Page 260 of A Song for You

Jay’s fingernails circle my back, a light featherlike touch that eases me instantly. “You remember how you mentioned Forester being a problem months ago?”

I nod. “But I haven’t heard anything more about him since.”

“That’s just the tip of the iceberg. There’s no way your brother has this little knowledge when it comes to the business. Your grandfather groomed him for this position, but the company is in some serious shit.”

I sigh as I lean further into Jay’s chest and close my eyes. “What did he say to you before the engagement party?”

“Your father?”

I hum a yes.

“Nothing I didn’t already know. I can’t marry you. Chase is my brother. My mother wasn’t happy.”

The last words are tinged with a pain so acute, it slices through me.

I hate my father even more in this moment. He’s evil. Pure and simple.

“My father wouldn’t know love if it kicked him in the face. Don’t believe a word he says about your mother.”

“She left us, Cat. She disappeared after I caught her and your father. Her concern wasn’t me or what I needed. She just…left.”

“I thought she died,” I whisper, utterly lost in how to comfort him.

“Not at that point. Obviously,” he chuckles darkly. “She was pregnant and had a baby. Our brother.”

“Right.”

“Part of me always wondered if she saw the bright and shiny, perfect life—two perfectly behaved boys, a beautiful house on the water, you; the daughter she’d always wanted—and decided to start over.”

I rest my chin on his chest, tears blurring his face. “I don’t believe that for a minute.”

“Why?” His tone is so bewildered, so lost, so not the happy-go-lucky, cocky, know-it-all. And yet the humility makes me love him even more.

“She was coming back, baby. I believe it in my soul. But also—” My voice breaks, because what I’m about to say is unthinkable.

Jay’s attention is rivetted to me. He needs an explanation he can cling to.

“If she’d come back and brought you with her…”

Jay’s mouth drops open. “We’d be siblings.” He curses under his breath. “That’s fucked up.”

I shrug and give him a wobbly half smile. “I don’t know what happened to your mom, and I don’t know why my dad is so evil. But you and I are here—” I hold up my hand, and he mirrors the movement so our initials are pressed firmly together. “We were meant to be, Jay. Nothing else—no one else—matters.”

“You really mean that?” He’s watching me like I’m an apparition, a fantasy, like I’m spun from gold.

I crawl up his body so that our lips are only inches apart. “Yes, husband. You, me, and Chloe. If I only ever have you, I’ll have everything I need.”

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

January 10, 2023

Subject: Lunch

Wife,

You look fucking edible right now. You and me…lunch at the club?