“Jay, just talk to me,” she pleaded. “I think making contact with your half sister will help you deal with some of the trauma you still carry. Maybe you and she?—”
“Stop, Blue.”
“Why can’t you talk about this with me? I care for you, Jay. I want to support and be there to help you while you work through this.”
It was the word “care” that stopped him as he walked by her to the door. He turned, almost like it was someone else doing it, and he knew what he was going to say but couldn’t stop himself.
“No. If you cared, you wouldn’t have done what you did. I don’t need someone in my life I can’t trust.”
“That’s not fair, Jay.”
He saw the tears in her eyes but didn’t stop, just walked out the door, got into his car, and drove out of town. After reaching the airfield, he was on the private jet waiting for him in under twenty minutes, flying away from Lyntacky and the woman he was fairly sure he loved. The woman he’d just pushed away because that was what he always did when he felt threatened or someone got too close.
Chapter 29
Blue wasn’t sure what her next move should be. It was now four days since Jay had left, and she’d had no contact with him. She’d sent a text explaining what had happened and apologized for what he saw as her betrayal, but there was no response, only silence.
She was now lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling in the dark instead of sleeping, wondering again what Jay was doing. He was important to her, and he was hurting—she’dhurt him. But until he came home, she couldn’t make things right.
Blue told herself he was a rational person and would calm down enough that when he came back to Lyntacky, they could have a conversation—at least she hoped that was the case.
Living here had felt good and right, and if she was honest with herself, she wanted to stay. Stay with Jay and in Lyntacky. The town might just get its first boutique.
Tonight, after she’d made herself toast for dinner, Blue had pulled out her book and started sketching. Not high-end fashion this time, but fashion for people like her and those who lived their lives doing everyday things, like working and raising kids.She felt her creative juices flow again and spent two hours sitting at the kitchen island, drawing.
“And now you need sleep,” she said into the dark.
The sudden bang made her heart thud. It was loud in the night air. Loud enough to make her wonder if she’d left a window or door open before going to bed.
Throwing back the covers, she got out of bed and headed downstairs. It was when she reached the first step that she heard another noise and then a soft curse.Someone was in the house.
Blue had left her phone down there, so she couldn’t even make a call. That was a throwback from the school of Meadow McAllister. Never sleep with your phone close—it’s not healthy.
Damn it.
Was it Jay down there?
The text she’d received earlier today from Finch slid into her head suddenly.
Dad thinks someone has been in the house looking around. I couldn’t see any signs, but he wanted me to let you know anyway. Are you ok?
She had replied withyes, all good, which had been a big fat lie. But tomorrow she would talk to her siblings about things. Right now she needed to work out who was downstairs.
Another noise below had her looking for something, anything, to arm herself with. If it wasn’t Jay down there, she wanted to be ready to protect herself.
To her right, a long, narrow shelf held a trophy in the shape of a baseball bat. She picked it up and started creeping slowly down the stairs.
Blue had seen enough movies where it never worked out well for the person about to surprise whoever was downstairs, but she wasn’t the stand-and-wait type. Right now she was going with a surprise attack. She had a good arm, and this trophy had hard edges.
Heart thudding so hard, it hurt, Blue crept down in the dark and hoped she didn’t fall. There was more than herself to think about now. Two steps from the bottom, she found the light switch and flipped it.
A man wearing a ski mask was holding her sketch pad.
“Drop that!” Blue roared.
He didn’t and ran for the door. Blue followed, then threw the trophy hard at him. Her aim was good, and it hit him hard in the shoulder. He yelped and spun to look at her. Blue reached for her pad.
“That’s mine!”
