Page 18 of Lumberjack Bride
I flash an apologetic look in her direction.
“Hazel!”
I push onto the tips of my toes to peek out the thin, vertical windows in the door. “Go home, Leo!”
He pushes in close and his breath briefly fogs the glass. “Not without you!”
“Oh, yeah. Sure. Wouldn’t want to leave without your trophy, right?!”
His face screws up. “When have I ever treated you like a trophy?”
“Dammit,”I whisper, biting my lip. He’s got me there but the anger in my chest hasn’t let me go yet. “You know how much my parents meant to me,” I say to him. “I dropped my entire life to go to Whitefish, to follow in their footsteps and find myself, and you don’t care?”
“I didn’t say I didn’t care about that,” he argues. “Obviously, I care about that. You found yourself all over my living room rug.”
“So, you only care if it affects you. Is that it?”
He slams his forehead against the door and growls. “You are such a…”
I squint. “Such a what?”
“A brat!” he says. “Spoiled, rotten—”
“I’d rather be a brat than an egotistical, selfish jerk!”
“So, this is it, then? You want me to throw away the most important piece of my life over something you read in a diary… again?!”
“I want you to get the hell off my grandmother’s porch!”
He stands back and digs his hands into his hips. “Are we getting married tomorrow?” he asks. “Yes or no?”
“No!” I answer.
“Fine!”
Leo spins around and stomps off the porch toward his truck.
I collapse my back against the door, pausing to let the shock radiate in my system. Adrenaline pulses through my veins, making everything quiver. My knees threaten to knock me over and I’m about ready to let them.
Tears fill my eyes again. Regret clenches my chest but I don’t want to back down from this.
He doesn’t care?
My parents’ story is the whole reason why I let myself open up to him in the first place. It’s the basis for our entire relationship… and he doesn’t care that it was all a lie?
Nana sits quietly in her chair with one hand resting over her mouth. I look over at her but I say nothing. I don’t even know where to start.
I listen closely as Leo moves across the lawn. His truck door creaks open and closes behind him. I wait for the engine to purr but it doesn’t start. It’s just silence. Long, world-altering silence.
The truck opens again and slams closed just as fast.
I wipe my eyes and turn around to look out the window.
Leo stands on the front lawn, staring at the house with his strong arms crossed over his chest.
My brow furrows. “What is he doing?” I ask myself.
I wait for a long minute. He doesn’t move or speak or do anything. He just scans the windows with barely blinking eyes, calmly breathing in and out.