Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 68006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“The message was for me,” I grit out.
“Kelly…”
“What did it say, Leif? Give me your damned phone.”
Brindley’s eyes are wide, and her lips tremble slightly. “What did it say?” she asks softly.
“That’s none of your fucking business, is it?” I whip my hands to my hips. “You’re not sending these texts after all, so none of this has anything to do with you.”
Leif sighs. “Come on, Kelly. There’s no reason to treat her that way.”
Leif is right, of course. I hate it when Leif is right. Because right now I’m angry, and I’m not angry with Brindley. I’m angry with Leif. And with myself. No matter how hard I try, I end up regressing to my old ways. I strike out. I lash out. I spew nasty words. Nasty words that I want to take back.
And then I’m forced to apologize, and apologizing is so difficult for me.
But an apology isn’t what’s first on my mind. It’s the text—the text Leif won’t let me see.
“Why?” I demand. “Why did you delete it?”
“You know why, Kelly.”
“No, I really don’t.”
“To protect you.”
“Right.” I scoff. “Because protecting me is your job.”
Brindley’s gaze darts from me, to Leif, to me again. Her eyes are wide, her lips still trembling. She’s frightened. Brindley is frightened for me.
As I regard her, I wonder how I ever could have thought she was behind this. She’s so young. I’d say naïve, except that anyone who spent any time on that island knows way too much about the world to be considered naïve.
But her freckled face… Her round cheeks… Damn. She’s still just a girl.
I’d feel for her if I weren’t so damned mad.
“Let’s go, Kelly,” Leif says.
“Oh, hell, no. I’m done taking orders from you.”
Leif comes close to me, speaks low in my ear. “Look at Brindley. You’ve got her so freaked out.”
“I’ve got her so freaked out? You’re the one who won’t tell me what the text said.”
“Brindley,” Leif says, “I’m very sorry for all that we’ve put you through. You’re clearly exonerated now, as the last text came through while we were sitting here.”
“She could’ve had someone somewhere else texting for her.” I curl my hands into fists.
“Kelly, come on.” Leif shakes his head. “You just said you believed it wasn’t her.”
Again, I’m lashing out. I don’t believe Brindley is behind the texts. I convinced myself of it because to think otherwise would mean I didn’t know. And that’s much scarier.
“Let’s go,” he says.
“Maybe I’m not ready to go.”
“I’m so sorry, Brindley.” Leif takes my hand.
I yank it away. He’s a broken record. How many times is he going to tell Brindley he’s sorry?
“Kelly… Come on…”
“I said I’m not ready to leave. Not until you show me the text.”
“This has nothing to do with Brindley. We need to leave her out of this.”
Anger envelops me. I feel like I’m going to explode in rage.
But who am I truly angry at?
At Brindley? No. Look at her. She’s hardly out of her teens. She’s the girl next door, and in my heart I know she wouldn’t hurt a fly.
Is it Leif?
Yes and no. Yes, I’m angry because he deleted my text. But I also know he’s doing it to protect me. How can I be angry at that?
Easy. I don’t need protection.
Except maybe I do.
My life has been hell. Hell for so long. First from my mother, and then on the island.
The best part of my life was the five years I waited tables in Phoenix. I always wondered if my mother would come after me, but she never did. As I look back now…why would she? She’s the one who kicked me out. She was glad to be rid of me.
I’m tired of being so angry. It’s exhausting, and the fact of the matter is… I’ve been a lot less angry since Leif came into my life.
That’s got to mean something, right?
I haven’t apologized to Brindley yet, so I turn. “I’m sorry,” I say, in almost a whisper. “I’m sorry, Brindley.” Then I let Leif lead me out of her apartment.
“I’m glad you apologized to her,” he says.
I scoff. “It’s not your business to be glad of anything that I do.”
He rubs his jawline, shaking his head. “Kelly, why do you always have to make everything so hard? I’m telling you that you did a nice thing. I know how angry you are right now, and you took the time to be nice to a woman who you thought for so long was your enemy. Take it for what it is. A compliment.”
“I don’t need compliments from you, Leif.”
“What do you need, Kelly?”
“From you?”
“From anyone.” He lets out a heavy sigh. “For God’s sake, we’ve been intimate, Kelly. It was damned good, and from all evidence that I saw, it was good for you too.”
“Stop using that silly euphemism, Leif.” I roll my eyes. “There was nothing intimate about what we did. We didn’t make love. We fucked.”