Page 48 of Risking it All
I nodded, watching silently as he walked out the door. When I shut it behind him it felt ominous…final.
Pacing back to the kitchen, I walked its length before turning and doing it again. The pit in my stomach grew, stretching outward until it seemed to swallow everything. Fig laid nearby, his eyes on me but not moving forward yet.
I hated this. Everything had been going great, and then all it’d taken was a few sentences from a virtual stranger to throw everything off track.
What had even happened? I still had no idea what was going on, and frustration all but oozed out of me.
He’d been nervous, that much I understood, and then Mrs. Bream had thrown a few heavy topics into the conversation that we hadn’t been prepared to deal with yet.
But any issue with those should have been shut down when I told him we’d deal with them later, so why was he acting like this?
Dad was going to see that something was wrong, and knowing him, he’d target the thing making Will uncomfortable until he finally said whatever was on his mind. Devin and I would have to fight to keep him from doing that and even then, I wasn’t sure we’d succeed.
Leaning back against the wall, I slid down and slapped both palms to my eyes. Hot tears burned at my lids and I blinked them back.
Distantly the front door opened, pulling me back to the present as Devin walked in. He froze when he saw me, sitting against the wall and probably looking ready to cry.
A beat of silence passed, then he slid down to rest next to me, his eyes uncertain as he bit his lip.
“I’m going to go out on a limb here and say you had a fight with Will?”
I nodded, too tired to come up with something other than the truth.
“I think so, but it’s weird. It’s not like Mom and Dad’s fights where there was a clear reason for them, he just…started acting distant and getting snappy.”
I couldn’t fix it if I didn’t know what the problem was.
Devin ran a hand over the back of his neck and sighed. “I doubt I’ll be of much help for that. Usually when one of us is in a foul mood, we just avoid each other to stop any potential scuffles.”
Maybe that’s why he’d needed space?
It made more sense than anything else, though that still left why he’d been so affected by Mrs. Bream’s prodding.
My head hurt from trying to figure it out.
Devin threw an arm around my shoulders, his face set in a grimace. “Just give him time, he’ll come around.”
I sighed, leaning into him and shaking my head. “Usually I’d be more than happy to do that, but we’re set to meet Mom and Dad tomorrow. If he’s like that…”
He winced. “Dad is going to dig straight into the problem and refuse to let it go until it’s solved.”
I nodded, feeling ten times older than I was. “I’m trying to think of ways to stop it, but there’s nothing. Dad is a force of nature once he gets on a roll. We can’t reschedule either.”
Devin snorted, “Yeah, that’d just have them showing up on our doorstep to ensure you weren’t being held against your will. As if anyone could pull that with you.”
He ruffled my hair in an attempt to lighten the mood. “I happen to know you have a fierce right hook, and you aren’t afraid to use it.”
I let a weak smile tug my lips. “You taught me well; what can I say?”
The brief bit of amusement faded as quickly as it came and I sighed, rubbing a hand over my face. “Tomorrow was already going to be tense, but it’s going to be hell now.”
He didn’t dispute that, instead, he stood and offered a hand. His face was a mask of sympathy as he pulled me up.
“Probably, but at least it’ll be over. Besides, maybe we’re being too doom and gloom about this. For all we know, William was just in a bad mood and wanted to get out before he said something he'd regret. With any luck, tomorrow he'll be back to normal."
Something told me that wasn’t going to happen, but I kept it to myself. Instead, I nodded. “Maybe.”
Dread bubbled low in my gut, but I did my best to push it away. We’d know for sure how things would go soon. Until then, I just had to not overthink it.