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Raindrops start to fall from the sky, big, fat, and full of intent, adding to my drive to flee.
“Wait, Anna. It’s not what you think.”
“Goodbye, Jeremy.” The emotion chokes in my throat as my feet whisk me away, the smell of petrichor rich in the air.
“She’s my sister.”
Chapter Thirty
My feet stop as I process the words.
His sister? That didn’t make any sense, but it was enough to keep me standing in the pouring rain.
I turn and look at him.
The woman and the girl run for shelter, but Jeremy remains, standing in the middle of the path, looking at me.
The rain seeps into my T-shirt and trickles down my back, but I can’t move.
His sister.
My mind turns the word over and over again and again, and relief bubbles to life, undeterred from the drenching rain.
“Talk to me,” he calls. “At least let’s get out of the rain.”
I stand there, afraid of doing anything.
“There’s a café. Please let me explain.”
The café that that woman and his sister just escaped to.
I’m intrigued. Of course, I am. So I run past him to the shelter, wringing out my T-shirt and my hair before stepping inside.
The woman and the little girl are in the corner where there’s a small kids’ area, probably to cater for the families out and about. My eyes lock onto her and struggle to let go.
“Come on. Let me get you a coffee.” Jeremy places his hands on my shoulder, making me freeze. He moves past me to the counter, and it takes me a moment to snap out of my trance. I choose a table in the furthest spot from the kids’ area but keep watching as he goes over to where his sister is and speaks to the woman with her before ruffling the little one’s hair.
He joins me and sets the coffee down on the table, splashing drops of water from his wet hair and clothes over the table.
It’s like we’re both waiting for the other to speak first. But for so many reasons, I need him to take the first step, especially because of what he did to me last time we spoke. He’s the one who owes me an explanation.
“I don’t have an agenda, Anna. I promise. Only to talk,” he starts.
“It’s hard to believe that when you’re waiting for me on my run.”
“Would you have agreed to see me otherwise?”
“No.”
“Well then.”
I twist the cup around on the table. “I have so many questions, but mostly I’m so fucking angry at you.”
“It’s not just anger you feel. I saw that. You can’t lie to me.”
“Stop it. You can’t just come back here and pretend like everything is okay.” I scowl.
“I know. I’m sorry. It’s just that things have changed now, and I needed to tell you that, to explain.”
