Chapter Thirteen
Isatcross-legged on my bed that night, staring at the engagement ring that once belonged to Dylan’s mother. I’d seen it once or twice over the years. The night of our argument, I found it in the glove box of his car, but I hadn’t thought anything of it at the time. Now I realized he wasn’t holding on to it to be close to his mother but to save it forme.
The thought of slipping the ring back on my finger warmed my heart, but it would be wrong. I knew I couldn’t run away with him. This wasn’t fair. No one should have to make a major life decision in a matter ofdays.
“Oh my God! What is that?” Zoey raced into my room and hopped onto my bed, sending the ring flying in theair.
We both grabbed for it, but she won. “Are you gettingmarried?”
“No. Don’t be ridiculous,” Isnapped.
“Why is that ridiculous?” Zoey held the ring up toward the light, as if to inspect theclarity.
I snagged the ring from her, put it back in the box, and stuffed it under my pillow. “Because I’m not following him halfway across the world. My life ishere.”
Zoey patted my knee with a condescending look. “You call this a life? Girl, I haven’t seen you smile in three years except at Sadie’s wedding and a few half grins here and there. Your cheeks must be hurting from fatigue since Dylan arrived.” She softened her sarcastic tone. “What do you have here that you’re clinging so tight to? Yes, it’s the only home you’ve ever known, but you’ve had dreams of escaping since you hitpuberty.”
“Maybe so, but I was young then and a troublemaker.” I studied the pale-pink flowers on my comforter. A hand-me-down that Sadie tried to throw out and replace after marrying Ashton, but it was what I was comfortable with. What Iknew.
Zoey threw her hands up. “I don’t understand you. Tall, Dark, and Protective is in love with you. Do you know what I would do to get him to look at me thatway?”
“Him who?” Iasked.
“No. I mean, in general. Any man.” There was something she wasn’t telling me. I knew she didn’t have feelings for Dylan, buthimwassomebody.
“Oh please. Men throw themselves at you. That sweet charm of yours can manipulate a man into throwing his coat down over a puddle for you. Literally. Do you rememberprom?”
“Stop. This isn’t about me. It’s about you. Tell me why you’re staying here. If you give me a valid reason, I’ll leave youalone.”
“First tell me whoheis.”
She huffed. “Don’t try to change thesubject.”
“Fine. School,” I said in a matter-of-facttone.
She waved a hand. “You could do that online nowadays. Heck, you could probably take all the pre-requisites online in the fall if you wanted to, but you didn’t even look into it. So, tryagain.”
I studied the floor. She was right. My one big argument had been torn apart. “Now isn’t the time. Sadie is expanding her business, and she needs me. You’ll be going back up to Atlanta for school in the fall. You can’t be running down here each day tohelp.”
“That’s why she’s hiring staff. Next.” Zoey stood and crossed her arms, looking down at me. “You don’t have a good reason, doyou?”
“Yes, Ido.”
“Then what isit?”
“What if Ileave?”
Zoey’s brows drew together. “That’s the point. You should. Listen, you aren’t the glue holding ustogether.”
“I know. I’m the troublemaker who made Sadie suffer for so long. Who made you suffer. I’m just like Mom. We all know it. The woman is selfish to the core. If she could drain the Dumont fortune somehow, she would. I owe you for all the ridiculous stunts I pulled growingup.”
“No, you don’t. You were a suffering adolescent who felt abandoned. Look at you now. You’re nothing like her. You’re solid now. I’ve never seen anyone work harder than you to help a sister’s dreams come true. Sadie even told me how she could never repayyou.”
“She said that?” I asked, my voicecracking.
“Yes. You’re a good person, Avery. Accepting Dylan’s proposal isn’t running away from life. It’s running toward a realfuture.”
“What if I get there and I can’t handle it? Mom and Dad couldn’t handle each other or us. How could I ever be good for Dylan? He deserves so much better. Look at him. Look at what he’s done with his life. We were bad for each other, always getting intotrouble.”
