“Kristen said bad things happen here. Did she mean at the school?”
“Bad things happen everywhere. She’s just trying to scare you.”
I pull away from him and walk over to the couch. “She said something else.”
“Just ignore her.” He comes over beside me. “Most of what she says is just her overreacting or trying to create drama where there shouldn’t be any.”
“Like with her mom? Is her mom really as horrible as she makes her sound or is she exaggerating?”
“I don’t know her that well. I know she puts Kristen down, like criticizes her appearance. She’ll even do it in front of people.”
“How could she criticize her appearance? Kristen is gorgeous.”
“I don’t think her mom is all there mentally. She’ll be normal one minute and crazy the next. Like one time we were out at dinner and she went on and on about how beautiful Kristen is, then ten minutes later told her she couldn’t eat dinner because she’s fat. So yeah, I think she can be emotionally abusive but I’m not sure she even knows she’s doing it.”
“Why would Principal Edwards marry a crazy woman?”
“For money. Her husbands end up rich when they divorce her. And Principal Edwards got a job out of the deal. He was teaching English at a small college when she met him at a charity event. They got married six months later and she got him the job at Twisted Pine.”
“How? She’s not in charge of hiring people at the school.”
“No, but she has influence. She donates a lot of money, so they listen to her. And Steven had a lot of connections before he met her. Before Kristen’s mom, he’d dated another old rich lady and got himself into that world. He made friends with the right people. Those connections, and Kristen’s mom, helped get him the job at Twisted Pine.”
“What’s the deal you and Kristen have? Why do you let her hide out here?”
Jackson gets up and walks to the wall of windows. “It’s complicated.”
“Jackson, tell me. I don’t like you keeping secrets from me, especially when it involves another girl.” I pause. “A girl you had sex with.”
He turns back to me. “Kristen has issues at home. Things I can’t tell you about. I promised her I wouldn’t.”
“So she comes here to get away from her parents? I thought her mom was always traveling.”
“She is, or she stays at one of her other homes.”
“And Principal Edwards is okay with that? Never seeing his wife?”
“He didn’t marry her for love. I don’t think any of her husbands did.”
“Wait, so if her mom’s always gone, you’re saying Kristen doesn’t like being home with her stepdad. Principal Edwards.”
Jackson walks over to me. “You hungry? There’s takeout menus in the kitchen. Let’s order something.”
“In a minute.” I look at him. “Is Principal Edwards doing something to Kristen? Is that why she doesn’t want to be home with him?”
“Rumor, I know you don’t want me hiding stuff from you, but I can’t tell you about this. I made a promise to Kristen and I’m keeping it.”
“Are you still going to let her come over here?”
“I haven’t decided. I probably will, but only if I’m here. I don’t want her just showing up like she did tonight.”
“But you guys aren’t still . . .” I look away.
“Having sex? No. And we won’t be. That part of our agreement is over.”
“Does Kristen know that? Because finding her here half-dressed in your bedroom makes me think she was hoping something would happen.”
“She can hope all she wants but nothing’s going to happen.” He pulls me into his arms. “There’s someone else I want to find half-dressed in my bedroom.” He kisses me, then whispers in my ear. “Or not dressed at all.”
