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“Jesus Christ,” I whispered under my breath.
Easton and Jack had gone from a family of five to a family of two, and now I understood. Not so much in what Jack told me but in everything Easton hadn’t.
She’d had her heart broken too much and didn’t gamble on uncertainties.
But she’d opened up for me. Even just a little. She had shown me that she cared.
“Why wouldn’t she tell me all of this?” I asked him.
“I’m sure she would’ve,” he assured me. “Eventually.”
“And Chase Stiles? How did he die?”
Jack hesitated, taking a deep breath. “He… committed suicide earlier that day,” he admitted. “I’m guessing the note he left for her was a suicide note.”
So Easton had gone to wait outside his apartment, and he was already gone. I was tempted to inquire how he’d killed himself, but if it didn’t directly concern Easton, then I didn’t want to know anything else about him.
“Easton died a little that night, too,” Jack added, getting ready to leave as the music stopped and Principal Shaw wished everyone fun tonight.
I held Jack’s eyes as he continued. “It’s not that I don’t like the woman my sister’s become, but since that day, her heart is a machine,” he cautioned. “She can start and stop it at will.”
“Dad?” Christian called, running over to the car, his light blue button-down hanging out of his uniform dress slacks. “Would it be okay if Patrick picked me up after he takes you back to the office?” he asked. “I want to have some friends over.”
I slid my phone back into my pocket. “I’m not going back to the office.”
His forehead creased with surprise. “Really?”
I nodded, pushing up from where I leaned against the car. “I thought we could order pizza and watch the fight.”
There was a match on Pay-Per-View I wasn’t interested in seeing, but I definitely enjoyed spending time with Christian, so…
“Are you sure you don’t want to work?” he pressed. “I mean, I appreciate the effort you’re putting in, and it’s the thought that counts, but…” He trailed off, glancing back to where his friends were joking around.
“But…?” I inquired.
His arms hung at his sides, and he looked severely displeased. “Well, I wanted to have some friends over tonight without my dad hanging around, you know?”
I scowled. “You’re fourteen.”
And then it dawned on me.
“Are you inviting girls?” I exclaimed.
A nervous smile spread across his face, and he glanced behind him again. I noticed Clyde Richmond’s daughter shifting her gaze over to us, and I immediately started shaking my head at my son.
“I may not be father of the year,” I chided, “but I’m not stupid, either. You’re not allowed to make me a grandfather for at least another fifteen years. Understand?”
He rolled his eyes, his shoulders dropping.
“But nice try,” I allowed.
“Okay.” He groaned. “Can I still have friends over, though?”
“Yeah,” I allowed. “Let’s see how many we can fit.” And then I pointed to him, stopping before I turned for the car. “And no touching my pool table this time.”
Last time he’d had friends over, I’d found a pizza stain on the ten-thousand-dollar table.
“Dad,” he whined.
“I mean it,” I shot out. “I’ll have Mrs. Giroux order pizzas, and you and your friends can have the media room, but no one in my den. And don’t even think about trying to break through the parental controls on Pay-Per-View.”
“How come you can watch porn?” he blurted out sarcastically, and I heard a mother nearby gasp.
I leaned in, pulling him close by the back of the neck. “A. The controls are for R-rated movies, not porn,” I lied. “B. Who says I even watch porn? And C,” I continued, “I went to college, so I can do whatever the hell I want. Now, go get your friends.”
He smiled, brushing me off as he left to go round up his classmates.
I moved to head for the car, but then I looked up and I stopped.
Easton was in her classroom, walking by the window, but as soon as I spotted her, she disappeared.
I tilted my chin up farther, trying to see her again, but she wasn’t near the windows anymore, and I didn’t know what to do.
Leave her alone. For her sake and for mine.
It wasn’t even about Jack and what he’d just told me in the auditorium. I’d always known that Easton was a strong woman and she would be fine.
But my heart was racing, and I refused to think about what I was doing. I walked toward the school and climbed the steps, needing more than anything to look at her for just one moment.
Stopping at her classroom door, I watched her pad around in her bare feet, her heels lying next to her desk, and arch up on her tiptoes to stack books on top of a wardrobe cabinet.
Coming up behind her, I reached up and pushed the book into place for her.
She sucked in a sharp breath and whirled around, the long, sexy bangs of her deep brown hair falling over one eye.
“Mr. Marek.” Her small voice sounded out of breath.
Her red blouse was only one inch from my chest, and her little black pencil skirt only reminded me of how well I’d feel her if I took her in my hands right now.
But I backed up, forcing some distance.
“I owe you an explanation,” I told her.
Her expression turned emotionless. “No, Mr. Marek,” she replied stiffly. “You don’t.”
