Page 37 of Make You Love Me

“Thank you, but I have to go. I’m sorry Jacob. It was nice to see you again.”

I’ve been around Jacob a few times and he’s never made me feel like he wanted me for anything more than a friend. So, when he touched me in the gazebo, I was a little stunned, to say the least. Hearing him say "Ethel didn't mention anything" has me knowing exactly who pushed him to try something with me. I knew her being okay with me and Greyson was too good to be true.

I don’t even wait for his reply before I book it through the house and up to my room, avoiding Ethel and Jacob’s family.

Hours pass and I only receive a single text response from him. Not a phone call, just one single text.

Greyson:I just need time to think.

I know he’s saying he needs some time to cool off, but how long is that? By now, he must have several unread texts and at least a half a dozen missed calls from me. How can he not even give me a moment to explain what he thinks he saw?

Ughhhh!

I yell my frustrations into my pillow for what feels like the hundredth time tonight. I’m exhausted. My stomach is in knots and my head is pounding. Not only from the fear that Greyson won’t let me explain, but from the berating I got from Ethel after I abruptly disappeared while we still had guests.

Did she know Greyson was there? She went inside moments before it all happened. She must get alerts from the front gate opening. Geez, I know she’s manipulative, but I didn’t think she was this evil.

“Please answer your phone, Grey, please!” I pray to the sky above as his phone rings out and I hear his voicemail.

I lay there with bloodshot eyes staring at the ceiling. I'm mindlessly twirling my charm bracelet when I hear my phone vibrate from the nightstand. I look at the clock, it’s ten o’clock at night. Maybe he just needed time to calm down.

I answer the phone quickly. “Hello.”

“Lottie? Hi, it’s Sally.”

I sit up quickly. Why is she calling me at ten p.m.? Sally has been with us since I was a child. Gigi and Papa hired her when I was little to help around the house, so they could spend as much time with me as possible. She’s been with us ever since. She’s like a great aunt in a way. Always at family dinners and holidays. She doesn’t have family here in the United States, so we treat her as a member of ours. She has her own living quarters in my great-grandparents’ house, so she helps a ton with Papa especially now since Gigi is no longer with us and I’m in Nori Beach.

“Hi, Sally, what’s going on?”

“Hun, it’s your Papa… He just got taken away in an ambulance.”

“What? What happened? Why? Is he okay?” I'm diving out of my bed to get clothes on, hanging on every word she says.

“They think he’s having a heart attack. They took him to New York Presbyterian hospital.”

“I'm on my way. I’ll get there as soon as I can. Thank you, Sally.” I hang up and frantically throw some things into an overnight bag. I stare at the large stuffed pink unicorn from our first date, if you could even call it that. Unfortunately, it's too big to take on the plane with me, so I’m forced to leave it behind.

I run out of my room and run into Ethel’s, finding it empty. I make my way downstairs and hear muffled voices coming from the study.

I hear a man’s voice as I approach the wooden double doors that are slightly ajar.I stand just outside the door to listen to what they’re saying.

“It’s not right, and you know it,” I hear the male voice say.

“Oh please, James. It’s inevitable,” I hear the shrill of Ethel's voice. “I needed to make arrangements, and this is one of them. I can't let everything fall to shit, I have a reputation to uphold.”

“This is wrong, you’ve gone too far,” he says, and I hear footsteps approach the door. Shit.

I decide to make my presence known and knock on the door as it slowly opens.

I nod at Ethel and look towards James. “I need a ride to the airport.” I then glance at Ethel. “Papa was taken by ambulance to the hospital. They think he’s having a heart attack.”

The expression on her face doesn’t falter or show any emotion. Of course, it wouldn’t. She doesn’t care about anyone but herself. I don’t think she shed a tear when Gigi, her own mother, died.

“Very well, James, can you please drive Charlotte and please make sure she gets on the next flight out?” she asks.

I'm in utter shock. She isn’t coming with me?

“You’re not coming?” I blurt in pure frustration.

---