Page 65 of Don't Lie to Me

Martin laughed silently and shook his head. “You’re too smart for your own good most of the time, Emma. But sometimes, you’re really naïve.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

“If you think Jack is doing any of this, for any reason except for you, then you don’t know him.”

The admonishment settled like a weight in my gut. How did firing me help me? Why should I trust Jack? Was I wrong to be mad at him right now based on what Martin just said? A dozen questions flew through my mind as I watched Martin watching me, thinking about all of this.

“I wanted my job,” I said quietly, but doubt had already filled my mind.

Martin nodded and said nothing, but slid a thin brown envelope across the table to me. I opened it slowly and frowned. Inside was a letter of recommendation and my severance. It was enough to cover a year of my salary. I took the check out and held it in my shaking hands, feeling suddenly more disappointed in Jack than I had the day he fired me.

Would I ever meet a man who didn’t think they could just pay me off when things went south? Was this all I was worth to the men I invited into my life?

Tears pricked my eyes and I felt my nerves begin to boil in anger and disappointment.

Sliding the check across the table to Martin, I wiped the first fallen tears off my cheek. “I don’t want this.”

Marin sighed. “He’s trying to help, Emma.”

“And I’ve already got a bank account full of pay-off money. I don’t need to add his to it.”

“That’s not what this is. He’s trying to do the right thing, and even if you don’t agree with it, just know that he still cares about and wants to take care of you.”

I set my coffee mug down on the table, too harshly, and grabbed the attention of a few nearby customers. I cringed and looked at Logan. He was obliviously playing with cars on a padded foam mat and car ramp.

“You know what I’m getting really sick and tired of, Mr. Crawlson? People thinking they know how best to help me, but not telling me why I need the help in the first place.”

He nodded slowly, but reluctantly took the check. I pocketed the recommendation letter in my pocket even though I didn’t want Jack’s help at all with getting a new job.

Martin’s eyes softened and he took a sip of his coffee. “Has he ever told you about his parents?”

Curiosity bloomed in me. No, he hadn’t. I’d always wanted to know how they died, but too afraid to ask, worried he wouldn’t give me the answers. I shook my head.

“It was a house fire.” Martin set his cup down, and clasped his hands together in front of him on the table. I sat up straighter, intrigued and frightened at the same time. “Something about faulty electrical wiring during a kitchen remodel. They were all sleeping at the time, and Jack’s dad got Jack out and went back in for his mom.” I wiped away a tear, knowing how everything ended before Martin finished his story. “They never came out. Steven had to tackle Jack from running back into the house to look for them.”

“Oh my god.” I couldn’t even imagine what Jack must have gone through as a young teenager watching his parents burn alive, knowing he couldn’t get to them. No wonder why he was always freaking about me being safe. It explained so much.

“Steven always told me that after that, he watched this happy young kid go to an angry teenager, pissed off at the world, but once he got his head on straight, he shut off everything else around him. Steven always thought he was trying to prove to his parents that he could be the kid they wanted, and he worked hard at it. Almost obsessively so, until you came along. You’re his weak spot, Emma. The first person he has opened up to in almost twenty years.”

His hand reached across the table and held mine. His hands were a little bit wrinkly, showing his age at almost sixty, but they were firm and warm. Caring. “Don’t take the money, but don’t second guess for a single second that he doesn’t care about you. You may be the only thing hedoescare about.”

“Then why did he fire me?” It was all so confusing to me. I had to know. I had arightto know what went so horribly wrong between us.

Martin shook his head. “I can’t tell you that, but hopefully Jack will be able to tell you someday soon.”

I pressed my lips together, thinking about that for a minute. Did it even matter? Regardless of the reason, I wasn’t important enough to Jack for him to want me by his side when things got rough.

Finishing my coffee, I stood up and called Logan’s name, getting his attention.

“Thanks for the letter, Martin. Take care.” I waved good-bye as Logan and I walked back to our apartment. We turned the corner of the coffee shop and from outside I could see Martin talking on the phone, shaking his head and frowning, and looking at the refused severance check. I fought the urge to go back inside and grab the phone from him, knowing he was talking to Jack.

“I still think there’s something really shady going on.” Macy took another sip of her red wine and sat back down on my couch.

She was over for a girl’s night while Logan was out with Marcus again. If I wasn’t so stressed out from a lack of a job, and completely heartbroken over Jack, it could have actually been a nice vacation.

I had wanted to call Jack when I got home. I wanted to tell him I was sorry about his parents, sorry about his life and beg him to open up to me, but I didn’t. I called Macy instead, hoping she’d be able to distract me.

“Can we please not talk about him anymore? I’ve heard enough about Jack today.” Not really, my heart was broken and feeling even more shattered after learning about his parents. I was upset, but I also wanted to call him and crawl into his arms and just hold him. No wonder why he claimed to be broken.

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