Almost.
But when I caught where Jake was looking, straight at Cassie, I had to shake off the feeling. We weren’t there yet. One day. Maybe. But not today.
Resigned to the fact that his truck was enough for now, I shooed him off to deal with the bull while I buckled Cassie back in and headed to the house.
Not rushing, I drove carefully toward the house, dodging every ditch and pothole I could. I barely got over twenty miles an hour, but damn, I loved this beast. I was up so high I could see everything, and I wanted one of my own.
When the main house came into view, Cassie started complaining about needing to use the bathroom. I couldn’t really tell her to hold it, not when we were doing our best to avoid accidents. After parking Jake’s truck in the shade, I helped Cassie out before taking her hand and leading her up the steps.
If it hadn't been Cassie’s insistence that we hurry, I probably would’ve waited outside until Jake appeared, but I didn’t have that luxury. Lifting my hand, I knocked on the screen door and waited. And waited. And waited some more.
“Mom!” Cassie whined, bouncing on the spot.
Knocking again, this time I called out. “Hello? Shelley?”
A minute later, Shelley appeared with a spoon in her hand. “Oh, you don’t need to knock. Come on in.”
“Cassie needs to use the bathroom,” I offered in the way of explanation.
Shelley’s eyes dropped to Cassie, who looked like she was in pain. “Of course. You remember the way?”
“Yes. Thank you,” I said politely, scooping Cassie up under my arm and hurrying up the stairs.
While Cassie did her business, I snooped through Jake’s bathroom cabinets. It was pretty disappointing really. The only thing I learned was he still wore the same cologne he always had and seemed to still keep a stockpile on hand. There were three bottles in the cabinet and a box of unopened condoms.
After helping Cassie wash her hands, we went back downstairs, me trying to coax Cassie down the stairs while she tried to touch everything. Reaching the landing, Cassie reached for a photo of a young boy wearing an oversized hat and his father’s boots. Jake was sitting on the hood of his father’s car with a beaming smile.
“Cassie, don’t touch,” I scolded her, taking the frame from her hand and setting it back on the table in the hall. In my haste, I knocked over a pile of papers. “Dammit!” I swore, bending down to pick them up.
When I saw my name on the top of one, my heart stopped. Why would they have papers with my name on them? I knew I shouldn’t look. No good ever came from snooping, but my name was printed there in black ink. I couldn’t not look. I tugged the piece from the pile and quickly scanned it. I didn’t need to read every word to get the gist of it. It was all there in black and white.
Shoving the mess back on the table, I grabbed Cassie’s hand and practically dragged her out the door, barely pausing long enough to grab her backpack.
“Where are you going?” Shelley asked as I pushed open the screen door, it creaking under the strain.
“Home. We have to go. Now.”
Without waiting for a reply or to say goodbye to Jake, I bundled Cassie in the car, her complaining when I yanked the belts too tightly before running around and sliding behind the wheel. Pressing my foot down on the gas pedal harder than necessary, I spun the wheel, sending a cloud of dust and gravel up into the afternoon air.
I thought I heard Jake yelling my name, but I didn’t look back. I couldn’t.
As far as I was concerned, Jake and Shelley could go fuck themselves seven ways to Sunday.
ChapterSixteen
Jake
“What did you do?” I boomed, almost ripping the door from its hinges.
“Excuse me?” Mom countered from where she was sitting at the kitchen table sipping her iced tea.
“Kellie, Mom. What did you say to her?”
“Don’t take that tone with me, Jake,” Mom warned, but it wasn’t going to help. I was about to destroy something. If she thought Gladiator had a temper, she was about to see mine.
“Mom! Kellie just took off like a bat out of hell without saying goodbye. When I left her not twenty minutes ago, she was fine. Busting my balls, but we were good. Now she’s running. What happened?” I demanded.
Mom stood up, turned her back to me, and poured the last of her drink down the sink before rinsing the glass and setting it on the dish rack to dry. If she was hoping I’d calm down while she went about her business, then she didn’t know shit about me. If anything, it was only fueling the frustration.
