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It only takes half an hour for Juniper to go through the remainder of her belongings and pack what she wants to bring. Surprisingly, she only filled two of the three suitcases and had hardly any mementos she wanted to bring with her. Her dad’s room at the nursing facility was covered with framed photos and Juniper packed those up yesterday. They went via private medical jet transport to the new facility five miles from my house in Pittsburgh.
One thing I noticed she packed was a jewelry box that I had given her for her high school graduation. I was finishing my sophomore year of college on an athletic scholarship and didn’t have a lot of money. But I’d saved for months to buy that jewelry box for her, along with the small diamond earrings tucked inside when I gave it to her. I have no clue if those earrings are even in there, but I’m sure Joshua has bought Juniper lots of nice jewelry over the years. He can afford massive sparklers, although technically, I can do that too. My two-and-a-half-million-dollar salary plus performance bonuses with the Titans ensures I could give Juniper all the diamonds in the world.
But she was never impressed by baubles. She was a woman more delighted by the jewelry box, which played “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley. It’s one of her favorite songs—or at least it used to be.
As she makes a final walk-through of her room, I wrangle the suitcases down the grand staircase and out to the car. Preston has been absent the entire time and while I have to trust that Joshua will stay away, I’ve been on high alert.
When I come inside after putting the last suitcase in the rental, I find Juniper waiting for me in the foyer.
“Anything else you want to get from the house?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “No. Just want to say goodbye to your mom.”
I notice her words are thick with emotion, her eyes glistening. I don’t think she’s crying because she’s losing her home or husband, but mostly because she’s sad to be leaving Lila behind.
At least that’s my assumption.
I yearn to hold my hand out to her, wanting her to be secure in my comforting touch. But I’m not sure she’d take it.
I haven’t touched her since that moment in the car three days ago when I held her hand and kissed her forehead. She’d pulled away and told me not to promise her things. The wall she’s put up between us is thick and high and I will respect it. There’s nothing there but friendship anyway, but fuck if it isn’t hard not to touch her. I’m more attracted to her now than I was before, at least from a physical aspect. She’s aged with perfection, her womanly curves so very sexy, the confidence and poise that’s come with living life. Hell, the way she’s made this decision to break from Joshua and upend her life attracts me to her.
And then, there’s the never-ending supply of sweet memories that have flooded back this past week being around her. All the great times we had for the eight years we were together. I loved that woman so much it nearly destroyed me when I broke things off.
But not as much as it hurt her, that I know. My actions put her right in a monster’s path and this whole fucked-up situation is very much my fault.
Juniper turns toward my mom’s bedroom and I follow her in there. Preston is sitting in one of the wingback chairs near the window, surfing on his phone while the nurse dispenses medication to my mom. He glances up, grimaces at seeing us standing in the doorway and then drops his gaze again.
I’d prefer it if he would leave the room as I’d like one more opportunity to impress upon my mother she can come to Pittsburgh. I won’t say anything in front of him, though, because I don’t want her to suffer for it.
We spend about fifteen minutes—me on one side of the bed, Juniper on the other—speaking of unimportant stuff because the things I want to say must be quelled. I kiss my mom gently on the cheek and peer into her eyes as I try to convey the invitation one more time with only a look.
She understands me and smiles. “I love you,” she says, patting my cheek. It’s all she’ll commit to.
“I love you too.”
Juniper leans over and takes her hand. “I’ll check in on you every day. Rest well and get stronger. You call me anytime, okay?”
“You call me anytime too,” my mom says, her eyes misting a bit. “You’re my daughter, Juni. Don’t ever forget that.”
Juniper leans over to hug her and my mom whispers loud enough that I can hear it. “I’m glad you’re getting out. Don’t come back, Juniper.”
My eyes dart over to Preston, still focused on his phone. It wasn’t loud enough to hear but I just wanted to make sure. He would have considered that a direct betrayal, encouraging Juniper to leave his son.
We shower my mom with a few more hugs and kisses. As we leave the room, I only stop long enough to tell Preston, “Call me if she has any issues at all.”
Preston nods curtly. I want to tell him to get some psychological help for his son, but that would only inflame matters. I’m ready to get the fuck out of here.
CHAPTER 12
Juniper
I’ve never been to Pennsylvania before. I’ve hardly been anywhere, which seems odd given the money I married into by joining myself to Joshua Willard.
Outside of attending college in Denver with Callum, I’ve been to a few cities in California a handful of times with Joshua when he’d have to travel to the stores. He took me to New York for our fifth wedding anniversary. We got into a fight in the hotel room before dinner. He was drunk, pushed me into the mini bar and stormed out of the room. I didn’t see him again until the next morning when it was time to catch our flight home. He never said a word about any of it, nor did he apologize.
I didn’t care. It was par for the course and I didn’t expect different.
Callum arranged for a car service to pick us up… a big Suburban that easily held all of my suitcases and his one modest bag. We sat in the back seat, Callum quietly talking on the phone with someone about the team—perhaps the coach. I try to tune out as I don’t want to eavesdrop and instead focus my attention out the window to take in what will be my new home, at least for the foreseeable future.
