Page 83 of Mountain Freedom
Had claimed me as his.
Had I just been too busy with residency to see what a creep he really was? Admittedly, I had never been entirely comfortable with him, and looking back now, I wasn’t sure why I had even been with him in the first place. He had been convenient, he had understood my schedule, and he had even been a great study partner. But maybe the reason I had never really opened my heart to him was because part of me had sensed something was wrong, even if I had been unwilling to look at it closely.
Unless this wasn’t Mike at all. But if not Mike, who else could it have been? It didn’t make sense.
My cell phone buzzed.Mama.I groaned, not wanting to talk to her right now—especially after what I had learned from Beverly. But I knew she would keep calling, and I really didn’t want to talk to her at the Morrisons’. Better to get it over with and keep all the negativity here, in a house I was starting to seriously dislike.
“Hey, Mama,” I answered, knowing I couldn’t keep the exhaustion out of my voice.
“Mike’s mother and I had lunch today, and we’re both wondering when you’re going to put all this nonsense behind you and take him back. She told me he made a grand romantic gesture, but you sent him away without any hope. Tell me that’s not true.”
I closed my eyes, raising my fingers to my forehead as I sighed. “It’s one hundred percent true.”
“Allison,” she began in the tone that let me know I was in for a lecture.
“Stop. This is not up for discussion.”
At that moment, Jackson came in, asking if my suitcase was ready. I nodded, tensing as I braced myself for Mama’s reaction tothatone.
“Allison Bell, what man is there with you asking about yoursuitcase?You better be packing up to come back to Memphis.”
“No, Mama, I’m not.” I shook my head, steeling myself against her anger. Jackson raised his eyebrows before grabbing the suitcase and carrying it down the stairs. “‘That man’ is Jackson. I’m staying with him.”
“Jackson Sharp. You have to be kidding me.”
“It’s JacksonFord,”I reminded her, “and he’s protecting me. Because I happen to have a stalker, and by the way, the number one suspect is Mike. So perhaps you should stop lecturing me on how I need to give him another chance.”
The phone was dead silent for a moment. “What do you mean you have a stalker?” Her voice was strained and quiet.
“Mike hasn’t been asking me for a second chance. He’s practically been harassing me. And today, I got a bunch of cut-up roses and a letter saying I’m his, and—” I stopped suddenly, realizing if I went any further, I would have to reveal that Jackson and I were together romantically. And I wasn’t sure I was ready for that conversation.
“And what?” she pressed.
I sank onto my bed, sighing. Things were bad enough. Might as well just get it over with. “That I’d regret it if I let Jackson put his hands on me again.”
“You’ve let that boy touch you?”
“We’re together, Mama.”
“Over my dead body.”
Anger bubbled up inside me. Considering her track record, she had no right to lecture me over my choices. Jackson was a good man, and I was done letting her speak about him like that. “What on earth do you have against him? You haven’t even met him as an adult, and he never did anything you could hold against him as a kid. He was my best friend!”
“He’s Russell Sharp’s son!”
“So? If that doesn’t bother me, why on earth would it bother you?”
“You don’t understand,” she began.
“Then explain it to me. Does this have anything to do with the fact that Dad used to make you pay off his gambling debts?” I didn’t mean to ask it, but I couldn’t stop it from coming out—especially as a terrible, horrible thought crossed my mind. Was there a chance—any chance at all—that Russell could have been… No. I couldn’t even think it.
“Where did you hear that?” Her tone had changed again. This time, there was fear in it. A fear that confirmed the truth.
“My receptionist,” I said. “Apparently everyone in Rosemary Mountain knew what was going on except me.”
Silence.
“Mama, I have to know. Was my father not my actual…” I couldn’t even finish the question.
