“I guess,” I responded. “I’m just not convinced he wants to hear anything from me.”
Mom’s silence wasn’t normal. I shifted my weight on Valhalla and moved my head in her direction, searching for a response. Her response might not have been in the form of words, but her expression said everything I needed to know.
“Were we in the same stable about twenty minutes ago?” The sarcasm in her voice could’ve been heard for miles. “Because based on the amount of tension that littered that stable, I don’t think that could be further from the truth,” she said. “Not to mention the agony in his eyes could’ve drowned all three of us.”
“Mom,” I objected with raised eyebrows. “There was no tension. You’re being dramatic.”
I thought back to the few minutes we had in the stable together, and maybe she was right. Maybe that was what Ifelt between the two of us, or maybe we were both just too uncomfortable to know what to say or do.
“Maybe a little, but I want you to promise me you’ll at least think about giving him a chance to hear the whole story.Yourstory,” she pleaded with what I could tell was genuine concern.
“I’ll think about it,” I said. “I promise.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Mom and Dad being in Quincey Falls had been a good distraction—other than when Mom had decided to make it her sole mission to convince me to talk to Stetson—but it was time for me to get back to real life and deal with everything I’d been avoiding for the last couple of weeks.
After they left, I lay in bed, staring up at the repetitive spin of the fan blades and trying to focus on the whoosh of the air, but the only thing I could hear was my mom. Her words had planted themselves in my brain, my thoughts watering them and giving them space to grow.
Somewhere between one scenario with Stetson and the next, I dozed off.
The absolutely brutal sound of my alarm scared me awake.
“Shit,” I grumbled, rolling out of bed and stumbling my half-asleep body into the bathroom.
As I wiped the sleep out of my eyes, something that she’d said when she was here wouldn’t stop buzzing around inside of my head.
Will you regret it if you don’t go and talk to him?
Mom had a way of ensuring her words had a lasting effect on whoever she was speaking to. She always knew exactly what to say to make sure you couldn’t just brush her off.
My phone rang across the room and Donna’s name scrolled across the screen as I got to my nightstand.
“Hey, Donna.”
“Scarlett. Hi. Good morning. Are you planning on coming into the office today?”
“Yeah, I should be in by nine or a little before.”
“Wonderful. I’ll see you then, darlin’.”
Click.
The call ended.
Well, that was odd. I hadn’t heard from Donna since I sent over Stetson’s article a few days ago, other than an email saying she couldn’t wait to read it. I figured that was what she was calling about, so the short conversation was a bit unlike her.
Unless she hadn’t liked it… Oh god, what if she hadn’t liked it?
My heart thumped in the back of my throat.
Now I was less focused on how I looked and more focused on getting my ass dressed and out the door so I could get to theTribuneand see what was waiting for me.
The air was stagnant as I locked my apartment door behind me. May had made its brutal arrival in Quincey Falls and that meant the summer heat had become unbearable to a degree, especially when dressed in work clothes.
I was halfway to work before I noticed that I’d been driving in silence. Well, silence wasn’t the right word because everythinggoing on inside my head was loud. I wondered what Donna was going to say about the article. I wondered what Stetson thought about it or if he’d even read it. Everything felt a bit uneasy as I parked my Jeep.
“Whatever she’s says, it’s going to be fine.” The words came out of my mouth, but I didn’t believe them for a second.
