Page 174 of Need You To Choose Me

No, I didn’t think she would leave.

I didn’t know what her plan was, but she wouldn’t leave until she got what she came for.

Whatever that might be.

Clara Parker was like a tornado.

There was no stopping her once she set her mind on something. It didn’t matter what destruction she caused in her wake or the lives she destroyed.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

BLAKE

“Levi, it’s time for bed.”

“But Daaaaad,” Levi groans, clearly unhappy.

“Dad nothing. Go up and brush your teeth. I’ll be there in five to check on you.”

“Fine,” he huffs, crossing his arms over his chest as he marches up the stairs.

Running my hand over my face, I grab the glass he left on the table and take it to the kitchen, my gaze darting toward the window and the house across the street that’s completely in the dark.

Fucking hell. Where is she?

Just then, my phone buzzes, and my heart kicks up a notch.

Savannah.

It had to be?—

“Hey, have you heard from Sav today? I’ve tried calling her, but she hasn’t been picking up her phone,” Becky says, a trace of worry clear in her voice.

My fingers grip the phone tighter, my jaw clenching.

“No, I haven’t seen her today.”

Where the hell are you, Savannah?

“Dammit. I really needed to talk to her after—” The words die on her lips before she finishes, an icy chill running down my spine.

“After what?”

“I…”

“After what, Rebecca? Does it have to do something with her mom?”

“How—” Becky curses loudly. “Shit, she was there, wasn’t she?”

“Waiting for us on the porch when we got back.”

My statement is followed by more cursing coming from the other side of the line. “I knew something was off when she came to grab coffee, but she didn’t say a word. But then I saw her talking to somebody in front of Reading Nook, but by the time I realized what was going on, Sav had already run away. I hoped she went home.”

“Fucking hell.” I run my hand over my jaw, feeling the tension growing behind my temples. “No, she’s not home. And last night, she kicked me out before we could talk about it.” No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t erase Savannah’s empty face from my mind. “I’ve never seen her so… detached.”

The woman with the biggest heart I knew, the one who had a smile and a kind word for everybody, was completely devoid of emotion.

Knowing what I knew about her mother, I couldn’t really blame her, but dammit, I wanted to be there for her.

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