“It’s okay,” he assured, reaching forward to pat my shoulder. “Hey, you didn’t tell me you and Dan Sutton were an item! I have to admit, I was surprised. Lucky son of a bitch.”
Seriously?
“We’re not,” I ground out, fury shoving aside the sorrow temporarily. I thought Dad was being a jackass by saying it. Now that I knew Dan was actually behind the misinformation campaign, he would receive an earful. “He’s my landlord. That’s it.”
“Oh...thank God!” he laughed, running a hand through his dark blond hair. “So, do you want to do dinner? I owe you a drink.”
More like he owed me a solid ten-foot personal space bubble at all times.
“I’m sorry, Pete,” I replied. “I’m not interested in dating right now.”
It wasn’t a lie as much as it felt like it was after kissing Luke. Christ, I’d climbed on top of him like a bull at a rodeo. I felt my cheeks flush at the thought and was disgusted with myself all over again.
“Oh...oh I’m sorry! Are you still married?” he breathed. “I’m sorry! Lynette made it seem like you were-”
“My husband passed,” I murmured. “But I’m not dating.”
“Not even Barrett?” he asked, reaching out to stroke my shoulder again. “He seems into you. He’s been watching us this whole time and is on his way over right now.”
“Nope.” At that, I dipped out of his hold and hurried into the crowd, holding my head down to blend in.
I made it a block in the clear, hopefully losing Luke if he really was headed towards us. I made a sharp left down a side street, and with the last bit of energy I had, I pulled into a jog, thankful I’d worn sneakers and shorts rather than the dress and heels Mom insisted on.
Five minutes later, I was out of breath, but in front of my parents’ house, groaning at Dan’s red corvette parked outside. I grabbed the spare key from the window box and was inside before I knew it, slamming and locking the door in my wake.
Being inside the house without my parents was bizarre, my former home feeling like anything but. The house was still too formal for little old Briar, the parlor adorned with vintage furniture that was great on the eye but not the behind, mainly existing as some weird form of furniture artwork.
I strolled to the family room and didn’t fare much better. The sofas in there were equally stiff except for Dad’s recliner that I wouldn’t touch. Just looking brought back bad memories of him hollering at me from it as I left with Luke for a date.
I headed upstairs, hoping Mom had set up a guest room, not that anyone visited. God knows I wasn’t welcomed for over a decade, and I was their daughter. But with Linc spending the night a few times since we arrived, I was carefully optimistic.
I hadn’t been upstairs since I left all those years before, the once-familiar halls the same wallpaper I remembered, but narrower and more confining, more like a jail cell than ever before with their stripes reaching the ceiling.
I turned the handle to my old room and was surprised to see it was relatively the same as I remembered, my white daybed still pushed against the wall. It made me a little teary-eyed, remembering the last night I’d spent in that bed, so excited to set out on my latest adventure with Luke in the morning. Little did I know the heartbreak that would follow. The pain. The betrayal.
I shuffled over and sat, the aged metal squeaking in protest as I did. It was so small, the twin-sized bed perfect for a teenager, but not a grown woman.
I imagined Linc curling up in the space, full of as much wonder as I’d once had. I wanted him to stay that way, to soak up all the love everyone had for him, even Dad.
I smiled at the thought as I nestled under the covers, happy that at least my son would have a good childhood. It was the first bit of joy I’d felt since laughing under the stars with Luke, the realization bringing the pain back.
The pain of knowing I had to stay as far away from him as possible.
Josie Eleven Years Earlier
“Josephine, you’re a disgrace to the Roberts’ name!”
It wasn’t the first time I’d heard the line from my father, and I was sure it wouldn’t be the last. It was, however, the first time he’d struck me, but unlike his insult, it would be the last time.
My face throbbed, a welt aching with each heartbeat. Mom would freak when she saw it, though I knew she’d take his side. She always did anymore, seeming to forget how he treated her in the past.
At the same time, I knew Luke was in far more pain than I could imagine, his lip split and his body battered. I needed to get to him. He needed me.
I was stuck in a nightmare, though it wouldn’t be for long. As soon as we were home, I was packing a bag and never looking back.
“What the hell were you thinking?” he demanded, locking eyes with me in the rearview mirror, the brown irises seeming rimmed with red. “Did we not teach you right from wrong? Did we not take you to Mass every week? Why do you always make stupid decisions?”
“We were going to walk a canyon — not sell our souls to the devil, Dad.”
“I don’t care if you were going to walk to the moon, Josephine! You don’t belong out with a Barrett, ever!”
That’s what it was all about. He couldn’t stand not having control. “I’m an adult. I do what I want.”
He gripped the wheel, shooting me a glance I knew meant I would have received another hand to the face if I wasn’t in the back seat. “You’re not staying here any longer. You’re going to California.”
California? Was he crazy? Did he forget I was an
