“We’re done. You and Mom don’t ever call me again. I want nothing more to do witheitherof you.”
Then he hung up, not a single bone in his body feeling guilty for speaking to his parents like that and cutting them out of his life.
He climbed out of his truck and stormed into his house, one single thing on his mind—getting back the woman he loved.
17
Aknock at the bedroom door had Polly’s eyes closing.
No. She didn’t want to wake up. She wanted to stay in her fictitious perfect dream world, where the woman with the ring on her finger hadn’t opened Joel’s door and there were no psychopaths racing around Deep River, running her off roads.
Another knock. “Can I come in?”
How was she supposed to say no to her beautiful best friend, who was letting her crash at her place?
“Of course. It’s your house.” She pulled the pillow down.
The door creaked as it opened, then Maggie stepped into the bedroom. “Technically, it’s Ethan’s house.” She perched on the edge of the bed. “How are you doing?”
Polly sat up. “I’m going back to work today, so I have to be okay.”
“No. You don’t have to be anything. You’re the boss, and you have an amazing team of girls who can open for you.”
“It’s been five days.”
Maggie shook her head. “There’s no timeline for how long it should take to recover from a traumatic event.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“I can come open with you?”
“I know you have a bunch of appointments this morning, and then you’ll need to spend the rest of your day booking those clients amazing, out-of-this-world vacations. Plus, it’s not your job to babysit me.”
“I’m not?—”
“You are. And I love you for that. But I’m okay.”
Maggie sighed. “Okay. What about Joel?”
Just hearing his name made her breath catch. “What about him?”
“He’s come by every day to talk to you, and every day you’ve said you’re not ready.”
She swallowed. “Ihaven’tbeen ready.”
“I’m always on your side, you know that.” Maggie leaned closer. “But don’t you think he’s earned the chance to tell his side of the story?”
“Of course he has. But this entire thing has just brought up so much fear. I’m so scared to need any man, because I don’t want to turn into?—”
“Don’t say your mom. You arenothinglike her.”
“Maybe not. But she raised me, and she taught me that the second my heart is given to someone else, that person has the chance to break it.”
“She never met the right person…until now.”
Polly frowned. “You think Jonah’s the right person?”
“I kind of do.” Maggie lifted a shoulder. “Maybe that makes me silly, but…they seem good together. There are none of the red flags like in her other relationships. From what I can see, he really loves her.”
