“A mistake is made once.” Jaxon’s getting bombastic. “But if you do it several times, then it’s not a mistake. It’s a pattern.”
“Hear, hear,” my dad calls.
What the hell? This can’t be happening. Jaxon can’t be manipulating my own family to his side.
Speak up. Say something,I urge myself.
But it’s too late. My mom’s already falling head over heels for Jaxon, her new soon-to-be son-in-law—at which point, he will torment me for the rest of my life.
“I think I speak for all of us in the Miller family, Kenny,” Jaxon says, crossing his arms, “when I say you need to leave. You’re not welcome here anymore.”
“Amy,” Kenny pleads.
“I can’t believe you’d cheat on me.” Amy sobs.
“Karma slapped a bitch fast this time around,” Gran remarks as she pours herself more wine. “Mandy, you look like you’ve had a shock. I don’t know why. We all knew this was coming.”
“Mandy?” Jaxon asks. “It is Mandy, isn’t it? I’ve heard so much about you. I wish we could meet under more auspicious circumstances.”
Bastard.
“Why don’t you fetch your poor sister some water?” Jaxon points me to the kitchen.
The kitchen is warm and smells like home—or what used to be my safe, comfortable home until Jaxon arrived. A back door from the kitchen leads out into the yard, but it might as well have been in China. My purse with my car keys is upstairs in my childhood bedroom. I would have to walk past Jaxon to retrieve them, and he would never let me leave.
Even if I could, where would I go? Back to Salinger? He never actually cared about me—he just wanted to win. Now he has Scarlett, a way more enticing prospect than I ever was. She can even win him the contract he wants. He’s probably already forgotten about me. They’re probably planning her wedding as we speak, drinking wine and shit-talking me. I bet she throws away all the food I made and makes him buy her champagne and caviar.
I’m trapped. Trapped between Jaxon and my own insecurities.
I come back out with a glass of water and hand it to Amy while Kenny and his daughter are putting on their coats.
Just say you want to go with them!No, it’s too late.
“And stay out!” Jaxon declares dramatically as he slams the door behind them.
Gran and my mom applaud.
“Isn’t he great?” My mom elbows me.
I’m going to be sick.
“You look like you need more wine.” Gran waves the box at me.
“I think the casserole is ready,” my mom exclaims. “Mandy, why didn’t you tell me? You were just in the kitchen.”
Jaxon makes a big show of sitting next to me at dinner. I huddle as far from him as I can on the chair while I choke down the food, trying to pretend that I am anywhere else.
“You don’t want more dessert, Mandy?” my mom asks when I force myself out of the chair.
I wave her away, feeling nauseous.
“You’ve had a hard week, haven’t you?” Jaxon’s face is a mask of sympathy.
I know the truth. “Something like that.”
My legs and back still hurt from running after the animal control van. I crawl into my old bed, even though it’s still early evening. I take another sip of wine and lean back against the headboard. I’m not going to fall asleep. It’s not safe. The bedroom door doesn’t have a lock. I’m going to wait until the rest of the house is asleep, then I’m leaving. I’m not pretending that everything is fine. It’s not fine.
I’ll go… somewhere.
