Page 133 of The Image of You

We stared at each other.

“She’s all over the place—she’s gonna explode,” he muttered. “Worse than a slap across the face.”

“Did it hurt?”

“No.”

“That’s a shame.”

He chuckled, then became serious. “Watch her, Adam. This is coming from the doctor in me. Tonight—the events leading up to tonight—it’s all swirling in that head of hers. Add in the side effects she’s still feeling from her head injury… I’m not sure what will happen when she lets it out.”

“I know. I’ll watch her.” I hesitated. “So you’ll look after everything?”

“Yeah, I will. It’s the least I can do.”

Fucking right it was.

“What are you going to tell people?”

“That we agreed to part as friends. Simple.”

“And then?”

“I’ll go to Calgary as planned.” He rolled his shoulders. “I think it’s time bachelor Bradley got to know the city and all its wonders.”

I held out my hand, surprising myself with the gesture. “Good luck.”

He took my hand. “Take care of her.”

“With my life.”

Then he grinned. A wide, evil grin. “And good luck—you’re gonna need it.”

I glared. “You think I need luck with Ally?”

He shook his head, his grin getting wider. “Nope. Not her. Sarah is now your mother-in-law.” He chuckled. “Your headache, not mine anymore. And what a fucking headache she is.”

He walked away.

I stared after him.

The bastard was right. No matter what happened, Sarah was still Ally’s mother, and by marrying her, she was now a permanent part of my life—however limited our contact.

I stomped over to the car.

I should have fucking hit him harder.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

I slid into the car and turned toward Ally. Her arms were wrapped around her torso, and she was as far away from me as she could get—tucked right to the door. She was tugging on her sleeves, and her feet were fidgeting. She stared straight ahead, and everything about her screamed back off.

I said only one thing. “Please put your seat belt on.”

I waited until she complied before I started the car and headed toward home. This wasn’t the place to push her. I desperately wanted to reach over and take her hand, touch her in some small way, but somehow I knew I needed to let her be.

My mind flipped through the events of the last couple of days, focusing on the scenes tonight. My reaction to Bradley had surprised me. Aside from the one episode, my desire to hurt him had dissipated when I saw the way his eyes looked when he gazed at Ally. I knew that pain—the pain of losing the person you loved. His case was different, however, because he was going to have to live without her—forever. I wasn’t letting her go. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

But Sarah. My hands tightened on the steering wheel with the rage I was feeling. I would happily have pitched her out the window or hit her with my car for the callous way she’d cast her daughter aside. Ally’s happiness meant nothing to her if it caused her the slightest inconvenience.