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“Let’s go inside. I need to shower.” My voice has softened, and I kiss her gently on the head. Taking her hand, we head inside. Once upstairs, I go into the bathroom and turn on the shower. When I turn around, Zara’s standing in the doorway.
“You haven’t answered,” she whispers.
“Answered what?”
“Whether you’re happy or not?” Her eyes search mine and I feel like an arsehole, but I can’t lie to her.
“I’m confused, Zar. I don’t know how I should feel. I just want the last three years of my life back.” She goes to say something but changes her mind and offers me a sad smile instead before turning and leaving the room. I seem to be hurting everyone at the moment, and my head pounds under the stress of it all.
Once I’ve showered, I come out of the bathroom to find the bedroom empty. Zara must have gone downstairs, and I can’t help feeling a little relieved she didn’t try to join me in the shower. I think I’ve hurt her enough today without rejecting her any more. I dress quickly and knock on Aria’s door before I go downstairs. I want to check she’s okay after her run-in with Zara, especially knowing she was upset. There’s no response to my knocking though, so I push gently on her door, only to be met by an empty room. Sighing, I make my way downstairs, knowing I won’t be able to speak to her alone if she’s with everyone.
Aria isn’t downstairs when I get there though, and I don’t see her again for the rest of the night. She’s clearly avoiding me, or Zara, or both of us, and I can’t say I blame her. I manage to speak to my mum alone, and she tells me Aria has gone to Libby and Mason’s to see Annie. She tries to ask me about my talk earlier with Zara, but I brush off her questions, not wanting to talk about it.
* * *
“Jack, wake up!”Zara whisper shouts in my ear. I groan and roll over, not wanting to open my eyes yet. “Jack!” Her voice is more urgent, and my eyes fly open, the chink of sunlight sneaking through the curtains burning my eyes.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, sitting up. “Is it Jacob?” My head spins after sitting up too fast and I close my eyes until the spinning stops. Turning to face her, I see her phone in her hand.
“No. It’s my dad.” Her voice breaks and she bursts into tears. Reaching for her, I pull her into my arms and let her sob against my chest, waiting for her to calm down. When she does, I pull back slightly.
“What’s happened? Is he okay?”
“He’s had a… a… stroke. He’s in hospital. My sister just messaged me.”
“I’m so sorry, Zar.”
“We need to go home.” She jumps up and pulls her suitcase from under the bed, frantically emptying drawers and tossing the contents into her bag.
“Go home?” What I can only describe as a wave of fear crashes over me at the thought of leaving the ranch. She stops her wild packing and turns to look at me.
“Yes, Jack! My dad just had a stroke.” She shakes her head and turns away from me. “You do what you want. I need to go home.”
I instantly feel like a jackass and jump out of bed and go to her. “Of course I’ll come with you,” I find myself saying, my hands on her waist. “Jacob too. You shouldn’t be on your own. I’m sorry, you just took me by surprise.” She drops her head back on my chest and I feel her sigh.
“That’s okay. It’s not what I was expecting either.”
“I’ll go and look for flights. I’m sure Aunt Claire won’t mind if I use the laptop.” I kiss her gently on the back of the head and make my way downstairs. I can hear voices coming from the kitchen, and I find my parents eating breakfast. They always were early risers. Not even Jacob is awake yet.
“Morning, Jack. Everything okay?” my dad asks, the look on my face clearly giving me away.
“Zara’s dad had a stroke. We need to go home.”
“Go home?” my mum asks, standing from the breakfast bar. “You can’t.” Her eyes flick to my dad and I look between them.
“Didn’t you hear what I said? Her dad had a stroke, he’s in hospital.”
“Can’t she go on her own?”
I frown, despite thinking the same thing briefly upstairs. “I can’t let her go on her own, she’s a mess. I know you don’t like her—”
“How do you know that?” she asks defensively.
“Just how you’ve been around her since I got back from the hospital. I don’t know what’s gone on between you two, because no one will tell me anything,” I say exasperatedly. “But I’m not blind.”
“What about Aria?” she asks.
“Emma,” my dad warns, subtly shaking his head.
