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I shifted towards her in surprise. “Really? That’s great,” I said earnestly.
“And what about you? What made you finally come home to Haver’s Creek?” Her eyes pierced mine, as if she could see the answer in my head.
It rattled me. I tried counting to ten in my head to calm myself down for this conversation.
Savannah wouldn’t want her to know about the baby. That’s why I came back in the first place. Not only to help support Savannah but also serve as a buffer.
I kept my answer vague. “I felt like it was time to come back.”
My mother continued to stare at me, then nodded her head. “I get it, you don’t trust me,” she started. I opened up my mouth to argue, but she held up a hand. “You don’t need to lie, Whitney Rose. You never were very good at it anyway. And I get why you don’t want to tell me, but I hope one day you can forgive me.”
Frustration flashed through me. So much for keeping my cool. “Forgive you? That’s all I want to be able to do, but the second I get back into town you hit me because you were driving under the influence.” I looked at her skeptically, tears filling my eyes. “How am I supposed to move on and forgive when it seems as if absolutely nothing has changed in the decade since I saw you last?” I stood up, pulling my purse on my shoulder. “Have a good life, Mother.” I stalked away. As soon as I turned the corner, I pulled myself up against the brick building, leaning my head back against it to compose myself.
After a few steeling breaths I walked the remaining distance to the jewelry store.
I still had a job to do.
Chapter 27
Jack
Beingwith Whitney gave me a natural high I hadn’t felt in years. Probably since I opened the winery, and before that maybe since I played in my first pro-ball game.
Her body sang to me. I already knew her mind, had built that connection in our youth, but to now know her body was a whole new world.
One that I wouldn’t take for granted.
I only had one fear: that my past would come to bite me in the ass.
Whitney made it crystal clear that she had avoided me all these years because of what she thought happened between me and Katie on grad night.
It still rocked me to my core that she’d think I’d do that, abandon her at the party without a good reason. I remember distinctly walking around the party searching for her in a state of panic.
And while nothing happened then, she didn’t know what happened after. Whitney wanted to forgive ourselves for the past, but would she be so forgiving if she knew the truth?
Fear flooded me as I thought about all the ways in which she could find out. Clearly, Savannah hadn’t told her. Otherwise, I’m sure Whitney would have brought it up when she revealed her assumption was why she left Haver’s Creek in the first place.
I didn’t want to tell her because Katie meant nothing to me. Despite our blip of a history, my feelings for her never could compare to the feelings I’ve had for Whitney.
Then or now.
I’d been sitting in my office for hours when a call came on the line. “Officer Montgomery.”
I put down my pen and took a sip of my now cold coffee as I waited for the person on the other end of the line to reply.
“Officer Montgomery, this is Janine, Jeremy’s mom. I had some luck with the other parents and wanted to make sure you got their information right away.”
Sitting up straighter, I held the phone between my ear and my shoulder as I pulled back to a fresh piece of paper on my legal pad. “That’s great, Janine. Can you give me their names and I’ll follow up with them individually?”
“Actually, that’s why I was calling.” I dropped the phone back in my left hand, my right hand poised to write. “The parents really want this taken care of immediately, so we were hoping to all come to you. Does that work?”
The clock on the wall told me I had an hour before I needed to go out on patrol, but I’d swap it with someone else. I told Janine as much.
“We can be there in twenty.”
“Perfect. We’ll see you all soon.”
Once the call ended, I relayed the information to the chief who wanted to make sure that we did everything by the book. That meant making sure that we took everyone’s statements separately. We didn’t want anyone to influence anyone else. Fortunately, we had enough hands on deck to cover things.
