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“Oh, yeah, I’m going to stay here for a bit, if that’s okay. I can go eat lunch out at the barn kitchen though.”
Melanie shook her head and waved a hand, as if that was silly. “No need. She will be coming up here anyway. Saxon, honey, let Mrs. Jolene know to bring lunch up to Madeline,” she told him with a smile that was a little too tight.
I might not have caught it before, but I was looking now. She was giving him a silent warning.
What did she think he was going to say to me?I decided to push this a little.
“I’ll go with Sax down to the stables. I need to do my chores too,” I told her.
She frowned. “No, those have been handled. You are free to relax, enjoy the pool, read a book.”
“Oh. Well, I’ll go visit the horses then. They’ll wonder where I am if I don’t show up with their treats,” I said.
“Is Blaise here?” Saxon asked before Melanie could come up with a reason I shouldn’t do that.
“Yes,” I replied.
Saxon looked at his mother. “She’ll be safe then,” he said before opening the door and walking out.
I turned my attention back to Melanie to see her expression. She shrugged and shook her head, smiling, as if to say she didn’t understand Saxon’s response. I debated on confronting her with what I had heard, but she hadn’t sounded like the one I would get my answers from. Going down to the stables, I doubted I’d get much information either. I decided to get my phone and google horse racing and the Hughes specifically.
Twenty-Four
Nothing. Google knew nothing. At least nothing more than the number of champions the Hughes Farm had in their ranks. It also had pictures of Blaise with more women than I cared to see. Rarely did he take the same female to a race or event. That should make me feel better, but the fact that he went through females so quickly didn’t. Also, my age stood out. He had women on his arm. They were his age. They weren’t teenagers. I only had two months before I wasn’t a teenager anymore, but twenty wasn’t a big deal.
Tossing my phone back on the bed, I glared at it in frustration. That had given me no answers and only made all these unanswered questions worse. It was easy to forget everything when I was with Blaise. He consumed me. Admitting that wasn’t helpful either.
He was coming to get me tonight. I was supposed to take a bag of clothes with me. Although I was confused and unsure of what was going on, I still wanted to go. I wanted to be with him. I was overthinking this. That was what I got for eavesdropping.
I had put on new panties the moment I got in my room, but I’d not changed out of my sundress. Going into my closet, I found a pair of hot-pink shorts and a lacy white halter top that Melanie had bought me when we went shopping that one time after I went to Trev’s. I stopped and looked at my choices, realizing I was trying to dress older. Normally, I’d come in here and pick out the most comfortable items I could find. The pictures of the women Blaise had dated were getting to me.
I waged an internal battle, and in the end, I put on the dang halter top. Yes, I was dressing for Blaise. I had to accept it. I liked him more than a lot. Pushing that thought aside, I put some things in a bag and placed it on the bed, then decided to go eat lunch. I was about to walk out the door when my cell phone alerted me of a text. Stopping, I went back to get it. I rarely got a text or call. Melanie and Trev were the only two who had texted to contact me. Saxon just came and found me.
Blaise’s name was on the screen, and I frowned. I’d not put his number in my phone. I didn’t know his number. We hadn’t exactly been on good terms until last night. I opened the text.
Keep your phone on you at all times.
That was it. That was his message.
Why? And when did we exchange numbers?
I sent that and stood there, waiting for a response. It came almost immediately. As if he had known what I was going to ask.
Because I want to be able to get in touch with you. Melanie gave me your number.
That didn’t explain why his name was in my phone.
But your name is in my phone.
I waited again, and his response came quickly.
Melanie probably added it.
If I hadn’t heard the conversation earlier, I would have found that odd. But he was right. She probably had. After all, she had given me the phone and told me my passcode to it. She could use my phone anytime she wanted. I had nothing to hide, and she paid for it.
I slipped the phone into the pocket of my shorts before leaving the room.
When I entered the kitchen, I hadn’t expected Saxon to be sitting at the bar, eating a sandwich. He looked at me when I walked in and pulled out the stool next to him. There was a plate beside him with an identical lunch. I was glad he had come inside to talk to me. I trusted him, and I felt like he would answer some of my questions.
