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“Go get Daddy,” I said softly.
Jacob laughed. “You think I’m afraid of your father? I deserve for you to talk to me,” he said. “We dated for years, and you've uprooted me?”
I crossed my arms, refusing to cower down as he expected me to. “It’s over, Jacob. I’m sorry. When you proposed, I didn’t have the urge to say yes. Would you really want me to pretend with you my entire life?”
He swallowed roughly. If someone’s pride taking a hit was a person—it’d be Jacob.
“I’m sorry,” I said, reaching forward to touch his forearm, but he recoiled from me. It was probably for the best. “I’m not marrying you.”
Jacob stared at me long and hard. There was something dark in his eyes that I’d never seen before. Hate? Regret? It didn’t matter either way because I prayed to never see him again.
“You’re a good-looking and smart guy, Jacob. You’ll find your princess, but I’m not her—”
“Says the girl that wasted the last three years of my life.”
“Not everything works out in the end.”
He chuckled. “Says the princess,” he glanced over at our house. “That grew up in this house and got everything she ever wanted. Obviously, you just toss people to the side when you’re finished with them.”
“Jacob,” my father’s voice sliced through the air. “It’s time for you to leave.”
Jacob tilted his head back over his shoulder but didn’t budge elsewhere. A gust of wind tossed his brown hair around his head, and the heat seemed to fuel his anger. “I hope you get everything you want in life, princess.”
He stormed toward his Tundra, opened the door, and slammed it. I listened to the gravel under his tires until they faded away, along with that chapter of my life.
My father’s hand landed on my shoulder, and he tugged me into a hug. “I think you dodged a bullet, Sweetie. Always ...”
“...go with your gut,” I whispered.
He tilted my chin upward, giving me a reassuring smile. I laughed when he crossed his eyes like he did when I was a child.
“Lunch is almost ready.”
“I’ll be in soon.”
He left me in the front yard to gather my pride alone. I needed a few seconds to stop my racing heart. The wind blew against me again, bringing the smell of rain from the woods.
A nice afternoon on the porch while it rained sounded nice.
I walked toward the house, listening to the wildlife around me, realizing it began to fade away slowly. Then I stopped, looking over at the woods. I had an eerie feeling that someone was watching me.
Jacob didn’t know the woods well enough to get away, park, and make his way back to the house. It would have taken him an hour to get from the road to the woods without a machete to cut down the brush.
The silence grew louder.
A roar of thunder boomed miles away.
I shifted my weight, remembering I’d left my drink in the car, and I turned to get it.
A crow sat on the roof, staring at me with beady eyes and cawing as I neared him. Since I was full of adrenaline, I raced toward my car, shooing him off the top and into the tree above my head.
Stupid crow.
I grabbed my keys, wallet, and drink from the front seat and walked toward the house. The wildlife began to speak again. Maybe the thunder had scared them into silence.
I made my way upstairs without my parents hearing me. It was one of the pluses of having a bigger house. Sometimes I didn’t want all the drama of having them peering over me when I was upset.
Jenny, our housecleaner, had a guest room door open on my floor, the sound of her vacuum going down the hallway.
