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Only when light begins dousing the room am I struck by the true horror of the situation.
Nancy’s perfectly coiffed bun sits low on her neck, seemingly pulling back her brows in high disdain as she slides a cutting gaze over my ensemble.
“Honestly, Katelynn. Have I not raised you better?”
In the bite-sized rectangle at the top right of the screen, my hair is a tangled mess. The smudged makeup a couple margaritas had convinced me I didn’t need to remove darkens my eyes, and half of my boob is hanging out when Henry’s face suddenly fills the screen.
I reach for the crumpled sheets behind my head and yank them over my shoulder to cover myself.
Batting at a clump of disheveled hair, I try for casual. “What’s up, guys?”
Henry’s cold, calculating eyes narrow as he takes a step back. “We’ve received some news.”
“Mom’s getting another nose job?”
Her twice-adjusted nose attempts a wrinkle. “Thad has informed us that you’ve left the country.”
At that, my heart stutters to a halt. I actually choke before I’m able to force out a response. “He what?”
This isn’t exactly how I planned for them to find out. I honestly hoped to avoid the whole conversation forever.
Too much to ask?
I’m still reeling over Thad knowing where I am as she continues to drill me.
“Why didn’t you tell us you were leaving?”
“I didn’t want you to freak out,” I say picking at a dark speck on the sheet still draped across my front.
“Or, you didn’t want her to tell you no.”
I stare at the phone a moment, unable to move when I hear a familiar voice. A voice that belongs to a man who, years ago, I considered to be my only friend.
My breath hitches when Thad steps into the frame.
All at once, I’m remembering the days of being teased by the pretty girls in private school, and how he would pick me up and take me to our secret spot. Just like always, we’d lay in the bed of his truck, detaching from the world for a little while.
I never planned on telling him why they were picking on me—acknowledging the deep-rooted acne no medicine seemed to cure was embarrassing enough—but I never quite perfected the art of lying to him.
Any time I tried, he’d just smirk at the stubborn tilt of my chin and say, “You’re too easy to read, Katie.”
Being as tall as he is, he’s forced to stand behind my mother, but her small stature does nothing to hide his muscled figure.
“Thad.” Apparently, there are no other words in my vocabulary.
Not even,What the hell are you doing at my house?Or,Didn’t I tell you I needed space?
“Hey, Katie.” His amber eyes are soft compared to my mother’s piercing stare.
I’ve never cared for the nickname. It’s childish and makes me think of Henry’s Aunt Martha, who used to pinch my cheeks when she’d say, “There’s my little Katie.”
“How did you know where I was?”
“When I didn’t hear back from you yesterday, I got worried and called your boss. He told me you took your last shift to Topica Bay,” Thad says, sliding his hands into his pockets. “I assumed you told your mother about the rest.”
I wait for him to come to my rescue as he always has. To convince Mom to give me the space I desperately need.
“But you didn’t tell me, did you? Not even bothering to care about the position you’ve put your mother in.”
