“Told me what?”
“Grace, I’ve always known your Reindeer Man was Ray.”
“What? How?” I stuttered.
“Ray told me.”
“He… the Reindeer Man told you?”
“I didn’t call him that, but yes.”
“What did he say?”
“Basically what you told me. He thought it was funny.”
“No.” A lump formed in my throat. “No, it wasn’t. It wasn’t funny.”
Jake took my hands. “I know. He did it to terrorize you. When I came home, I didn’t know what you remembered. I tried to talk to you about it, to make sure you were all right, but you were so scared of me. You’d scream and run away anytime I got near. I wasn’t sure if you were afraid of me or of what Ray had said to you, but your reaction was freaking Mom out, so I just stayed away.”
“Why was it freaking her out?”
“She thought I was going to hurt you, or maybe that I already had. I was barely sane back then. Even I was confused. I thought maybe I had done something to you. It’s why she wouldn’t leave us alone in a room together unless others were in there with us. Why you went to a child psychologist. Why, to this day, I avoid being alone with you unless there’s a witness present.”
We sat in silence, both of us processing in our own ways.
“I am so sorry,” I said, my soft voice cutting through the quiet of the night. “I could’ve stopped it. I could’ve saved you.”
Jake pulled me to him, holding me tight. “This was never your fight to begin with. Why do you think Ray told you? Why do you think he chose to whisper in your ear and not Quinn’s or Kyle’s? Because he knew you couldn’t stop it. He knew you were too young to understand. You were dealing with a serial killer, Twinkle. There was nothing you or anyone else could’ve done to save me.”
I buried my head in his chest, my tears dissolving in his shirt. Jake had been my ally all along; I just never knew it. This felt like a turning point for us. A chance for us to start our relationship anew.
“And you can’t save Rory either,” he said, as if instinctively knowing that was what had attracted me to him in the first place. A chance to right a wrong, though I’d failed him too. “Only he can do that. But…”
Pulling free of the hug, I blinked up at him. “But what?”
“You can love him—like Casey loves me.”
“I do love him.”
“Then tell him. You both want each other, so stop wasting time.”
Jake was right. Rory and I had wasted way too much time. I needed to talk to him. He needed to know I still loved him. It wasn’t too late for us… as long as he loved me too.
“Hello?” A voice from inside the house halted our conversation.
“Are you expecting company?” I asked, looking Jake’s way.
“My guess: it’s the three bears, home at last.”
“Jake”—I lengthened his name like a mother scolding her child—“what have you done? Did you invite Satan here?”
“If you mean Quinn, yes.”
Quinn stepped forward, his hands up in surrender. “Before you say anything, I come with peace offerings.”
“Huh.” I fought off a grin. “You think bribing me will absolve you of guilt?”
“Well, let’s allow the offerings a chance to work their magic before you decide. First, I have a Sephora gift card.”
