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I swallow hard, but I can’t fight the tears off. It’s the first time I’ve finally broken down since my rescue. Sure, I’ve cried, but not like this. It’s all coming together, and I’m hit with the realization of how close I came to losing everything.
I’m sobbing hard into my hands as Ethan walks me over to the table, pulling out a chair and telling me to sit. He rubs my back, leaning down, he rests his lips against the top of my head, letting me cry.
“I’m sorry,” I mutter, feeling far more vulnerable than I’m used to, while they all stare at me.
“Zoey,” my father says, “you never have to apologize. We’re all here if you need us or if you need to talk.” He comes over, Ethan stepping aside, my dad bends down and gives me a tight hug.
“I just really wanted you to meet Ethan…just not this way,” I say, and when I look over at Max, he’s still stoic, his mouth set in a firm line. I let out a ragged breath as Ethan takes a seat beside me, his hand resting on the back of the chair, his eyes now trained on Max too.
“Why’d you keep it a secret?” Max asks, but it’s said with a touch of animosity, and I swear I catch a small bit of hurt in his question too.
Max and I pretty much share everything with each other. Being so close in age and as we moved into adulthood, we became more like friends than siblings, telling each other everything.
I know he’s hurt by this, but that was never my intention. He has to understand how fragile this all was when Ethan and I started our relationship.
“I kept it from everyone,” I start to say, but Ethan jumps in adding the word “we”, reminding me that it wasn’t just me who kept it a secret. We both did and for obvious reasons, reasons Max is failing to see right now.
“I didn’t want people thinking I was taking advantage of Zoey,” Ethan says, taking over. “My role at Badger Creek can put her at risk for—”
“You already put her at risk!” Max shouts, sending me back in my chair as I shake my head.
“Max,” our dad says, a stern warning to his tone, but he remains completely composed. “We can’t possibly know why Zoey was taken and, in the end, it’s no one’s fault. I will not have you blaming anyone.”
“Fine. Whatever,” Max says, and I’m suddenly incredibly angry at him. He doesn’t get to throw a fit like this over my relationship. He has no idea what has happened between Ethan and me and how over the last few months we’ve grown closer than I have to anyone I’ve ever dated. With Ethan, it’s different and if Max can’t understand that, then he needs to work that out on his own.
“You’re right,” Ethan replies, letting out a hard sigh. “And now I have to live with what happened every day. You think I don’t know that, Max?”
“You did not put me at risk,” I instantly defend, turning to look at Ethan as I wipe the remnants of tears from my cheeks. “We aren’t going to play the blame game.” I let out a hard sigh, shaking my head at how quickly this conversation has turned sour. “Why don’t you put your energy into helping me figure out who did this, Max? Instead of blaming other people and getting pissed off. You’re not doing us any good,” I say, pointing a finger at him, growing angrier by the second.
He shoves back from the table, his chair scraping hard against the wood floor as he storms away. And all I can do is shake my head. I have no idea where this is coming from.
“He was worried about you, Zoey,” my mom says, softly. “He’s having a hard time.” She sits down across from me, the tears pooling in her eyes. I can’t even begin to imagine what this has been like for her. Worried about her daughter and now trying to navigate her son’s anger.
“He has a strange way of showing it,” I grumble, my brow furrowed.
“He always has, you know that,” my mom says, looking over at my dad. “Max loves you and this was hard on him. I think he thought he was going to lose you; we all did and then to find out you and Ethan are together. I think he just felt left out of your life.”
“Then he needs to learn to say that,” I spit out, still bothered. We’ve all been through a lot and I’m still trying to process it all. I can’t be focused on Max’s hurt feelings when I need to sort through what happened to me.
“Give him time, Zoey,” Ethan now says, and I swear he’s so patient and understanding. He’s sitting here with my family, watching us go through a bunch of bullshit, not worrying about himself. He’s only concerned about me.
“Why don’t you go talk to Max,” my dad says. “I think it will help both of you.” I nod, feeling exhausted but knowing I have to move past this issue with Max. “We’ll keep Ethan company. We haven’t even gotten to talk to him much at all,” my dad adds, a smile on his face now.
“You good with that?” I ask Ethan and he’s quick to respond, his words sending me off to find Max.
CHAPTER9
ETHAN
Iwatch Zoey walk from the kitchen to go and speak to her brother. Already I’m itching to pull her back to me, because after the last forty-eight hours I do not want to be apart from her for even a second. But I know I have to let her do this. Just like I know she’s safe here and that she needs to talk to Max.
Me too, actually.
“You look like you could do with a drink?” Jeff says.
Chuckling, I exhale as I scrub my hands down my face. “Yeah, that and about ten hours sleep,” I admit.
Jeff smiles. “What’s your poison, whiskey, bourbon, beer?” he asks, hands resting on the kitchen counter.
