Page 84 of Mine to Keep

Chapter17

“I’ll see you tonight.”

“Okay,” Bryn said.

Jamison stood behind her in the master bathroom and squeezed her shoulders. “Feel free to stay for as long as you like. Just lock up when you leave.”

She turned and kissed him on the lips. Hard.

“Hmm. That was nice.” He patted her bottom. “Have a good day.” He turned and disappeared into the other room.

Bryn felt bad that she couldn’t bring herself to repeat the sweet words that Jamison had said to her earlier, but he kept telling her that it was okay. That if she didn’t feel the same way or wasn’t ready to say it, he understood.

But how could that be?

He had to be hurt that she’d just sat there and stared at him and then got out of bed to take a shower.

However, the reality was, she felt exactly the same way. Yet fear prevented her from telling him that she loved him. She wasn’t afraid of him but her past. She needed to tell him the truth. If he could handle that and still love her, then they had a future.

She raced from his bedroom to the kitchen. “Jamison?” she called. “Where are you?”

No answer.

She opened the door to the garage and found he’d already climbed behind the steering wheel of his Jeep.

He jumped from his vehicle. “What’s wrong?” He took her into his arms. “Are you okay? Is Zadie okay?”

“Yes. We’re both fine,” she managed between ragged breaths. “We need to talk.”

“About?”

“My past,” she said. “I don’t want to keep things from you. I love you.”

He cupped her face and smiled. “I love you, too.” He kissed her lips.

“You’re not listening to me.”

“I heard you,” he said. “You want to tell me something about your past. We can talk about it when I get back tonight.”

“It’s not going to be easy for you to hear.”

“We can handle anything.” He pressed his lips against her forehead. “As long as we’re honest.”

She nodded.

He winked. “It’s going to be okay.” He climbed back into his Jeep and turned the key. He backed out of the garage and waved as he drove off, leaving her standing there.

She wasn’t so sure that being honest would make everything okay, but she was willing to give it a try.

Jamison satin front of the computer in his brother’s office and stared at the Facebook page for a Brenda Thompson Perish. Despite her white, spiky hair and anorexic figure, he could have sworn she was Bryn Tinsley.

Not her sister. But Bryn.

Fuck.

He did another quick search on the internet and found that she had a sister named Anna and her father, Herold, was alive and well and living in California. They’d both posted angry rants about her late husband and his family and how they blamed them for their beloved Brenda’s death.

“Jamison? Where the hell are you?” his brother Rhett called.

---