AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jack met me, stopping barely two feet away, out of breath. “You left,” he panted, “without saying goodbye.”
“I waited,” I said. “But we had to go.”
Jack tried to let his breath catch up. “I thought we had more time.”
“Where were you?” I asked.
“Hank had some things to say.”
I nodded.
“I’m really sorry,” Jack said then, “about the death threats. I’m really sorry that I put your life in danger.”
“I’ll be okay,” I said. “As long as I stay away from you.”
It was a half joke, but Jack didn’t think it was funny.
“Don’t worry,” I said then. “The Corgi Lady will move on eventually. That’s how these things work.”
“Thank you. For everything,” he said, taking a step closer. “I wanted to say that to you before you left.”
I nodded. “I wanted to say something to you, too.”
Jack met my eyes and waited.
But then twenty different things popped into my head. There was no way to say it all. Or even prioritize. I finally went with, “You did the right thing just now.”
Jack let out a funny little laugh and looked down.
“I know it was Drew’s last wish, and I never even met him, but I don’t think he’d want one thing he said in a panic to rip your family apart forever.”
“Let’s hope not,” Jack said. Then, “Too late now.”
“Your mom was right,” I said.
“My mom’s always right.”
“Forcing you and Hank together was a good thing.”
Jack nodded. “Good thing he’s so great at pissing me off.”
Back in the car, Amadi flicked the lights on and off.
“Looks like it’s time,” Jack said.
“Yes,” I said. “But I need you to know…”
I hesitated. It really was time to go. There was a tiny part of me that thought I should tell Jack something real. That I liked him. That I’d fallen for him. That even though it had been fake—maybe even because it had been fake—it had somehow become the most real thing in my life.
But how humiliating was that?
Once we parted, there’d be no way to get in touch with him. He’d disappear behind that curtain of fame that separates celebrities from everybody else, and I’d disappear into my workaholic, on-the-run life. If this really was the last time I’d ever see him, then this was my only chance to tell the truth, and I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life regretting everything I should’ve said.
He had meant something to me. He had mattered to me. He had taught me things I didn’t know I needed to learn. My time with him had changed me, and I was grateful.
I wanted him to know that.
This was my only chance to say it…
