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“She didn’t seem angry, actually.” Jonah shrugs. “She seemed thoughtful, if anything. She was quiet the whole way back.”
“She didn’t cry, did she?” I ask. That would kill me.
“No. No tears. Just quiet. Like she was thinking things over.”
Oh, I’m sure she was. Abigail thinks everything over. She’s probably already figured out a way to leave the island and get back to Louisiana without seeing me.
And honestly, that would be easy enough. She’s the princess. She can ask any palace staff member to take her to the airport and they will without question. She can then simply ask for our pilot to be contacted. Then he’ll fly her wherever she wants to go. They won’t need to say a word to me.
Which means, I need to camp outside this door so she can’t leave without me knowing.
“I’m going to grab a pillow and blanket,” I say. “Stay ’til I get back?”
“You’re going to sleep in front of the door?” he asks.
“Of course.”
“I don’t think she’s leaving.”
I sigh. “She can’t win here. If she doesn’t reciprocate, everyone will wonder why. They’ll think she’s cold. If she doesn’t love me with equal fervor, they won’t like her.” I shake my head. “Hell, if she tries to reciprocate, she’ll probably throw up.
And I don’t think Abigail Landry O’Grady can pull off a lie that big. She’s too genuine. She’s too matter-of-fact. If she doesn’t love me and tries to publicly proclaim that she does, people will know she’s lying. And they’ll hate her for that too.
They’ve seen her genuinely happy and excited. I’m sure people who didn’t initially see her adorable video doing the craft project with the kids have seen it by now. People will no doubt be searching for photos and videos of her first thing tomorrow.
They’ll be able to tell the difference between her confidence and genuine happiness there and whatever she might try to pull off in public with me.
"She's going to leave. This is the exact thing she told me she didn’t want.”
Jonah nods. “Yeah. It sure is.”
I frown. “Team Abigail already?”
“What makes you think I wasn’t Team Abigail from the start?”
“The whole ‘you deserve to be loved’ thing you laid on me.”
“Well, you do.”
“Thanks. So you are Team Torin.”
He grins. “I’m Team Abi and Torin.”
“Jonah…”
“She loves you, dumbass. Just give her a minute to figure it out. And to figure out how to tell you without puking.”
His words make my heart thump hard and I almost hate how much I need that to be true. “I have to sleep here tonight. I have to see her first thing.”
“I’ll stay here,” he says. “You go actually sleep. You have the market in the morning with Linnea. You need to be good for that.”
“But if she tries to leave, go to the airport and whatever, you’ll stop her?” I ask.
Jonah shakes his head. “Of course not. She’s the princess. I can’t stop her.”
“Jonah,” I almost growl.
“But,” he continues. “I will tell you. In time to catch her.”
