“Oh, the famous Blade, huh?” I asked, sounding a little more sarcastic than I meant to. I’d heard all about him throughout my life. Almost every story my mom told about her childhood and teen years began with, ‘Me and Blade’.
“Nice to meet you,” he said, with an outstretched hand.
Why was he here?
“You, too,” I replied. I looked from him to Mom for an answer, but neither of them said anything, they just smiled at me.
“I’m going to my room,” I mumbled, shuffling down the hallway with my confusion. I knew my parents would start dating other people sooner or later, but this guy? He looked a lot tougher than anyone I’d ever seen my prim and proper mother hang out around. He seemed nice enough, it was just weird.
Whatever. It was none of my business what she did, I finally decided. If she was happy and distracted by this guy, then that meant she’d wouldn’t be on my ass as much. Eighteen was just around the corner, and then I could do anything I wanted, no matter what she said.
After throwing my backpack on my bed, I pulled out my phone and texted Finn.
-Okay, it’s official. We’re doing it on my birthday. Be ready!
My heart skipped a beat as I hit the send button. When I saw the three little dots that indicated he was writing me back, I held my breath as I waited for his message to appear.
-I’ve been ready for a LONG time! Can’t wait, Mags. Xoxo
“Okay, then,” I announced to my empty room as I looked around at all the things I’d collected over the years — a lifetime of things that represented me at every age.
So much pink it looked like the Easter bunny lived there.
It was time to move on. To grow up.
I laid back on my bed and stared up at the ceiling, tears forming in my eyes.
All I’d ever known was Savannah.
And all I’d ever wanted to do was leave.
I reached into my backpack and pulled out the plane ticket I had hidden there. I ran my fingers over the thick paper, reading the words over and over. By the time anyone noticed I was gone, I’d already be in Hawaii.
I’d been planning this for weeks.
My own little secret. I hadn’t told a soul, not even Finn or Tara. The last thing I needed was Finn getting all sappy before I left town. I needed one more thing from him before I began the rest of my life.
Using Dad’s credit card, I’d purchased the ticket online, knowing he never looked at his credit card statement before paying the bill.
I just wanted out. And once I formed a plan, it was easy.
I’d go to Maui and just disappear. I didn’t want to be Magnolia Rose Davenport anymore. I wanted to be someone else, start a new life, in a place where nobody knew my parents and I could create a life that I wanted to lead, not live my life according to someone else’s rules.
I’d get a job, find a place to stay, maybe camp out on the beach in the meantime, then once I was settled, I’d go to school and get that marketing degree and start my own design firm, just like I’d always dreamed, only on my terms — it was going to be paradise.
I could just be me.
Whoever that turned out to be.
Chapter 40
DEREK
After Beddingham’s wife died, he moved out of their sprawling Antebellum plantation and into a three-million dollar townhouse just off Forsyth Park. He loved to have meetings there, because the veranda in the back was like a bricked off fortress from the rest of the world.
This is what a trapped animal feels like, I thought, as I parked my car on the street in front. I hated coming here, but I had no choice.
I felt like I’d had no choices in my life for a very long time.
After being practically thrown into an arranged marriage with Rose by our families, we’d both done as was expected of us. None of it had been easy.
Getting married right out of high school was not in my plans.
Having a kid so soon wasn’t either, and I was shocked, to say the least, when Maggie was born.
Medical school was the last thing I wanted to think about, too, but I went because my father had arranged it and insisted I needed a proper occupation if I was going to be a family man.
Because I wasn’t interested in any of that, I was never any good at it.
I was a terrible doctor. I was a terrible father and husband, too.
Fuck, I’m a terrible human being in general, but I can’t help but wonder how things would have turned out for me if I’d gotten to follow my own dreams and live my own life. I always wanted to be an airline pilot. I hated myself for being weak and staying here and listening to them, living out the life they planned for me.
That’s why I hated Blade so much. I was fucking jealous. He’d gotten out. Hell, look at him, he’d turned into a real man. He looked tough, and that right hook told me he was strong as fuck. I was furious and humiliated and my fucking face still stung from his punch, but goddamn was I envious, too.
“Fucker,” I muttered to myself as I walked up the stone stairs that led to Beddingham’s front door.
Jasper, his butler, opened the door with a formal nod and a smile.
“Mr. Davenport, they’re waiting for you out back,” he said.
“Thank you, Jasper,” I replied. I’d always wondered why Jasper stayed. Anson was a bastard to be around.
I walked through the stately mansion, past the wide wooden staircase, past Anton’s tomb-like study full of heavy wooden antique pieces and hundreds of books, the shadows of past residents lingering in the air, endless flames flickering in the stone fireplace.
The entire house was surely haunted, with unexplainable creaks and other
