“Oh, Aria.” She pulls me into a hug, and I bite down on the inside of my cheek in an attempt to hold it together. It doesn’t work and silent tears fall down my cheeks.
“Don’t you think it’s a little convenient her dad had a stroke, just as you and Jack start to get close?” she says, and I pull out of her embrace and wipe my eyes.
I stare at her, my eyes wide. “You think she’s making it up?”
She laughs sarcastically. “I think that woman would do anything to get Jack away from you.”
“How would she explain that when they get home and her dad’s fine?”
She shrugs her shoulders. “A miraculous recovery maybe?”
“Surely not!”
“I wouldn’t put anything past her.”
“Why don’t you call him?” Savannah suggests. “I know he’s lost his phone, but he’ll get a replacement when he gets back home?”
“Yeah, maybe.” I have no idea what I’d say to him, or even if I could talk without bursting into tears.
She gives me a sad smile, and we sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes. I tear absentmindedly at the grass again while everything Savannah said sinks in. Is she right? Was he falling in love with me? I want to believe it so badly, and I know this pain in my chest that’s been ever present since Jack woke up not knowing me won’t go anywhere unless we’re back together. I also know we don’t always get what we want.
Eventually, we head back to the ranch house with Savannah promising to call me later. I can hear voices coming from the den, but I bypass everyone. Unable to face them, I go straight to my room. It’s not long before the tears begin to fall again, and I lie curled up on my bed, sobbing into my comforter. Feeling exhausted, I close my eyes, praying my dreams take me to Jack and that I’ll wake up and realize this whole thing was a mistake.
Jack
Jacob sleeps for most of the flight and Zara barely utters a word, which leaves me with far too much time to think, and I can’t stop thinking of Aria. I can’t help but wonder if she was upset when she found out we’d had to leave. I know for sure she’ll miss Jacob. She adores him. I wonder if she’ll miss me too. My heart hurts every time I think about her, and knowing I won’t see her again just isn’t something I can comprehend.
It’s early morning when we land, and Zara’s brother-in-law, Dean, is at the airport to pick us up. I can only remember meeting him once, although I’m sure I’ve met him multiple times over the past three years. He eyes me warily when we meet though, and I have no idea why. Maybe we don’t get on. I make a mental note to ask Zara later.
Once we’re in the car, I’m surprised to hear Zara’s dad is out of hospital and back home.
“Didn’t he have a stroke?” I ask from the back seat, my voice tinged with confusion.
Dean looks across to Zara, his shoulder rising in the subtlest of shrugs.
“Of course he did,” Zara snaps. “It must have been a mild one, so they let him go home.”
“I’m confused. Didn’t we just fly halfway across the world because you thought your dad was going to die?” I hate myself for thinking it, but I’m beginning to wonder if Zara’s being completely honest with me.
“I had a message from my sister to tell me my dad had a stroke, Jack,” she spits. “What did you expect me to do? It’s been a long flight. He’s obviously recovered a little while we’ve been in the air. Would you rather he’d died so your flight back from Texas was worth it?” I sigh, knowing for sure I’m an arsehole saying that to her. I lean forward and squeeze her shoulder.
“No, of course not. I’m sorry. I’m just tired from the flight.”
She doesn’t reply, and we’re silent for the rest of the journey, eventually pulling up outside what I’m assuming is her parents’ house. After unclipping Jacob from his car seat, I open the door.
“Why don’t you wait here? I’ll just check they’re awake,” Zara says, looking over her shoulder at me.
“Okay,” I say with a frown. I guess it’s still early. My body has no idea what time it is with all the traveling. I still climb out of the car and let Jacob run around on their front garden. He’s been cooped up for hours and needs to let off some energy. I look up and down the unfamiliar street as I wait for Zara to call us inside. When we first got together, she didn’t have much to do with her parents, and I’d only met them twice, both times at our house. We must have been here since Jacob was born though, more than once, I’m guessing. God, I wish I could remember.
I’m pulled from my thoughts when I hear Jacob cry out. He’s fallen on the driveway and I rush over, picking him up. I quickly scan my eyes over him, seeing blood on his jeans by his knee. He must have grazed it when he fell. I manage to calm his cries down before walking with him in my arms to the front door which Zara has left slightly ajar. Needing to clean up his knee, I knock lightly on the wood before walking in. Seeing the kitchen right ahead of me, I make my way down the hallway, stopping in my tracks when I hear voices coming from what I assume is the sitting room to my right.
“No!” a woman’s voice cries. “I don’t want that man in my house!” My eyes widen in surprise when I realize she must be talking about me. “How can you stand to be with him after everything he did to you?” I turn around and make my way to the closed sitting room door, not that I need to be any closer to hear what’s been said with how loud she’s shouting, but I want to hear Zara’s response.
“Mum, I lied. Jack never did any of those things I told you. I was the one who walked out on him, not the other way around, and he never laid a finger on me. Will you please just play along, and I’ll tell you everything when he isn’t here. Please,” she begs. Anger bubbles up inside me and I’m more confused than ever. Her words replay over and over in my head, and I can’t comprehend what she’s saying. She left me and told her parents I’d hit her? What the fuck is going on? I want to storm in there and confront her, but I want the truth, and after all the lies she’s told me, this might be the only time I get to hear it.
“You lied?” her mum says, quieter this time. “Why?”
“I never wanted a baby. I missed my old life, so I left. But it’s true what people say. You don’t know what you have ’til it’s too late, and I want Jack.”