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The park wasn’t full by any means, but at least every few minutes a jogger or a businessman would pass by.
Every ounce of her focus was needed to remain calm. “I don’t care if you slander me. As you know, my parents can handle any ding to their reputation. I was the one who made the mistake, and it wasn’t me who pulled the trigger. I served my time.” It was harder than she thought to speak the words out loud, but at the same time they seemed to free her.
“So it’s gonna be like that then. What about your cowboy?” he sneered. “I can go tell him how you’re nothing like the perfect princess you made him believe.”
Her heart tore a little more. “While he doesn’t know the whole truth, that relationship was destroyed the second you pushed my back against the wall. I had to break up with him, and there’s no way he’s going to want me back. You burned your own bridge with that one.” She was bluffing. Kenneth could very well track Dax down and tell him all the sordid details. What was the worst that would happen? Dax would just know the full truth and still not want her. It hurt, but she needed to stop caring so much about what other people thought of her. People who loved her wouldn’t care about that sort of stuff.
Brielle didn’t care. And soon she’d find out if her parents would do exactly what she thought they would.
Kenneth’s face turned beet-red. “I’m going to drag your name so far through the mud that you’re going to wish you reconsidered. I know people too. People who wouldn’t mind fudging the truth. Everyone is going to think you’re the one who brought the gun. I might even see if I can make them believe you shot the cop.”
She clutched her hands tightly in her lap and stared up at him. Her calm exterior was nothing like the inner turmoil she felt. “I’m not going to let you control me, Kenneth.”
He let out a derisive laugh. “Where did this side of you come from? I’m not trying to control you. I’m getting what I deserve when you stole part of my life from me.”
Sarah shot out of her seat and glowered at him, her voice tight as she hissed, “You made your own choices. When you make mistakes, you own up to them and grow from the experience.” Just like Dax had.
He didn’t blame anyone for the choices he’d made. Dax moved forward and bettered himself. He was the kind of guy she wanted to be with. And she’d ruined it.
Sarah leaned closer to him and whispered, “Do what you want, but you won’t get very far. I’m on my way to have dinner with my parents and tell them everything. I’d like to see you get any kind of satisfaction out of messing with me when you don’t have any leverage.”
When she pulled back, she wasn’t surprised to find a deep scowl on his face. If only she’d come to this conclusion sooner—back when he was toying with her in Copper Creek. If only she’d seen the value in being upfront about this with her parents in the first place.
It was just going to be one more mistake that she’d have to learn from.
* * *
Sarah fidgetedwith her napkin as she sat across the table from her parents. They were still dressed in their work clothes, but then she hadn’t expected anything less. They’d always been workaholics. And they’d expected the same from her. That wasn’t something she ever wanted, even less now.
They put down their menus, and her mother gave her a strange look. “Why do you look so upset? Is it the article? I told you I didn’t have any say in that getting printed.”
That was a lie. Her mother had the newspaper editor in her back pocket. One word from her and the article wouldn’t have been printed. This was one of the many things her mother did. Little lies. At least Sarah could brush it off as some sort of motherly pride. Her mother had been thrilled when she’d called her after leaving Copper Creek.
Sarah reached for a glass of ice water and took a small sip. “It’s not the article. Though you might want to contact the newspapers and get ahead of something.”
Her mother’s shrewd eyes narrowed, and she pushed the menu aside. Her father’s glance bounced between them, but he didn’t say anything. “What happened?” As if by the touch of a button, her mother’s voice dropped to a flat, emotionless tone.
“It’s all been handled. I took care of it. But there’s someone who doesn’t like me very much—someone from college—he wants to hurt my reputation.”
Sarah’s parents exchanged glances. “Someone from college? Does this have anything to do with Kenneth?”
She stiffened in her seat and her eyes widened. Kenneth had introduced himself to her parents. She’d completely forgotten. They hadn’t mentioned him, so she had no idea what their impression of him was. She nodded. “Kenneth is someone I went on a few dates with, and something happened.”
Sarah watched as her parents’ eyes met once more. Her mother nodded and adjusted in her seat. Then her father spoke. “We had a background check run on that young man.”
Sarah sucked in a breath. There was no way they didn’t know about him and everything he’d been charged with. So why wouldn’t they bring it up? Why not tell her that she needed to have better taste in men? Or tell her they never wanted to see him again. She waited on the edge of her seat for them to tell her exactly what they thought of the guy who, not even two hours ago, had attempted to collect on the blackmail he’d demanded over the course of the summer.
Her father continued. “That young man is not to step foot in our home. He’s bad news, Sarah.”
So they knew. But they didn’t know about her own indiscretions. Rats. That meant this wasn’t going to be as easy as she’d hoped.
“I’m not dating him. I don’t even like him,” she muttered. “He was a fling. That was all.”
Her parents smiled, though per usual, their grins didn’t reach their eyes. The masks they wore were the ones they shared with the public.
“There’s more,” Sarah added. “Kenneth—we—we were both involved in some stuff several months ago when spring semester ended.”
And just like that the air around the table grew colder. Sarah avoided looking directly at her parents. “I didn’t actually do anything that caused damages, but I drove the car.”
