Page 143 of Bloom

When I call out a greeting to Jackson, he tentatively smiles at me over the spotted flank of the Appaloosa, Scooby, he’s had ever since I’ve known him.

That smile slows my steps. A thin tendril of dread curls in my stomach, but I persevere. “You busy?”

Shaking his head, he drops the wire brush in his hand into the bucket at his feet. “You okay?”

There’s something about the way he asks; so careful. Too careful.

I sigh. “Lux told you?”

“You know she wouldn’t do that. I was there last night, remember?”

Right. And he figured everything out on his own. Of course, he did. Because it wasthatobvious. I knew it was, I agonized over it, yet still, I held out hope that paranoia was addling my brain a little.

Wearing a grim expression that matches mine, Jackson grabs the rope looped around Scooby’s neck, and I follow as he guides the old stallion outside and into the pasture attached to the barn—the sick bay, they usually call it. “He doing okay?”

“Just nervous.” Jackson gestures back the way we came, at the barn packed to the brim with horses. “He doesn’t like crowds.”

“Takes after his owner.”

He flashes me a quick, strained smile, silent as he gets Scooby situated. Securing the gate, he rests back against it, arms crossed. “It was happening while we were together?”

“It’s complicated.” I sidle a little closer, stacking my arms atop the gate’s top rung. “Yes, and no.”

“I’m sorry for making you feel like you couldn’t tell me.”

“You had enough on your plate.” Negligent parents, absent grandparents, and four younger sisters he was practically raising, to be exact. I couldn’t, Iwouldn’t, add to that.

And yet, still he insists, “I would’ve helped.Wewould’ve helped.”

“I didn’t want help. I didn’t want anyone to know.” I pause, picking at the hangnail on my thumb. “And you did help. Being here helped so much.”

A warm palm cups my shoulder and squeezes.

“You can help now too.”

He slides me a questioning frown.

“Can you take me home, please? To my dad’s house.”

He’s shaking his head before the question even leaves my mouth. “That’s not a good idea.”

“It’s a terrible idea,” I agree. The thought of going over there makes me itch. “But I have some things I want to say. Things Ineedto say. I…” I flop my head back and stare at the sky as I search for the right words. “I want to be done, but I can’t justbe done. I’m not built like that. I can’t let last night be the last time I ever see my dad.”

I hit a nerve there, I can tell, and maybe I did it on purpose. Played on mutual daddy issues, and it works. I watch his resolve crumble. His shoulders slump as he gives me a resigned look. “He does anything, we’re out of there. And I’m not leaving you alone with him.”

“Good, because that’s why I’m bringing you.”

“Whyareyou bringing me?”

Why not Hunter?is what he means. “If it was Luna, would you let her go over there?”

“If it was Luna, I’d probably kill him.”

“Exactly. For me, you’ll only step in if it's necessary. Hunter would throw him through the wall for fun.”

Jackson laughs, nodding his agreement before shaking his head at the ridiculousness of it all—before rolling his head to the side to squint at me. “Glad you found that.”

“Someone who would throw someone else through a wall for me?”

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