Page 50 of I'll Carry You

“Which is?” The gray of the morning was turning brighter but not less gloomy. With the cloud cover that had rolled in overnight, Jason doubted the sun would make an appearance today.

“Coming clean.”

“I’m going to tell her. I just have to figure out a way how.”

“You’re like that Bible guy. You know the one with the plaques?”

Jason squinted. “Moses?”

“Yeah. Him. Holding your hands up and trying to keep a tidal wave back. Except you don’t have magical powers and shit.”

“Your theology might be a little lacking, TJ.”

“Not the point. The point is you can’t stop this from getting out. All you can do is mitigate the outcome. She’s probably not going to take it so well since you’ve been screwing her both literally and figuratively, but the longer you don’t tell her, the worse it’s going to be.”

“You’re aware I actually have a therapist?”

“Free of charge. Actually, nix that. Maybe I’ll add it as a line item and then back charge you on all the advice I’ve been giving you.”

“Later.” He hung up as he veered toward the exit lane.

The phone rang immediately again, and Jason picked it up without looking. “Eat a dick, TJ.”

“Jason, it’s Bill Powell.”

Jason stiffened and glanced at the dashboard. Of course it was. He cringed. “How can I help you, sir?” Truthfully, he’d wanted to tell Bill to eat a dick for a while, so maybe it wasn’t the worst mistake ever.

“We’ve been trying to get in touch with you, and you’ve been unavailable. Now I know you’re going through a tough time with the death of your grandfather, but enough is enough, son.”

“I’m not your son,” Jason snapped, downshifting as he got closer to the stop sign at the end of the exit.

“Listen here. I don’t know where you are or what the hell you think you’re doing—”

“Cut the bullshit, Bill. You know exactly where I am. You sent Ned Vickers to follow me.”

“And he tells me you’ve taken up with a girl in your mother’s hometown.”

Jason drew a sharp breath. The implications of that sentence were a lot to unpack. Ned had not only told Bill about Jen, but he’d outed his mother’s hidden background, too. To the Powells. Who cared about things like breeding and lineage. That Bill Powell could destroy the beloved image of Jason’s mother among their social circle was a threat.

“My fiancée, actually,” Jason managed. TJ hadn’t exaggerated the part about this spiraling out of his control.

Lies, lies, and more lies.

The pause on Bill’s end was prolonged. Amanda was his daughter, after all. He’d give a shit about it. “Jason?”

“Yes, sir?”

“You’re fired. You’ll get an email to confirm what we’ve discussed here.”

The line went dead.

Jason pulled the car over onto the shoulder. Getting out, he slammed the door, feeling the need to rage at something, someone.

He was literally alone on the side of the road.

He slammed the fleshy part of his fists against the window, beating the glass. They’d wanted him out for a while. Their plan all along had been to kick him out. With Thomas alive, two Cavanaughs were more than enough to keep things just so. But with his grandfather dead and Jason’s stake being so uncertain, they could do whatever they wanted.

They would dissolve the company even faster without him.