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“Is this Preston guy dangerous?”
“I honestly don’t know. The police were going to arrest him but he seems to have left town.”
He stood up, his expression stony. “Zachary Haven is not taking responsibility for my daughter.”
“What?”
“If you’re in danger, you need to come home.”
“No, Dad, that’s not necessary.”
“There are a few things in your room, but I’ll clear them out.” He walked off, as if my reply didn’t matter.
I looked at my mom. “Is he serious?”
“You’re his baby. Can you blame him?”
“Of course he’s upset. But that doesn’t mean I need to move home.”
“What would it hurt? At least he could be sure you’re safe.”
“I’ll be safe at my house.”
She reached over and clasped my hands. “It’ll be fine, flower. We love having you here.”
I squeezed her hands, but didn’t reply. There wasn’t any point in arguing with her, so I got up. “I should get going.”
“Just pack a few things for now. Your dad can take care of the rest later.”
The rest? What did she think I was going to do, sell my house and move in with them? “I love you and I appreciate that you want to help, but like I said, this isn’t necessary. Can you please talk some sense into Dad?”
She laughed. “Oh, honey.”
I knew this conversation wasn’t over, but I decided to go. My dad couldn’t make me move out of my own house. Hopefully I’d be able to help him see reason once he’d calmed down. I said goodbye to my mom and told her I’d call soon.
When I got back in my car, the weight of my parents’ overprotectiveness lifted. I was going home to Zachary, and nothing was better than that.
CHAPTER 28
Marigold
At home, I found Zachary on the couch and a pile of garbage bags near the door.
“What’s all this?” I asked.
“Clothes and stuff.”
I laughed. “You packed your things in garbage bags?”
“Yeah.” He furrowed his brow as if that were an odd question. “But you’re going to have to tell me where to unpack because you’re already hogging every closet in this house.”
“No I’m not.”
He gave me a crooked smile. “Baby, I looked everywhere. There’s no room for me.”
That couldn’t be right. I admit, I had a lot of clothes, but this was a three-bedroom house. There had to be empty closet space somewhere.
I set down my things and took off my coat, then headed for the guest room. “Did you check in here? We can move some of my stuff from the master bedroom into this closet for now. I’m sure there’s room.”
