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When the doorbell rings followed by a knock, for just a beat I fear it’s him.
I don’t want to face him.
But I’m man enough to do it anyway.
I walk over to the door and draw in a deep breath, and when I open it, I find not my father but Jolene.
Her face is streaked with tears, and she’s sobbing as she tries to catch her breath.
“Is it true?” she demands through the tears.
“Is what true?” I ask carefully.
“That your father intentionally hurt mine to get you to break up with me and then he forced you to keep that secret.” The words are broken up by her sobs, which are turning hysterical.
I reach out to grab her arm and pull her inside so we can talk, but she rips her arm away. She takes a few steps back.
“Oh my God,” she whispers. “It is true.” She spins on her heel to run back to her car, and I chase after her. I’m not even wearing any shoes.
“No! Jolene! There’s more to it! Just let me talk!” I’m yelling as I try to catch up with her.
She jumps into the driver’s seat of her car and fires it up, and I don’t see any other choice but to open the door of the passenger side before she locks me out.
I slide into the seat. “Can we talk?” I beg.
She desperately tries to heave in a shaky breath as she shakes her head. “You had twenty years to talk and you chose not to. This is over, Lincoln. I can’t be with someone who would lie right to my face. Get out of my car.”
“No,” I say firmly.
“Fine. Have it your way.” She kicks the car into reverse and bolts out of the driveway, and she’s clearly emotional right now and probably should not be behind the wheel. She tosses the car into drive and peels away from my driveway.
“Stop the car,” I demand.
“Fuck you. You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
I draw in a breath as she speeds toward the stop sign at the end of my street, and she slams on the brakes. We both jerk forward, and she checks both directions before she takes off again.
“Jolene, stop the car. You’re emotional right now and you shouldn’t be driving like this.”
“I’m emotional right now? Yeah, you think? Maybe because all your secrets were just revealed,” she hisses, and she’s somewhere between furious and devastated.
She turns onto the main road, and she’s going too fast. Way too fast. So fast that she doesn’t see the motorcycle stopped in the middle of the road waiting to make a left until the last second.
She jerks the wheel to avoid missing him, and the tires screech as the car starts to spin out of control. I brace myself for the impact, and it comes a moment later when the car slides off the road toward a ditch. Jolene tries to get control of the car, but it’s useless. The only sounds that register are her screams as the metal of the car scrapes against the gravel, and the car comes to a stop with the loud crunch as we slam into a tree.
The airbags deploy, and pain rockets through me as it hits me with enough force to knock the wind out of me for a beat.
And then…eerie silence.
CHAPTER 30: JOLENE
I think I must’ve passed out from some combination of fear mixed with adrenaline.
When I come to, I hear Lincoln’s voice, but it sounds so far away.
“She’s not responding. Please send help!”
Even though it sounds far away, I still hear the desperation in it. Who’s not responding?
