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Walking towards the door, I turned around for just a second. “I can’t hear any more of this tonight. But tomorrow morning you are going to take me to breakfast, and you are going to call that contractor to find out if there’s any chance I can live in your house while they are still doing repairs. I refuse to stay here another night under the same roof as Jack. And then you are going to tell me everything you know about their relationship, like you should have when it happened.” I gave her a look, daring her to push back.
She gulped. “Seven o’clock work for you? We can go to Barb’s before I’m due at school.”
I opened the door and didn’t bother to look back at Savannah. “Anywhere but Barb’s.”
My head pounded the next morning, the emotional hangover setting in.
I woke up well before my alarm and had my minimal belongings all packed and ready to go an hour before Savannah and I planned to leave.
I texted her to come get me when she was ready.
“I’m still mad at you, you know,” I said as we left Jack’s.
Savannah nodded. “I know.”
And while I was still hurt from her withholding Jack’s relationship with Katie, I understood why she might do something like that.
To protect my feelings.
I never could stay mad at my sister. She was right about one thing. I had done crazy things when she had brought Jack up in conversation over the years. It stung, but I had enough self-awareness to realize I didn’t exactly leave the gate open for her to give me updates on him.
And because I was an idiot, I missed key updates like the fact that the love of my life had almost married my school-age nemesis.
Who I still needed to see to finalize the paperwork on my house.
This was why people left small towns.
Jack’s actions, however, those cut me to the core. Ripped me open and shoved glass inside my veins.
When we finally sat down at a cute cafe I’d never been to before, I sipped my coffee, burning my tongue as she made a call to check on the status of the house. It wouldn’t be ideal, but I could at least sleep there. And if not, I had plenty of savings to get a hotel room or an Airbnb for a few weeks.
Savannah scarfed down her food as soon as she finished her call. Her morning sickness came and went unpredictably, making it difficult to know exactly what she needed. But she seemed to be eating well the past couple of days.
I used my stir stick to try to cool down my coffee. “You know, you should stay at Jack’s house until yours is fully ready to move back into. I can handle a construction zone. You shouldn’t have to. Who knows what you might be breathing in, or what you might trip over?”
Savannah licked her fingers in a very unladylike fashion. “Are you sure?” She looked equal parts guilty and relieved.
I set down my stir stick. “I’m absolutely sure. You have to do what’s best for you and that little baby of yours.” I reached over to squeeze her hand.
For the first time since I called her out for not telling me about Jack, she smiled. “Thank goodness, because Jack’s guest bed is way more comfortable than my own. I think we need to go in and steal it once the house is ready for me to move back into.” She raised her brows in all seriousness. “My coworker has a truck. I’ve worked it all out.” She drank from her mug of hot chocolate, getting a little of the whipped cream on her nose.
I leaned over with a napkin. “You do realize you’d be stealing from a cop, right?” I laughed incredulously. My laugh came easily but then ended abruptly as I remembered what said cop had done to me less than twenty-four hours ago. “Speaking of Jack, now’s the time where you spill the beans. I want to know everything.” I clasped my hands together in my lap, as my feet bounced below the table.
Trying to abate my anxiety, I braced myself for more heartache.
Savannah put her head in her palm, looking me over closely. “Are you sure you really want to know?”
I clenched my fists. “Yes.”
She heaved a sigh. “I really don’t know all the details. You’d have to ask Jack about those,” she told me pointedly. “Which, for the record is what I think you should be doing. I might be your younger sister, but I know that lack of communications screwed you over before. I don’t want that to happen again.”
I waved off her concern before putting my hands back in my lap.
Turns out, Savannah wasn’t lying when she said she didn’t know too many of the details. She knew they got engaged quietly soon after Jack moved back to town after his football career-ending injury. He had already bought the house and Katie moved in right away. Two months in he popped the question and then they broke up a month or so later.
I leaned forward. “That’s an awfully fast timeline. You don’t know why they got together or why they split up?”
Savannah frowned. “I don’t. I didn’t want to push it and Jack wasn’t exactly forthcoming with the details whenever we met up. I think he felt awkward sharing it with me.”
