Page 117 of Ransom

"Wait, what?"

She smiles, but it's more in reaction to what's going on in her head than to me. "Jonas proposed to help me out of a bad situation. The falling-in-love part came after."

"That's... different." I didn't know shit like that still happened. Again, maybe it's a rich person thing. And what kind of bad situation was she in? He had to have been pretty serious to make her agree to marry.

"He actually proposed because he was madly in love with you. It just took you a little longer to love him back," Becca corrects, poking one finger into Janey's thigh. Janey's cheeks heat, but she doesn't deny it. There is a lot more to that story, I'm sure of it.

Normally, I stay out of people's business. If people want to tell you something, fine, but there's no need to go digging. But I have so many questions. Maybe I'm nosier than I thought.

Or maybe this town's so small that I don't have to be nosy. Everybody knows everyone else's business already. Though it's become clear the last few days that everyone has secrets.

And those secrets can rock the very foundation of your existence.

I don't have time to think about that right now. I don't have the capacity to process what my father did. It's not just that he encouraged Ransom to leave. It's that he kept it a secret from me every single day after that. Every meal, every hug, and every conversation feels like a lie now, and that doesn't sit well.

It's not just Ransom I have to forgive for breaking my heart. It's my dad.

"So," Janey leans forward, "how's it been reconnecting with Ransom? It seems like a lot's happening pretty fast."

Fast? Try warp speed. I run my fingers through my hair. How much do I share? I could keep my shit close to my chest and stick to small talk. I could gloss over everything that's happened. I don't know these women. They don't know me. They haven't earned my story.

But they're close with Ransom. They're his family. And honestly, maybe a little bit of outside perspective would be helpful. "Yeah, it's been fast. It kind of feels like a rollercoaster ride."

"But a good one? Do you like rollercoasters?" Janey asks. "I'm more of a Ferris wheel kind of girl. I like slow and steady."

"And yet you married a man you didn't love?"

"In a matter of days!" Becca says, laughing. "She's totally a rollercoaster girl. She just doesn't want to admit it."

Janey scowls at Becca but doesn't argue with her. There would be no point. She married a man a few days after he proposed, and they weren't even a couple. Suddenly, I'm feeling a little better about my situation.

"I don't know if it's good. I forgave him, after twenty-five years of hating him, for breaking my heart. Then the next day, he drops a bomb on me."

"What kind of bomb?" Becca asks, tapping her lower lip with her finger.

"How much do you know about our history?"

"Just a bit. That he loved you when you guys were kids. And that he'd been trying to buy your garage. And that he still loves you."

She says it so casually, so matter of fact, it steals my breath for a second. "Right. Well, yes, he left. But he did it in a really shitty way. He said and did things that guaranteed I would never want to see him again. He did it in a way that kind of… broke me. For a little while anyway."

Janey makes a soft sound. "What do you mean by broke you?"

"He told me he loved me. That I was his person. Then that night, he said it was all a lie. That I was pathetic and stupid to think his feelings were real. That I was convenient, that's all." Staring out at that bench, I give them the rest of it. The truth that I'm only coming to understand. "And it made me believe that I was unlovable. That no one would want me."

The low growl startles me, but the fact that it comes from Janey completely stuns me. She stands, fists clenched at her sides, fury all over her face. "That… that… total shit pickle! I can't believe he would do something like that."

Becca's eyes nearly pop out of her head, and we exchange glances. It should be funny. She's small, well compared to Becca and me, and seems very quiet and refined.

And yet she just called Ransom a shit pickle.

I can't decide if I should laugh or move away from her, out of the danger zone.

But Janey's on a roll. "That's so wrong. How could he do that to someone he loves? That's not the man I know." Her face falls, devastation written all over it. "I thought he was a better man than that."

Oh crap. I feel like I just told a kid that there's no Santa. And she has the wrong idea.

"Heisa better man than that. He finally told me why he did it." It's our history, but I can't have these women thinking badly of him. Because now, after understanding why he did what he did, why he destroyed me, I can't blame him. I don't really care what they think of me.

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