering who I could call on such short notice to be my date to this wedding. I had a few girlfriends who would happily take me up on the opportunity to attend one of the largest weddings in Connecticut’s political sphere, but having a woman with me wouldn’t deter my mother, or Will, from harassing me. Any of the guy friends I had were mostly Will’s friends, so that wouldn’t work. I didn’t even know why I said it, but now that I’d told that stupid lie, I had to figure out a solution.
I heard a throat clear behind me. My heart sank. Why did conversations with my mother keep making me forget my surroundings? I placed a practiced smile on my face before turning around to face Reid.
“Sorry about that,” I laughed. “My mom.” I waved my phone around like that would help explain what I was talking about. Cringing internally, I put my phone in my pocket again.
“Yeah, I got that.” Reid was back to scowling at me. He was giving me whiplash, making my already frazzled brain work overtime to try to figure out his moods. He went fromamused to grumpy to intense to annoyed so fast it felt like I was on a roller coaster. I’d never met anyone who didn’t even try to mask their emotions. Some were better than others. Some perfected it a long time ago. But everyone I knew kept their cards close to their chest. Not Reid. Every emotion he felt was splayed out for the world to see.
“She’s still on this kick to get me back with my ex, and now I need to find a date to a wedding this weekend.”
“Just don’t go. Problem solved.” He shrugged, leaning back against the kitchen island.
“Family obligation. You don’t want to be my plus-one, do you?” I asked, my brows raised hopefully.
A look of absolute horror crossed his face. “Not a chance.”
“No. No, I was kidding. It’ll be fine. It’ll give me something to do today to take my mind off… everything else.” I looked around the space again, not daring to look at Reid. “Well, thanks again for getting this set up.” I made a mental note to stop by Wyatt’s garage to talk to him about the rent payments.
* * *
Sweat coated my hands even after rubbing them on my jeans. The small room held only a metal table and four chairs. I knew I had nothing to be nervous about, but my body didn’t seem to get that memo. My leg was bouncing erratically, and I had to grip my knee to make it stop. Officer Wilder, as he was right now, was sitting across from me.
“It’s natural to be nervous, Claire. This isn’t the… coziest of rooms. I’m sorry about that. But I just need to get your statement for the case,” he said.
“Thank you. Um, how do you want me to start?”
“Let’s start with the easy questions. Can you tell me your name and address for the record?”
“Claire DeLuca. My address is… well, I can give you my parents’ address in Connecticut, or do you mean when the incident happened? I was staying at the Cove’s End Motel while I was in town for a project. But I relocated as of today.” Luke’s brow rose, but he stayed silent, waiting for me to continue. “I don’t know the address, but I’m staying at your brother’s house.”
Luke’s gaze snapped to mine from where he was taking notes, his eyes wide with surprise.
“Reid’s having you stay at his house?”
“No, sorry, other brother,” I laughed. “Wyatt agreed to let me stay at his place since he’s at Maeve’s all the time.”
“Ah. Okay. Can you take me through the events from yesterday? Take your time. And if you need a break at any time, just let me know.”
I told Luke everything that had happened from the moment I walked in to when Reid bundled me into his arms and took me home. To his house.
A soft knock sounded on the door, and a pretty redheaded woman popped her head in.
“I’m sorry to interrupt. You have a call, Luke. Mr. Therrien. He’s called twice.”
“Sorry. He’s a defense attorney on another case. If I don’t take this, he’ll try to tell the judge that we didn’t give him ample time to review the evidence properly. It’ll only be a minute,” Luke said, excusing himself to take the call.
“Do you need a water or a coffee or anything?” the womanasked.
“A water would be great, thank you.”
She came back a minute later with a bottle of water for me.
