AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 8 - Grayson: Stay Away
I slammed the door of my truck shut. I threw her handbag and Ethan’s folder onto the passenger seat and looked at it like it was about to eat me.
What the hell had I been about to do? The plan from the start was to distract her and get her handbag. What I hadn’t planned was the sudden urge to lean in and kiss her. This had not been part of the plan.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out without looking to see who it was.
“You got it?” It was Ethan.
“Yeah, I got it.” My mind was still back in Jade’s bedroom; back on everything that had just taken place.
“Are you still at my house?”
“Yeah. I’m actually about to leave.”
“Okay cool, but I wanted to ask you for a favor.”
From the tone of his voice, I could already tell that it wasn’t going to be something that I wanted to do.
“What is it?”
“Can you bring Jade down to the office? I moved the funeral up, and I need to talk to her about a few things before then.”
“Why did you move it up?”
“Mom’s friend got an earlier flight and arrived the same time as Jade. So, there is no point in waiting longer than we need to.”
I knew that wasn’t the whole reason.
“And you are afraid she will bolt, aren’t you?”
There was silence at the other end of the line.
“She’s been away from home for so long, Gray. It’s a miracle I got her home in the first place. She needs to bury her mother and make peace with their turbulent past.”
“How is she going to make peace with her mother when you won’t tell her the real reason Monica died?”
“I’m only trying to protect her, Gray. According to my mom, a lot of words were exchanged when she went to visit her in New York. If I tell her how our mom really died, it could break her.”
“Lies aren’t protection, E, they are illusions we choose to treat as reality, and do you know what will hurt her the most?”
He was silent on the other end of the phone.
“When she finds out Monica died of cancer and not snorting cocaine. She deserves to know what happened.”
“You’re right.” He let out a heavy breath. “I will tell her soon. I promise.”
“I think you need to do it before the funeral, Ethan. Someone could let it slip and then what?”
“Fine, fine, fine. I will tell her tonight. I just don’t want her to bolt.”
“That’s a risk you’ll have to take, but if she is half the sister you believe her to be, then she will stay and stand by you.”
“You’re right. Thanks, Gray. I will see you guys when you get here.”
Then he ended the call.
I stared at Ethan’s front door for a good five minutes. I knew I needed to go in and get her because it wasn’t like I could message her. But after what had just gone on in her room, I didn’t know if I could go in there.
