Page 95 of Whisking It All

“Like hell you will,” Ethan snapped.

Her step faltered, but she kept her eyes on Jamie. “Let me come with you,” she said. Then, softly, just for him, “He doesn’t get a say in who I—”

She broke off and Jamie hung on that pause. Say it, princess.

But she didn’t.

Jamie swallowed around the lump in his throat and turned back to Ethan. “I know you don’t believe me, but I’m so fucking sorry. When you’re ready to talk, I’m here.” He turned to Tessa, her big raven-dark eyes shimmering with frustration and something feral, like a caged animal. The words were inadequate, but that didn’t make them any less true. “I’m sorry.”

As he pulled out of the driveway, Tessa still standing in the driveway in shock and Ethan staring down Jamie’s car like he could make it spontaneously combust with his eyes, Jamie had the distinct feeling that he was leaving something vital behind, but whether it was Ethan or Tessa—or both—he couldn’t be sure.

∞∞∞

Tessa stood next to her father and watched as Jamie drove away, wishing she was in the car with him. He didn’t want you to go with him. He left you here in this mess.

Once Jamie’s car was out of sight, Ethan bent to pick up Tessa’s bag, but she snatched it before he even reached the handle. “I don’t need your help,” she snapped, cradling the bag against her chest.

“You’re mad at me?” Ethan asked incredulously.

“You punched him!” she said, her voice going high and shrill.

Ethan scraped his hand over his mouth, the anger draining from his face. In that moment, he seemed so old, so tired. “Why’d you really come here, Tessa?” he asked her softly, a wounded look settling in his eyes. “The money’s been yours, no strings attached, from the beginning. I’ll sign the trust over to you today.”

“It’s not about the money,” she said, but the accusation felt like oil on her skin, a shame she couldn’t wash away.

“If you wanted to hurt me, there were easier ways than spending the last month and a half coming between me and my best friend.”

Her mouth fell open as she struggled to make sense of his words. “You think I did any of this to hurt you?”

“What am I supposed to think? Who knows how long you’ve been lying to me?” He shook his head. “I raised you better than this.”

“You didn’t raise me at all,” she spat.

Hurt flashed in his eyes and she instantly regretted the words, but it was too late. Besides, he’d hurt her, too. Between the hurt and regret and the constant refrain of ‘run, run, run’ echoing in her brain like a drumbeat, she couldn’t think of how to fix it.

“Right,” he said after a minute, turning away from her and stalking towards his truck.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he said, pulling open the door to his truck.

And then she was alone again, feeling like her chest was going to cave in as yet another person she loved drove away from her that day. She glanced around the front yard of her father’s house, a place she had started to think of as home.

Until I ruined it all.

She sank down until she sat on the top step of the porch stairs and pulled out her phone. Her hands shook as she dialed. Jamie answered on the first ring.

“Are you alright?” he asked, concern in every word.

“Come away with me,” she said when he answered.

“We can’t run away from this,” he said, his voice raw on the other end of the phone. “Ethan will come around.”

“Do you really believe that?”

“I don’t know.” There was a long pause before he continued, “I have to believe it.”

“Or we could go.”

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