Page 109 of Take My Heart
‘Yeah.’ He blows out a breath. ‘Maybe you’re right.’
I look up at him, my eyes tearing up. ‘I’m going to miss you so much.’
‘I’ll miss you too.’ He slips his hand through my hair, cupping the side of my face, then leans down and kisses me. ‘Goodbye, Kate.’
‘Don’t say that. I don’t want this to be goodbye.’
He straightens up, his eyes on mine. ‘Then tell me what you want. This isn’t the time to be holding back. Just tell me.’
‘What I want isn’t possible. My life is in Chicago. Your life is here. And we—’ I’m interrupted by Jill beeping the horn, andthen my phone dinging, which I’m guessing is a text from Jill telling me to hurry up.
‘We what?’ Brody asks. ‘What were you going to say?’
‘Nothing.’ I reach up and kiss him. ‘Goodbye, Brody.’
I go out the door and straight to Jill’s car, not looking back.
‘Go,’ I tell her when I get in.
As she backs out of the driveway, I close my eyes, not wanting to see the house or Brody standing at the door. My eyes remain closed as she drives out of the neighborhood.
‘Tell me when we’re on the highway,’ I say.
‘Um, okay. Why are your eyes closed?’
‘Just drive. Get me out of here.’
‘Was this place really that bad? I think it’s kind of cute, not that I like small towns, but you know what I mean.’
‘It wasn’t bad.’ A tear slips down my face. ‘It was great. The best place I’ve ever lived.’
She laughs. ‘Are you being sarcastic?’
I keep quiet and focus on not crying. I need to accept that this was just a detour in my life, a break from my real life. Now it’s over and I need to move on.
‘Okay, we’re on the highway,’ Jill says. ‘I turned your seat warmer on. If it’s too hot, you can turn it off.’
I open my eyes and see the highway ahead. Looking over to the other side, I see the area where Cam’s car went into the ditch. I can still see the path Brody shoveled to get to it.
‘Did I tell you Henry’s getting me a new car?’ Jill says.
‘No.’ I look back at her. ‘What kind?’
‘A Lexus. It’s for my birthday. It’s gorgeous. He took me to the dealership and let me pick out all the options. They had to special order it.’
‘Sounds nice.’
‘I can’t wait. I’ve had this car for three years now. I’m tired of it.’
Henry gives Jill gifts instead of spending time with her. I think it’s sad, but Jill doesn’t seem to care. In fact, I think she’d rather have the gifts than hang out with him. I don’t understand their marriage, but it seems to work for them.
‘Mom’s got your old room ready,’ Jill says.
‘Great,’ I say, rolling my eyes.
‘Maybe it won’t be so bad. You’ll be at work all day and they’re always going out at night. You probably won’t even see them.’
‘Stop trying to make me feel better. You know it’s going to be horrible. They’ll be trying to control everything I do.’
