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Why can't he trust me to follow my own judgment? I know that I'll always be his little girl, but I'm not a kid anymore. I'm an adult now, and he can't seem to respect that.
It must have been a shock. But it was a shock for me to hear him saying those things, accusing Jonas like that. I can't bear it. I know that if I didn't walk away, I would just end up collapsing into a mess, and that wouldn't exactly convince him that this is the right thing for me.
I can still hear them from the living room. The walls in this place aren’t thick enough to hide the sound of their voices, especially as they rise in pitch and volume. They're shouting at each other now, having a full-blown argument. The things they're saying to each other now are even worse than the things that they said when I was in the room. I bury my head in the pillow, but it doesn’t shut them out enough.
They’re accusing each other of upsetting me, of hurting my feelings, both of them telling the other that it’s their fault. My dad thinks that Jonas has betrayed his trust, and Jonas thinks that my dad has betrayed their friendship by accusing him of such vile things. Around and around they go. I put my hands over my ears, trying to stop myself from crying and somehow drown them out.
This couldn’t have gone any worse. The two most important men in my life are just at each other’s throats now, and there’s not a thing I can do about it.
For a moment, everything goes still and quiet. Rather than making me relax, it puts me more on edge. I raise my head to try and hear more, straining, even thinking about getting up and going towards the door. I hear Jonas mutter something low, words that I can’t make out, and then hear his footsteps across the floor.
I realize they’re coming towards the bedroom – towards me.
He won’t make me go back in there, will he? Or – even worse – has he given up, too, and ended the call along with our relationship? We can’t leave things like that. We can’t just give up on being together, or on getting my father’s blessing. Both things are too important to me…
The door creaks open, and Jonas stands there, his expression soft as he looks at the floor. “Savannah,” he says. “Please come back outside.”
“I can’t,” I say. “The two of you – you’re just screaming at each other. I won’t.”
“Please,” he says. “I have something to show you – to show both of you. I won’t argue anymore. Just this one thing, and then if your Dad still isn’t convinced, I will suffer his insults in silence. I promise. No more screaming. I know he doesn’t want to upset you, either. We both care about you a lot.”
I’m still unsure, but the one thing I do know is that of all the people in this world there is one I can trust more than any other. That’s the man standing in front of me right now, holding out a hand to help me get down from the bed.
I take it because if he makes me a promise, something in my very bones knows that he’s going to keep it.
I allow him to help me to the floor and then rub my hand quickly across my face, wiping away the tears that have formed tracks on my cheeks.
“Alright,” I say. “What is it you’re going to show us?”
But Jonas only shakes his head mysteriously. “Proof,” he says, turning to lead me out of the room and back towards the video call on the screen.
“Of what?”
He glances back at me, just once. “Of how deeply I feel,” he says, then turns back. His face and body language making it clear if I want to find out what he means, I have to follow him.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Jonas
When we get back in front of the video call, I take a breath before saying anything else.
“Look,” I say, calm and collected, trying to be as reasonable as possible. “We got off on the wrong foot here. Please – let’s stay civil for the moment. I want to talk you through this and show you what my intentions are.”
“Intentions,” Greg scoffs. “Your intentions are to take my daughter’s innocence and then leave her stranded when you get bored.”
I don’t think it would be a good idea, right now, to tell him that her innocence is already mine. It might make him a little angry.
“Please, Greg,” I say. “Just listen. I know you think I’m not serious about this. You think this is just an infatuation, and I’m going to move on without any thought if I decide it’s over.”
