Page 16 of Say You'll Stay
“Of course I’m here.” I sit down next to her. “I told you I wasn’t ever leaving.”
“I know.” Jasmine rubs her eyes. “When I asked about you dating, I didn’t think you’d go and get married.”
I let out a small laugh. “I’m not getting married tomorrow.”
“You love him, don’t you?”
“I do.” I tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear. “But I love you too.”
“He stares at you differently than Dad does Roberta.” I'm not sure how to respond, but Jasmine goes on saying what I didn't want to. Not because it’s not true. I just didn’t want to say it to her. “It’s because he loves you.”
“He does,” I agree. Jasmine wiggles to sit up in bed. “Let’s not worry about any of that.”
“Can we go see him?” That catches me off guard, but Jasmine can be curious.
“If you want.”
“Today?”
“I’m sure that can be arranged.”
As Jasmine wakes up and prepares for the day, I locate my phone. I see I have a bunch of missed calls and texts from West. It makes me smile. Another text pops up. This one belongs to the Wicked Witch of the West. I click it. A picture pops up. My heart sinks.
It’s a picture of Gideon and me from our incident. It’s of him pressing me up against the door. My hands are on his chest. It almost looks intimate. Another text comes in from her. The threat is clear.
Get him into that school.
Chapter Twelve
WEST
Isee them walking up my drive before they reach the porch. It’s sunny out, and I lift my hand to shade my eyes, welcoming them with a broad smile.
“Here for breakfast? I’ve got pancakes, bacon, eggs…” My litany of food stock trails off at the grim look on Vasey’s face. I bite back a “what’s wrong” and stoop down to Jasmine’s level. “Or cereal. Your pick.”
“I like pancakes,” she says.
“With blueberries inside or strawberries on top?”
“Blueberries.”
“Awesome. I love blueberry pancakes.” I ruffle the top of Jasmine’s hair and lead the two inside.
“This place is actually pretty nice,” Vasey observes as we walk down the carpeted hall to the sunny breakfast nook at the back of the house that overlooks an expansive lawn, a pool, and a stable. “I guess we got the water on our side and you have the riding trails on yours.”
“No horses,” I say quickly. “It’s for show.” At Jasmine’s crestfallen face, I hurry to add, “But we can get horses. It’s just that the previous owner didn’t have any.”
“That’s okay.” Jasmine’s words are polite, but her tone is one of disappointment. It makes me want to run out and buy an entire stud farm.
“I’ll have horses here next week.”
“Really?”
“West…” Vasey drawls warningly.
I ignore her. “Really. What color do you like?”
“I don’t know. Brown?”