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Barb didn’t know why I had left Haver’s Creek all those years ago, but now she knew it at least had something to do with my feelings for Jack.
I felt crushed all over again.
A knock came from the outside door. “Whit, are you okay? Please come out and talk to me,” Jack begged, a slight panic in his voice.
I went to the sink to wash my mouth out.
I didn’t bother opening the door. “I’m going to spend the night at your house, but in the morning, I am going to find somewhere else to be. I don’t want to see you or talk to you. Promise me you’ll give me my privacy.” I withheld all emotion from my voice. This was a business dealing at this point and I needed to be practical. Barb rubbed my back as I stared at myself in the mirror, suddenly looking decades older.
As much as I loathed going back to Jack’s tonight, I had very little alternative. I could pack my things and head to a hotel, but it was already so late. I’d sleep and be out at first light.
“Can’t we just talk about it?” Jack countered.
I pulled open the door to the bathroom, my eyes red from the tears that had started to stream down my face as I tossed up everything in my stomach.
“No.” I pushed past him, grabbed my purse, and headed straight for my car ignoring his pleas from behind me.
I rushed into the house, afraid Jack was close behind me. I didn’t want to see him. Not now. Not ever. And I just needed to stay away from him for one more night.
And figure out how to finalize the gala plans without him.
Not that I needed his help. I knew exactly what I needed to do to get things in order for the event. But still, he’d want to help. He’d want to insert himself into my coordination efforts with his winery team, who I was scheduled to meet with in the morning.
“Ughh.” I flung open the fridge, grabbed an opened bottle of wine and made my way upstairs.
I knocked on Savannah’s door and felt a rush of relief when her voice came through from the other side. “Come in!”
As soon as I crossed the threshold into her bedroom, I let my tears fall again. Suddenly feeling sick, I put the bottle down on the dresser, abandoning my idea to drink it. It’d just make me want to throw up all over again.
Savannah discarded her phone. “What’s wrong?” She patted the other side of the bed, and I climbed in next to her.
I took a deep breath. “I slept with Jack.” I winced, wondering what my sister would think.
She huffed. “Is that why you are crying? Jack couldn’t have been that bad. Not that I ever want to think about you and Jack having sex. But you know, the guy’s good looking and built. And I’m sure he’s gotten loads of practice.”
Just thinking about how Jack acquired all those skills in the bedroom sent another wave of nausea through my body.
I got under the covers and pulled them over my head. “No, it’s not about Jack’s ability in the bedroom. This is about the fact that he didn’t tell me he almost married Katie Kooney.” I laid there under the covers contemplating it some more.
The man had ample opportunity to tell me about his past. It would have been a good idea for him to come clean after I revealed my insecurities about him and Katie.
Did he think he could just hide the fact that he had almost married her a secret?
That would be insane.
Then I gasped, pulling the covers away from face and turning towards my sister.
And for the second time that night I felt betrayed.
“You knew, didn’t you? There’s no way Jack Montgomery could have almost married hometown sweetheart Katie Kooney without everyone in Haver’s Creek knowing about it.” I looked at her like she was a stranger to me.
Savannah cringed. “I tried. I promise I did. You were stubborn as a mule when it came to getting Jack updates and I knew this one would hurt you. It didn’t last long. It was barely a blip.”
I put my hand up to stop her flimsy excuses. “You didn’t think it might be important to me that the person I loved almost married someone else? And that the person they were engaged to had been the source of my teenage heartbreak?” I just stared at her, completely stunned, and betrayed.
This truly was a new level of hell. The two people I cared about the most letting me down.
I swung my legs out of bed, while Savannah reached for me. “Where are you going?”
