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“You are?” she asked carefully, her gaze measuring my response as she spoke.
“Yes.”
Before I could think or second-guess myself,
I told her everything there was to know about the whole fucked up situation, every detail since my father had called me into his office to break the news to me. Her brows pulled together as I spoke, and when I finished, she was silent for a moment.
I waited, although I wasn’t quite sure what I was waiting for. It wasn’t like she could fix this.
No one could.
But I was still desperate to know her thoughts, to receive what little pittance of comfort she might be able to give me.
“My family no longer speaks to me,” she said finally, and I blinked. That wasn’t what I’d been expecting at all.
“They don’t?”
“No.” She shook her head, sadness entering her blue eyes. “They haven’t since the day I married Nathaniel. I chose him over them, you see. And just as they had promised they would, they erased me from their lives.”
My heart picked up its pace as I listened to her, leaning forward slightly as I hung on each word she uttered.
“Do you miss them?”
She smiled quietly, nodding. “Of course I do. But not as much as I used to. I love Nathaniel more than I’ve ever loved anyone in this world, and I’ve found a new family here. With him.”
I tugged my lip between my teeth, considering her words. Could I do that? If it came down to it, if my father outright refused to let go of this insane marriage arrangement, could I walk away from him and my mother forever? Would he even let me?
Maybe Josephine could see a hint of the thoughts bouncing around inside my head, because she reached out, resting her hand over one of mine. “I’m not telling you this to send you off on some half-cocked mission. I know family and relationships are never simple or black-and-white. I know it can seem almost impossible to choose between duty and desire.” She gave my hand a little squeeze. “So I suppose I’m just telling you this to let you know that I understand.”
“Thank you.”
My chin quivered, and I looked away quickly, willing myself not to cry. Josephine was a strong woman, and I wanted to show her that I was strong too. But her sympathy—her empathy—had hit me right in the chest, and I was more touched by it than I wanted to admit.
Before I could say anything else, voices in the hall outside interrupted us, and Josephine and I both looked up. She saw the look on my face, and a smile tilted her lips.
“Come on.” She stood and inclined her head toward the door. “It sounds like your boys are ready for you.”
Six
After we left Nathaniel’s place, the boys drove me back to my car, and I reluctantly kissed them all goodbye before climbing inside. I was worried about Mom finding out that I hadn’t actually gone anywhere with the girls from Highland Park, so I figured it was better to play things safe and get home quickly.
On the drive back across Baltimore, as I watched the houses around me grow larger and more luxurious, I thought about what Josephine had said.
Resolve grew in my chest like a block of steel.
I would find a way to stop this.
The first and most obvious place was with the other half of this marriage equation—Barrett King himself. He hadn’t seemed particularly enthused about our planned wedding when I’d seen him at the engagement party, particularly not after my cold-as-ice reception of him.
Maybe he didn’t want this either. And if he didn’t, maybe I could recruit his help in talking our parents out of this. If both of us could present a united force, maybe Sebastian and my father would have to reconsider.
Normally, I made it a point to avoid Barrett at school, going out of my way to make sure our paths never crossed. But by Friday, I’d made up my mind.
I didn’t head toward the cafeteria during my lunch period like usual. Instead, I made my way to the second floor of the school, hoping to catch him as he came out of his fourth period class. I arrived just after the class had let out, forging my way through the press of students heading in the opposite direction to peer into the classroom.
But he wasn’t there.
Dammit. I must’ve been too slow.
