“Where?” I asked, feeling a stab of jealousy.
“At the single-screen movie theater. I work the box office. I saw your boyfriend there with his dad back in December.”
Another jolt of shock. “I-I don’t have a boyfriend. I broke up with Tucker ages ago.”
“It’s okay, Em.” Jack set out water glasses from our best crystal. “I won’t say a word. He’s that super genius, Xander, right? He didn’t recognize me. He seemed pretty worried about his dad.”
“How did you know we’re together?” I said, my heart skipping a dozen beats. “DoesDadknow?”
“I have my ways,” Jack said. “And no. If Dad knew, you’d have heard about it. Where is your man now? We could invite him over, straight into the jackal’s den.”
“His father has early onset dementia. He’s dropping him off with a specialist in Boston for the weekend to run a bunch of tests and won’t be back until late tonight.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Jack said just as Belinda arrived, a steaming pot in her mitted hands. “Here, Belinda.” He pulled out a chair. “You sit. I’ll serve.”
Our housekeeper and I exchanged glances. “Do you have a fever, Mr. Jack?” she asked, taking a seat while he went to the kitchen and came back with green beans and bread. “I haven’t seen your handsome face wear anything but a scowl in ages.”
He shrugged but also looked as if it were impossible to stop smiling, and that made me smile. I recognized that look.
He’s in love too.
The three of us sat down to Belinda’s dinner and her homemade angel food cake with a side of fresh strawberries. It was the best dinner I’d had at home in ages. After, we cleaned up to give Belinda the night off, and then I took my gifts upstairs.
In my room, I contemplated opening the presents from my parents, but they had “personal shopper” written all over them, and I wasn’t in the mood. I’d changed into my pajama pants and sweatshirt, when a knock came at the door.
“Come in.”
Jack stepped inside, carrying his laptop. “Hey. I have something for you. A birthday present. Seven years too late,” he said, as we sat side by side on my bed. “I’m sorry again for being terrible to you. You’re doing the best you can too. But anyway, I made this for you.”
Jack opened his laptop and played a video. My breath caught and my eyes flooded with tears almost immediately. It was of Jack, me, and Grant as kids. A film of our childhood. Grant, handsome and lean with dark blond hair and a wide smile, playing on the surf inBarbados. Or skiing in Aspen. Or just the three of us goofing off at home, being kids—set to a soundtrack of soulful piano music. The film was expertly cut together, with the last frame showing Grant, about age sixteen, standing at the door, waving goodbye. He’d been on his way to a party, I remembered—happy and smiling. It was haunting nonetheless.
“Jack, that was beautiful.” I wiped my eyes. “Youmadethis?”
He nodded and shut the laptop. “It was more compilation than anything else, but yeah. It’s what I want to do. To be a filmmaker.”
“That’s so wonderful. I’m so happy you found what you love. I’m glad we’re talking again. I’ve missed you.” I took his left hand, which still wore a neoprene fingerless glove. “How is it?”
“Hideously scarred for life,” he said without traces of irony. “My hand modeling career is over before it began.” He gave my fingers a squeeze. “I’m getting out of here, Em. I’m going to graduate from the Academy and live my life far away from Grayson and Cassandra Wallace. And you should do the same.”
I glanced down at our entwined hands. “I have something like a plan too, but there’s a part of me that wants to stay. To keep trying. To show Dad my own art and somehow keep us together. Don’t you want that too?”
“He’s not going to change, Em. Trust me.”
“You know something, don’t you? About Grant?”
Jack’s blue eyes hardened, becoming as icy as our father’s. He rose to go. “I’ll send you a link to the video,” he said, and went to the door. “If you decide to leave, I’ll try to help you however I can. But if you decide to stay, I won’t see you after graduation.”
“That sounds like goodbye,” I said softly.
“It’s for my own good.” He looked torn, his dark hair falling over his handsome, angular features. “And yours too, Em. If you have a chance to get far away from here, take it.”
Chapter 29
Emery
The following morning, I drove to Xander’s house and parked around the side. He greeted me at the door, and I flew into his arms, chased by Jack’s ominous words from the night before. “Getting far away” meant living thousands of miles away from Xander. I couldn’t stand the thought, so I kissed him instead. I kissed him as if we’d been apart for weeks instead of two days.
“I needed that,” he said when we broke our kiss and stepped inside.
