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She held out a hand, snapping her fingers to cut me off. “Come, we’re leaving. Right now.”
“No,” I said with a firmness I didn’t recognize. Her eyes went wide.
“Excuse me?”
“I said, no.”
“Stop this, we’re leaving,” she snapped
I put my foot down. “I’m not going with you!”
“You are! Did you think you could just steal away into the night and we wouldn’t do everything in our power to find you? I thought you were kidnapped. Stolen from us. But look at you, Sierra. Dressed in a men’s raincoat with your hair all—all wild, looking so unkempt. You gained weight, too.”
I gritted my teeth, trying not to let my mother’s insults cut into me like usual.
“You should be grateful I’m here. That I put in so much effort to find you and bring you back to your fiancé—”
“He’s not my fiancé—”
“Oh, he is. That’s not up to you!”
“It never was. I never wanted this. I don’t need to be found. I ran from you, from Dad, and from Jonahon purpose.”
“Did we not give you everything you ever needed, Sierra? I always knew you were an ungrateful little bitch, but this is beyond—”
“Get away from me!”
“Do you realize the mess you’ve made? Jonah is up in arms, and the media has been—”
“Why do you care about the media now, when for the past year, stories about Jonah and his affairs have been all over the press, and yet I was still obligated to go through with the wedding!”
“That’s enough,” she growled, her voice full of ice and venom. “You are coming home.”
“Absolutely not,” I retorted, tilting my chin. “I’m not going anywhere with you. It’s over between me and Jonah. I am twenty-nine years old!”
She reached for me, her fingers digging into my forearm. I yanked my arm away and bolted, leaving the cart behind. I felt sorry for the employees who’d have to put all of the groceries away, but I didn’t have to time to stop to apologize to anyone. I could hear her designer boots clacking on the tile behind me as I ran through the store.
I burst through doors and booked it to Pete’s truck.
I got inside the truck, looking the doors.
She stood at the entrance of the store, her eyes locked on mine. I fought the urge to smirk. I knew she wouldn’t chase me through the rain and risk getting her hair wet or ruining her makeup. Buther expression was grave, filled with silent warning. This wasn’t over. She didn’t care that I’d been an adult for over a decade. In her eyes, I belonged to her. I belonged to Jonah. My parents would do anything to make sure the old money connection between our family and the Lawley’s stayed in place.
I ripped out of the parking lot and drove home. Home. To Pete.
I knew she’d follow. She had been following, I realized. She knew the truck. She likely knew I was living above the bar.
How much else did she know? Had she followed Pete and me to the mall? To my recent appointment?
My heart thundered in my chest as I gripped the steering wheel.
Did she know I was pregnant?
“Oh, no,” I breathed, my voice rattling. “Oh, God.”
Tears began to stream down my face as real, panicked fear gripped my chest. I couldn’t get to the bar fast enough. It was only a five-minute drive but it felt like hours had passed when I finally pulled up to the curb and jumped out, running as fast I could across the street and through the pouring rain.
I had to shove my way through a group of cowboys loitering outside the entrance, some of them whistling at me. The rain masked my tears as I yanked open the door and bolted inside.
