Page 19 of Not Because You Loved Me

A wave of dread washed over me. "My... my mom?"

"Yes. Your mom," Kat said, her tone sharp enough to cut. "She stood right where you're standing, begging me not to give up on you, pleading your case like you're a child who made an oopsie on the playground."

"I didn't know," I said quickly, horror tightening my chest as I took a step forward. "Kat, I swear I did not know she was coming here. I didn't ask her to…"

"I don't care if you asked her or not!" she snapped, her walls coming up so fast and so high I could practically feel the temperature on the porch drop ten degrees. "I am so sick of this. First, I have to call Gideon to haul you off my porch, and then I have to call your father to come pick up your mother after she almost passed out on my kitchen floor!"

My brain stalled. "She... what?"

Kat sighed, and then stepped away from the door, moving into her open-concept living space, putting the island between us.

"She had a pre-syncopal episode," Kat said, her clinical tone slipping into place, though her eyes were raw with anger and concern. "Her blood pressure plummeted out of nowhere. She got lightheaded, her pulse was thready, and her knees gave out. I took care of her until your dad came to get her."

The coffee cup trembled in my hand. "Is she... is she okay?"

"I told your dad to take her to a doctor," Kat said, rubbing her temples, her body practically vibrating. "She looked awful, Trent. But I am done being the staging ground for your family’s drama. I can't do this anymore."

"Kat, please," I begged, setting her coffee down on the island and reaching out, stopping just short of touching her. "I came here to tell you I love you. Truly love you. No talk about duty, no talk about what I thought was happening… just you and me. Please, just let me…"

"Don't you dare say that to me now," Kat breathed, her eyes swimming with sudden, painful tears that she angrily brushed away. "Don't you dare say I love you out of guilt! On the night I gave the ring back, I asked you when and why you fell in love with me, and you stood there like a statue. You couldn't even answer me!"

"I panicked!" I choked out, a thick lump forming in my throat. "My head was spinning; I was losing everything and couldn't find the right words…"

Her head dropped, as if it were too heavy for her to hold up anymore. Her chin resting on her chest. She sighed and braced herself on the island with both hands. My eyes caught on a black folder beside her white-knuckled grip on the counter, stomach dropping as I read the bold lettering printed on the cover.

"Europe?" I whispered, my voice cracking as the reality hit me, "Kat... What is that? You're leaving?"

"It's a job offer," she said coldly, tipping her head back up, her red-rimmed hazel eyes locking onto mine. "A fresh start."

"No," I pleaded, panic clawing at my throat. "Kat, don't do this. Don't make a rash decision without me…"

"Without you?" Kat screamed, the sheer fury breaking through her exhaustion. "Like the decision you made without me? You spent three months assuming I was pregnant, proposing to me, and planning a whole life based on a lie you created in your own head! Don't you ever talk to me about making rash decisions!"

I staggered back a half-step, utterly defenceless because she was right. Every single word was the brutal, unvarnished truth.

Before I could force another word past my throat, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out with shaking hands. Gideon’s name flashed on the screen.

I picked it up. "Gid, I'm at Kat's. Can I call you back?"

"Get home right now," Gideon interrupted, his voice laced with an edge I’d never heard from him before. "Dad just called. He wants both of us at the house immediately. Mom... something is going on, Trent."

My chest heaved as I lowered the phone. I looked at Kat, torn in two entirely different directions, worried for my mother, and utterly desperate not to walk away from the woman who held my future in her hands.

"I have to go," I rasped, my eyes searching hers. "My dad called Gideon and…"

Kat’s expression softened by a fraction, her empathy flickering behind the anger. "Go, Trent."

"Kat... please," I choked out, holding her gaze. "I'm going to go, but... please don't sign that paper yet. Promise me we can talk later. Please."

Kat stared at me for the longest, most agonizing seconds of my life, her jaw set tight, her once loving eyes completely unreadable.

"Go check on your mom, Trent," she whispered softly before turning her back on me and disappearing down the hallway out of my line of sight.

The click of her bedroom door shutting felt like an ending I couldn't fathom. Every single instinct in my body screamed at me to follow her. I wanted to throw myself across that island, drop to my knees on her hardwood floor, and beg until my throat was raw. I wanted to strip away every shred of my pride, take the ring out of my pocket, and stay on my knees until she believed me.

Stay. Fix it now. Don't leave this house.

My phone vibrated again in my hand, and I swallowed the bitter taste of panic, scrubbing a shaking hand over my face. I just need to go check on Mom, I told myself, backing slowly toward the front door like a man stepping away from a ticking bomb. I’ll go to my parents' house, make sure Mom is okay, and then I’m coming straight back here. I’m not letting her sign that paper. I’m going to make her hear me.