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“Of course,” she replied sharply. “Why would you ask that?”
“Why didn’t you pay the ransom?”
I asked what I’d been wanting to ask but hadn’t had the courage.
Until today.
Until Bree offered me a way to take care of myself doing something I enjoyed.
“Your father thought it would send the wrong message. He had his security detail working on it,” she explained.
“Why didn’t he call the police?”
She cleared her throat. “You know better than anyone, Jane, how any indiscretion affects your father’s business.”
That was exactly the answer I expected and ultimately resented. Their reputation was only beginning to recover from the drama surrounding Emily’s wedding, and this would do nothing but bring it all to the forefront again.
They couldn’t allow that to happen.
“Not to mention,” she continued, “he was afraid we would be sending a message that we could be conned, and it would only encourage this behavior from others in the future.”
“What if he killed me? Would you care?”
“That’s a ridiculous thing to ask.” She scoffed. “Of course we would care. We love you, Jane, and want the best for you, but you’ve gotten yourself mixed up with the wrong people, and this is the consequence of that.”
I knew she would somehow flip the conversation so I was once again the one to blame. They wouldn’t admit they mishandled it, would never admit they could’ve been wrong, and I was tired of hearing the same old thing.
Without waiting for my reply, she continued. “Have you talked to your sister?”
“Just once,” I replied. “She called to ask how I was feeling.”
“Did she tell you about David’s promotion?”
I didn’t care about David’s promotion, especially considering that was all Emily could talk about once she asked how I was doing. She wasn’t concerned about me. She was doing what was expected of her. We weren’t close, we had never been, and for a moment, it made me sad. I thought about Bree with her sisters and wondered how they did it. They were all different, but they were best friends and supported each other. I wanted that in my life, and I was finding it, just not in my biological family. Tank and the girls I’d gone out with only one time called and visited me more than anyone in my family, excluding Rachel, and that meant everything to me. I could count on them to be there no matter what I decided to do with my life.
I ignored her question and instead decided to ask one of my own. “Were you close to Grandpa?”
She was quiet for a moment before finally answering. “Why are you asking me that?”
“I’m just curious,” I admitted honestly.
“Your grandfather and I didn’t always see eye to eye.”
I already knew that, and it was obvious by her tone that she wouldn’t say more. I never understood why they didn’t get along, but I suspected it had a lot to do with the fact that she was a carbon copy of my grandmother in looks and personality. I was only a little girl and could see that my grandparents weren’t in love. I wasn’t even sure they liked each other, and I had no idea why they had ever gotten married, but they had, and they’d stayed together.
They lived that miserable, dysfunctional life together for years, as were my parents, and so many more I knew.
I didn’t want that.
For the first time in my life, I felt like I could do something different and not follow the path carved out for me before I was even born. For the first time in my life, I was taking control.
Sitting up, I looked around and smiled before telling my mother what I was sure would upset her more than she already was, but I no longer cared. “I’m staying with Rachel, Mom. Don’t come tonight. I will not come home with you. And I just accepted a job with Bree Dimarco.”
“Doing what?”
“Designing and party planning.”
She scoffed. “Is she aware that you don’t have any education in design?”
