And this time, she didn’t have the strength to stop herself. She hit the Bluetooth key on her car. “Why?”
“Polly—”
“Why date me? Why let meloveyou if you were engaged?”
Love.Shit. She loved him. And she’d just released that confession into the world.
More tears built in her eyes.
“Sunshine—”
“Don’t call me that!”
“We’re not engaged.”
She laughed, the sound loud and wild. Because she’d met other men who did this. Those who’d been caught in their own web of lies and, even then, couldn’t summon the truth. “Was it your grandmother’s ring she was wearing?”
“Yes, but?—”
“And she believes you’ve been engaged since you were kids.”
“Yes,shebelieved that?—”
“And she was in yourhouse. Was she the call you canceled the other day at your work? The one I asked you about and you didn’t tell me?”
He hesitated.
“She was,” Polly breathed, the words hissing from between her teeth.
Headlights appeared behind her.
“Mymothergave her that ring, not me,” Joel pushed. “Where are you? I’ll come to you. I don’t want to have this conversation over the phone.”
“Well, until now, you didn’t want to have it in person either. You should have told me.”
“I should have.”
High beams suddenly blinded her from behind. She cursed, instinctively speeding up to escape the light.
“What’s wrong?” Joel asked.
The car behind her sped up too. Then the driver obviously pressed their hand to the horn and left it there.
What the hell was their problem?
“Polly?” Joel’s voice was barely audible over the blaring horn. “Are you okay?”
“I—”
The high beams started to flash on and off. That, in combination with the horn, disorientated her.
“Joel…I think someone’s trying to run me off the road.” Her chest started to heave with panting breaths, and she sped up again. She’d lost track of where she was and didn’t even know how fast she was driving.
Joel said something, but she couldn’t hear him over the horn behind her, the driver now too close.
The car suddenly veered to the left, sped up, and tapped her left rear bumper.
Her car spun. The tree appeared in front of her. Instinctively, she swung the wheel, heart hammering against her ribs. Her car jerked sideways, tires squealing.
