Page 16 of Free to Run
“Damnit, Alison. This is hard enough to navigate for all of us!” Cassidy yells. She struggles to pull herself to her feet before gravity and anger have her leaning forward to place her hands on her desk. Her next words are lethal. “Can’t you get over riding his cock, if only to help for once instead of driving a further wedge into this family?”
Whoa. Wow. I’m having difficulty breathing. I stand to leave the office, but before I reach the door, I say, “You didn’t see his face.”
“When, Ali?” Em asks.
I turn around and open my mouth to speak. No words come out.
Cassidy sits down. She and Em exchange inscrutable glances.
“At dinner the other night. Everyone else looked so incredibly happy. Thrilled. There was so much love surrounding you, yet Keene was so withdrawn, detached. I was afraid he was going to say something to hurt you, Cass. Knowing what I do now, I know his discomfort was coming from a place of fear. But that night…?” I shake my head as my words trail off.
Em stands and walks to me. “Ali, you can’t always be the one to protect us.”
I focus on a spot on the refinished floor. “I guess you all don’t need me to.” Despite the fact that it’s my job and what my heart tells me to do.
Cassidy shakes her head and says, “Come here, Ali. I’m not standing up again.”
I shake my head.
Cassidy sighs, her frustration evident. “I know it’s part of your nature to protect us, but Keene’s not going to hurt me. He never will. We need to figure out a way to make this family work, but you don’t need to be my bodyguard.”
I nod, emotional to the extreme. I’m turning to leave when Cassidy’s voice stops me again.
“Ali.” I keep my back to her because I know what’s coming. I brace myself for it by placing one hand on the doorjamb. “Do you still have his number, to call him to apologize?”
“This one requires a face-to-face, Cassidy. I wasn’t only harsh, I was borderline cruel.” I drop my head in shame. “I’ll rearrange my schedule. I’ll meet him tomorrow to apologize in person.”
“Why not today?” The disappointment in her words is clear. She’s upset this won’t be resolved immediately.
Exhaling, I turn. “Because I have an event in the city I’m attending with Jared. I made this promise a long time ago, and since I’ve already let one side of this family down, I’d prefer not to let the whole family down in twenty-four hours.”
Turning away, the pounding in my ears prevents me from hearing them try to call me back.
I have a party to get ready for, even though I’m not in a party mood.
* * *
I thinkI’m a bit starstruck.
Holding on to Jared’s arm loosely, we glide through the 600 people in attendance at the Fair Harvard Annual Reunion at the Plaza Hotel. There are even faces in the crowd I recognize from the news. I nod as I pass by someone whose wedding we’d helped plan. He squeezes his wife’s arm, and they wave me over. I give a helpless smile over my shoulder and walk farther into the fray. Unfortunately, I don’t look where I’m going and end up running into a chest full of ribbons.
“Oh, excuse me,” I blurt out, embarrassed.
“You should look where you’re going in a crowd like this, Ali,” the chest underneath the ribbons rumbles, sounding amused.
I look up into a set of warm gray eyes. Surprise causes me to drop Jared’s arm, and I’m immediately engulfed in a one-armed embrace by Major Colby Hunt, an old friend from college. “Colby! What are you doing here? It’s wonderful to see you,” I murmur in his ear.
Colby’s breath tickles my ear when he responds. “You too. I wish I would’ve known you were going to be here. Makes work more interesting.”
“You’re working?” I ask, confused.
Keeping his arm wrapped around my waist, he nods in the direction of a political figure so prolific, so revered, her name hits the front page every time something newsworthy is mentioned.
“Temporary assignment,” he says quietly, still close to my ear to prevent being overheard.
“Since when does she require protection?” I murmur back.
“The answer to that is on a need-to-know basis only,” Colby reprimands, gently.
