And judging by the way my chest feels right now?
Tight. Cracking. Barely holding together.
I’m already halfway there.
Chapter 4-Esme
I don’t remember agreeing to stay.
Not really.
One minute I’m standing near this huge ranch house with a great-looking porch, my heart halfway up my throat, my past staring me down with those storm-cloud eyes—and the next, he’s walking away like I didn’t just flip my entire world upside down.
“Follow the road past the south fence,” a man, Micah he said his name was, told me.
Benji just walked away, not even looking at me.
And that was it.
No warmth.
No softness.
No, hey, sorry about Benji being a jackass.
Just a curt command followed by directions.
Like I’m a delivery.
Like I’m temporary.
I mean, I know I am—far as he’s concerned, anyway.
I swallow hard and nod, because what else am I supposed to do?
Bit squeezes my arm before I leave, her smile softer now, less starstruck and more kind.
“You’ll be okay,” she says quietly. “I promise.”
I want to believe her.
I really do.
But promises and I?
We don’t exactly have the best history.
Still, I thank her, grab my bag, and climb back into my van.
The engine rumbles to life beneath me, familiar and steady, and for a second, I just sit there, hands on the wheel, staring straight ahead.
“You’ve done harder things than this,” I whisper.
Have I?
Because this? This feels like driving straight into the heart of something I barely survived the first time.
I ease the van down the dirt road, following his directions.
