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Warwick
Ihadneverbeenso angry at someone as I was with Sarah. She’d put my entire team at risk, not to mention the scare she’d given me and Maria.
When Kevin and I returned to the house, there was pandemonium going on. Maria sat in the kitchen and held her head in horror as the security team raced around the property and searched for intruders. There were none, and when they reviewed the camera footage, all they found was Sarah alone in the back, creating a ruckus before she stole my car and sped away.
I’d been terrified something had happened to her, and when she’d returned, I was angry beyond all reason. The fact that she wouldn’t tell me why she’d left had pushed me right over the edge. Why was I bothering to help this spoiled and selfish girl if all she was going to do was put us all in danger every single day with every whim she had? I decided that if she weren’t going to tell me the truth, I’d cut her loose that evening. I’d had enough. The fact that I’d developed feelings for her was secondary to the safety of my entire team.
I tried to grab her as she ran for the bathroom, a move I’d assumed was another ruse she’d concocted in her mind. When I heard her retching violently, I knew something was definitely amiss, but it did nothing to alleviate my fury.
Sarah was in the bathroom for a long time. I left her alone in there and let her do her business. At least I knew where she was. I’d deal with her when she came out. She couldn’t stay in there all night.
When she finally did emerge, her eyes were bloodshot, and her face was blotchy with red marks that stood out dramatically on her pale skin.
“I’m going to ask you again,” I said when she composed herself and sat back on the bed. “Why did you go to the store and cause chaos here? What the hell was so important? Were you sick? Did you need Pepto? Anyone could have gone and gotten that for you. I’m trying to give you the benefit of the doubt, sweetheart, but you’re making it hard this time.”
Sarah whimpered and diverted her eyes to the ground. She shifted nervously like a puppy being reprimanded for peeing on the floor.
“Please don’t be mad at me. Please. I can’t explain. I’m scared. I don’t even know where to begin,” her voice caught.
I paused and contemplated. How many chances was I going to give this girl? My heart hurt when I thought about cutting her off, but this time, she had gone too far by putting my entire team at risk.
“Okay,” I said. I picked up my cell phone. “I’ll make arrangements to drop you off tomorrow.”
“Drop me off where?” Sarah’s eyes grew wide, and she looked scared. I wanted to hug her and protect her, but how could I? She was making it impossible.
“Out of town. Somewhere where you have a chance to get away safely. But I can’t have you here. You’ve put my entire team at risk more than once. I was willing to hear your reason, but you’ve refused to communicate,” I said, forcing myself to be impassive.
“Oh.”
Sarah’s eyes welled, and her lip quivered.
Did she have to make this so difficult? I’d worked so hard to make sure my life was as vanilla as possible. I’d gotten so involved with her, and I wanted it to be a happily ever after. Even with all the obstacles we had, this made it impossible.
“I’m sorry, but you did this to yourself,” I said. It came out colder than I meant it to, but I couldn’t help it. I was hurt and angry.
“I know,” she said. “Can I go now?”
“Go where?” I asked.
“To the guest room. I have to pack,” she said. Her voice was distant and scared. I nodded and waved my hand in dismissal. It was all over now, anyway.
Maria called Sarah for dinner, but she skipped it and opted to stay in the guest bedroom alone. I kept hoping she would come out, that we could somehow resolve this. What was she hiding from me that had her so scared? The possibility that it was something else that put me or my team at risk was too much for me to chance. She either had to come clean with facts and let me decide, or she had to go.
I peeked into the room before I went to bed. Sarah was asleep on top of the bedcovers. Her body trembled slightly as she slept. It got cold here at night. I debated covering her for a long time before finally grabbing a blanket from my room and laying it over her prone body. As I covered her, I forced the emotion out of my head, but the weight in my heart felt like a two-ton brick that might squash me right out of existence. How had this errant runaway bride gotten so under my skin in such a short time?
I lay in bed, awake for a long time that night. I heard Sarah get up in the wee hours of the morning. It sounded as if she was sick again, and the sobs that followed were almost more than I could take. The thought of her being pregnant crossed my mind, but surely she’d tell me that, right? No, this had to be something more, something I didn’t understand, and she refused to communicate.
I dragged myself out of bed at seven in the morning and called Kevin.
“I need you to drop Sarah off today,” I said gruffly.
“Sure, where?” he asked.
“A few hours out of town. Bring her to the motel I stayed at after I left Pauly. It’s pretty secure.”
“Okay?” Kevin waited.
“I can’t have her here after what she did yesterday,” I said. “She put us all at risk.”
