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Chapter Fifteen
She looked around Curt’s apartment, feeling lost. They’d packed up without much drama. She’d called Doc, as well as Jake and Melody, to let them know she was leaving for a few days. Then she’d thrown a few things in a bag, and, along with Daisy, they’d driven to Dallas. She’d insisted on bringing her car. She didn’t know why, exactly. She just felt better having it. As though she needed a means of escape.
It was now mid-afternoon. She could use the lateness of the day as an excuse not to visit her mother, but she knew it wasn’t really a good one.
Travis had followed them to Dallas before heading off to stay with Lacey and Gray. He was going to come with them to the court house tomorrow for her dad’s bail hearing. She’d told him it wasn’t necessary, but Travis had just smiled and shrugged, saying he had nothing better to do. She knew his reason for wanting The Brit was personal, but she didn’t think he was going to get any leads from sticking close to her and she was starting to think he’d realized that as well. He certainly hadn’t pushed to stay at Curt’s place. Mind you, Curt telling him to go away had probably played a part in that. She really had to work on his bluntness.
“You ready to go?”
“No,” she replied honestly. “But I have to. I need to see her before tomorrow.”
“You don’t need to go to court, you know,” he told her as they made their way, with Daisy in tow, down to the garage beneath
Curt’s building. It was well-secured. She noticed the cameras in the corridor then in the garage as they entered. Funny, she’d never looked for those things before. How her life had changed.
Daisy hopped into the back as though she’d done it all her life.
Curt opened her door and waited for her to climb in before moving around to the driver’s side of his truck. Her car was parked in his guest parking space.
She clasped her hands tightly in her lap. She could already feel a tension headache brewing.
“Easy, baby,” Curt told her. He reached over and squeezed her hands. “I can feel how stressed you are from here.”
“Kind of hard not to be when dealing with my mother. I’ll apologize for her now. In fact, I’ll understand if you don’t want to come inside.” She hadn’t thought about how this would be for him. “I know you haven’t seen Aunt Mary and Uncle Justin since Amelia died.”
And she was dying to know what he’d meant when he’d said he had something to explain about his marriage.
His jaw tightened as he stared out at the road. “They blame me for her death.”
“I know.” She sighed. “They’re hurting and they want someone to blame. Guess we’re both scapegoats for people’s anger and hurt, huh? They don’t really mean it.”
“Oh, I think they do.” He turned into the driveway of her aunt and uncle’s place. Their house wasn’t as large as Jenna’s parents’ place or in such a wealthy neighborhood, but it was still big by most people’s standards. And it was private, surrounded by a large yard and tall fence.
She undid her belt.
“Wait for me to come around and get you,” Curt told her fiercely. She waited until he opened her door.
“Does opening my door for me have something to do with guarding me?” she asked curiously.
He leaned in and brushed a kiss over her ear. “A little. But it also has everything to do with you being mine to take care of. In every way. Remember, it’s not all whips and chains. You take care of everyone else, you need someone to look at for you. That someone is me.” A shiver ran through her at his words. She opened the back door and gave Daisy a pat. “Stay here, girl.”
Daisy whined as she shut the door. She turned towards the house and took a deep breath.
“Here goes nothing.”
Walking up the wide stairs, her trepidation grew. She knocked on the door before she lost her nerve. Suddenly, she realized they hadn’t talked about what to tell her family about the two of them.
Curt placed his hand on the small of her back. “Stop worrying.” Yeah, that really wasn’t going to happen.
“Just remember, I’m here with you. You’re not on your own.”
And that meant more to her than she was willing to admit.
She took a deep, steadying breath. “Do you want them to know about us? I understand if you don’t.”
He turned her to face him. Placing two fingers under her chin, he lifted her face up. “I want the world to know. And screw what they think.”
He kissed her just as the door opened.
