In this case, only one could win.
She had to decide, and she knew there was only one choice.
She got to her feet and swiped at her eyes. “I need to go.”
Chapter
Twenty-Five
Shaw turned off his phone and listened to music on the way down to the coast. He’d had a little trouble slipping past the reporters at the apartment complex, but he’d learned a lot of tricks over the years and had lost the one who had followed him at a complicated interstate interchange. At the end of the day, this story would be a blip on real media, so reporters weren’t going to hunt for long. But like last time, this would take on a life of its own on the internet. The public shaming would begin. People who knew nothing about his life or his family would deem themselves experts. He’d be diagnosed, torn apart, and called every disgusting name people could think of. His character, already shredded, would be murdered for good.
He needed to get far away if he wanted any kind of peace. The road seemed like the only choice at this point. He needed to do a little preparation once he got to Galveston Island and signed the papers because his new RV needed more supplies if he was going to take the thing on the road immediately, but he’d worry about that when he got there. He could get it ready quickly enough. He’d just have to suck it up and take out loans for living expenses to make it work until he could find a way to earn some money on the road. He wouldn’t be working at the gym anymore now, which gave him a pang of loss, but he’d prepared himself for that. He’d always known it would be a temporary respite.
Just keep moving. That was what he told himself, but his mind kept looking back, the music not loud enough to drown out his thoughts. All he could think about was the mess he’d left behi
nd for Taryn. He couldn’t bear the image of those vultures going after her, but he hoped that the story he’d given her to tell would turn all the ugly light toward him and they’d leave her alone. Maybe she’d even be able to raise more for her foundation if people felt she’d been tricked by him. That was little comfort, though.
This was exactly why he should never have let himself get involved with anyone. He only brought drama into their lives. Rivers was going to be dealing with it, too. God, what a fucking disaster. When he got to his destination, he’d compose a statement, confess that he’d tricked Taryn and that she hadn’t known any better. Let everyone think he was as sick as they suspected.
What did it matter anymore? The world already thought they knew him. There was no changing people’s minds.
He’d known it from the start. He only messed things up for the people he cared about. First, his brother. Then, his best friend. Then, the girl he loved. He didn’t belong here.
Or anywhere anymore.
He never should’ve tried.
* * *
Taryn stared at her phone before rolling forward when the light turned green. So much of her wanted to call Shaw back, to hear the words straight from him, to tell him everything was going to be okay. But she couldn’t do that. Things were not okay.
All of this was not okay.
Love isn’t enough.
It’d been a lesson she’d hoped wasn’t true. She was a scientist by nature, but her heart had always held on to the hope that the stories were real, that love conquered all, that if you held on to that notion, things would turn out all right.
She loved her sister. She loved her family. She loved Shaw.
None of that love had been enough to keep them safe, to keep them happy.
She passed Long Acre High, now with a different name and look, but always the same in her memory. Her body tensed. She seized up almost every time she passed the high school, even though she’d lived in this town her whole life. The scars never went away. Her sister’s blood was soaked into the sediment of that school, along with that of so many others. She couldn’t change that, no matter how hard she tried. No matter what she did or how much research she completed or how many programs she created, the result was the same.
Her sister was gone. She couldn’t bring her back.
Taryn pulled into her parents’ driveway, and her father was outside waiting for her. He’d already looked years older than his real age, and the new lines of worry made him look worse. He hurried to pull open her car door. “Thank God you’re here, cher. A reporter called. Your momma is not taking this well. She needs to see you’re okay. Are you okay?”
Taryn climbed out of the car and accepted her father’s tight hug. “I’m okay.”
“I can’t believe… We’ll deal with all of it,” he said in that gruff, fatherly tone he used when he was trying to keep everyone calm. “We can bring charges against him. He impersonated—”
She lifted a hand. “Daddy, let’s take care of Mom first, okay?”
He nodded grimly. “All right.”
They walked inside, and Taryn could hear her mother’s sobs the second she passed the threshold. Her mother shot to her feet when she saw them, her face streaked with tears, and came to Taryn. “Oh, baby.” She put her arms around her, trembling. “I cannot believe this. Those horrible people. They took my baby, and now they’re trying to hurt my other one. I don’t think I can take it. Someone needs to do something. How is he walking the streets?”
“It’s okay, Momma.” Her mother was bordering on hysterical, and Taryn made soothing noises and hugged her back. She was well practiced at this part at least. The first few years after the shooting, her mom got into these states often, cycling between panic and grief. “Come on, let’s sit down.”