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He slips the key back into my hand.
“Give me some time. I’ll think about it.”
I look at him, my mouth agape.
“I promise,” he says seriously.
His phone rings.
He takes the call.
“Yeah... Okay. I’ll be there in a minute.”
I check the time on the wall clock. It’s twelve o’clock. Sharp. And then it dawns on me.
Oh, fuck.
I can’t believe this. It’s a scheduled pickup. He must’ve planned this all along.
How stupid can I be?
“Who was that?”
He wags his finger at me, grinning.
“Don’t do that, Senna.”
He leans into me and places a soft kiss on my cheek that turns me to mush before he tears away.
“I’ll let you know about the car and everything else. If you don’t hear from me till then, Merry Christmas.”
Dumbstruck, I stare at him as he swaggers away, my heart crumbling in my chest.
* * *
JADEN
The ocean stretchesin front of us, white crests breaking against the shore.
The breeze sweeps the beach, tousling my hair and ruffling my towel.
“Jaden... Jaden...”
Emma shoots her arms in the air and runs to me, waddling like a baby penguin. As soon as she hits the sand, her small feet sink, bringing her to a halt.
She bends at the waist and struggles to regain her balance, looking at me on the cusp of crying.
I sit upright.
“You can do it, baby. Come on. Easy... Come on. I’m here. I’ll catch you.”
I open my arms. She pulls up and steps gingerly toward me under my attentive eyes. She gets closer, and just as I’m about to praise her for her effort, she loses her balance.
Her arms flop back while her eyes pull wide open. I leap up and catch her. She giggles as I lift her up, her sand-coated fingers brushing my face.
I feel the grains of sand between my teeth.
“Smart move, Emma...”
