Page 33 of Intersect
My hands start to tremble, and I shove them into my pockets in case he notices. “Is it really so hard to accept that I don’t think you and I are meant to be together? We don’t like the same things; we don’t want the same things from our future. You’ve been unhappy with every decision I’ve made for months. Don’t start trying to make this about someoneelse.”
His nostrils flare. “You know why I know it’s about someone else? Because you’re too goddamn weak to have ever left on your own. You’d never have been willing to hurt me and my family and your mother unless there was someone else. And the second I get proof I’m going to make that asshole pay. He’s taking advantage of a dying girl. You’re probably not the first one he’s done it to, but you’ll definitely be the last because when I’m done with him, he’ll be out of ajob.”
My stomach starts to spin, whipping fast and faster until the knots are tied so tight I’m not sure they’ll ever come loose. “You sound insane,” I reply, doing my best to sound flippant when it feels like I’m about to vomit on his shoes. “And you’re just convincing me I made the rightdecision.”
I walk away, swallowing my pain and my terror until I’m behind the wheel of my car. And then I drive exactly one block away, press my face to the steering wheel, and cry, wondering exactly how much of Nick’s life I’ll have ruined before this isthrough.
13
NICK
My grandfather and I enter the house after what could only be considered an unsuccessful trip—no fish, no information that can save Quinn. Just a new kind of anxiety eating at my gut when I imagine losing her the way my grandfather lost hiswife.
It’s barely been twenty-four hours since I saw her, but it’s already been too long. I miss the curve of her lips, the way her lashes lower when she’s thinking something she shouldn’t. The raspy note at the base of her laugh, the velvet skin on the underside of her wrist. I want to hear about her day and tell her about mine. In an ideal world I’d do a whole lot more than all ofthat.
Just after lunch I call her. My relief when she answers fades the moment I hear the choked sob in her voice. “What’s wrong?” I push the bedroom door closed behind me. “Whathappened?”
She takes a deep inhale, trying to pull herself together. “I went to go get my stuff from Jeff’s. He showed up as I was leavingand…”
I’m going to break every bone in his goddamn body if he laid a finger on her. “I thought he was out oftown.”
“I did too.” Her swallow is audible. “But he’s convinced I broke up with him over you. He didn’t seem to have any actual proof, but he said he could get some and that he’d ruinyou.”
The news tires me more than anything else. Neither of us has time for this bullshit right now. I sink onto the bed. “I knew the risks when I started this withyou.”
“Nick,” she whispers, “I can’t be the reason you lose yourjob.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. God, I wish we weren’t having this conversation over the phone. “You won’t be. Let’s just cross that bridge when we come toit.”
“We’ve alreadycometo it!” she cries. “Jeff is going to do whatever it takes to find proof. And there’s nothing about this that is good for you. I’m just taking up a year of your life that should be spent finding someone you can actually end up with. It was selfish of me to even consider it. And I definitely can’t let you risk your job over metoo.”
I grip the phone tightly, appalled by the shift this conversation has taken. I thought I was on safe ground but it’s as if I’ve suddenly found myself scrambling up a crumbling rock wall instead. “Quinn—”
“No. Don’t try to convince me.” Her voice breaks. “When you care about someone you want what’s best for them, and I’m definitely not what’s best for you. I’m trying to do the right thing here. And I need you to let me.” She hangs up the phone and I sit here in shock, staring at it in myhand.
She’s crazy if she thinks I’m going to let her walk away overthis.
* * *
I’ve toldmy grandparents that something came up. We say our goodbyes, and my grandfather walks me to the car, resting a hand on my shoulder as I reach for the door. “Are you sure you want to get involved with this girl? Even if you save her, it’s not likely to endwell.”
As if I wasn’t painfully aware of that fact. “It’s too late,” I reply. “It was too late from the day wemet.”
He sighs, reaching into his pocket. “I thought you might say that,” he replies, holding out a small black velvet box. “It was your grandmother’s. I never told anyone I had it because I’d have to explain why her ring and her clothes were still here the day she left. But she once told me that if something were to happen to her, I should hold onto it for the right time. She never told me when it would be, exactly, but I feel like it’s probablynow.”
I pop the box open. It’s a very large oval diamond, surrounded by tiny ones. The exact ring Quinndescribed.
Which means my grandfather and I have had this conversationbefore.
14
QUINN
I’ve managed to stop crying but just barely, and my tears threaten to return every thirty to forty seconds. Trevor and Caroline gather in the apartment with a bottle of wine in an attempt to cheer me up. I appreciate the effort, but the truth is there isn’t enough wine in the world to make me anything other than despondent rightnow.
“You’re being ridiculous,” says Trevor. “Jeff can’t follow the two of youeverywhere.”
“That’s what I said!” Caroline shouts. She’s been drinking at a much faster rate than the rest ofus.