Page 40 of Cruel King
“Dad, I swear I didn’t. Why would you say that?”
“Because when I came home all I had to do was turn the heat up and it kicked on with no problem. What did you do while you were up at the house?”
I shake my head, surprised he’s so angry about something Mr. King constantly says I can do anytime I want. “Nothing, Dad. I hung out with Eleanor. She made me hot chocolate like she used to when I was a little girl. I watched TV. I promise I didn’t do anything that would make Mr. King unhappy. I wouldn’t do that. You know that, don’t you?”
“What about Matthias? I know he stayed home yesterday. Did you two spend any time together?”
His angry gaze fixes on my face, and I don’t think I can lie like I know I need to. So I fudge the truth a little.
“I saw him. Yes. We hung out for a little while. It’s okay, Dad. He was very sweet. We had a nice time.”
As I say those words, his expression grows darker and darker. When I finish, he grimaces and shakes his head. “You’re going to go stay with your aunt in New Hampshire for a while. She’s been asking to see you since your mother died, and I think now’s a good time for a visit. Go pack your things.”
I can barely hold back the tears at hearing I’m being banished to New Hampshire with my Aunt Jessie. Not that I don’t love her, but she lives in the middle of nowhere. I don’t even think she has internet there, and half the time when I’m at her house, I can’t even get my phone to work.
“Why? I didn’t do anything wrong, Dad. I swear the heat was out. What does it matter if I went up to the main house because I didn’t want to be alone anyway? Mr. King thinks the world of me. He’s always saying I should come up and hang out with Theo and his brothers.”
“Theo isn’t Matthias. Go get packed. I’m driving you up there today,” my father says before storming away.
I know there’s no point in arguing with him. My aunt lives alone and probably misses my mother even more than we do since they talked nearly every day and the two of them were closer than any two sisters I’ve ever heard of. Still, I don’t want to be the good daughter who does as she’s told this time.
After rushing to get packed, I hurry up to the King house to see if I can talk to Matthias before I go. Like earlier, he’s nowhere to be found, but I see Theo still in the kitchen sitting alone on his phone.
I sit down next to him and can barely hold back the tears at my news. “My father is taking me to my aunt’s in New Hampshire. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”
He makes a face like he just bit into a lemon. “That sucks. Thank God for computers and phones, though.”
“That’s the problem. I don’t think she even has internet, and my phone doesn’t always work there. It’s like I’m going to be transported back in time.”
“Jesus, Ava. That sucks even worse. When are you coming back?”
I shake my head as I struggle to hold back the tears. “I don’t know. I need you to do me a favor, though. Would you?”
Theo gives me a big smile that lights up his face. “Anything for my little Ava.”
“Would you tell Matthias where I went and that I didn’t have a choice? That I had to leave.”
My friend gives me a strange look. “Why does he need to know?”
“We hung out yesterday, and for the first time, it seemed like he didn’t hate me. I don’t want him to think I didn’t even have the manners to say goodbye. I wanted to this morning, but he’s nowhere to be found, it seems. Did you see him?”
“He’s probably out. You know how he is. I wouldn’t be surprised if he snuck one of his girls into the house under Eleanor’s nose last night. Did you hear anything strange while you were in the guest room?”
I shake my head while all I can think of is I was the girl he snuck around with last night. “No. I have to go, Theo. Will you do that for me? Just tell him I had to go because my father made me. If I can get my phone to work up there, I’ll call you, so you better answer because I’m going to be stuck out in the hinterlands.”
That makes him laugh. “Got it. Tell big brother you were exiled to the hinterlands with no phone or internet, and you’re living like you’re Amish now.”
Rolling my eyes, I throw my arms around him to give him a hug goodbye. “Promise me you’ll answer your phone if I can actually call. I won’t forgive you if you don’t, Theo King.”
He wraps his arms around me and holds me tightly to him as he says in my ear, “Of course, I will. You’re my Ava. I always answer when you call. Always have and always will.”
Tears well in my eyes as the thought of having to leave both my best friend and the person I’m crazy about becomes a reality. I hurry out of the King house back down the road, and twenty minutes later, my father and I pile into his car with my three suitcases full of clothes and essentials.
As he drives me off the estate, I look up toward the windows in Matthias’s bedroom and can barely stop myself from crying. For the first time in my life, I feel like I’m in love and now I have to leave him and everything I care about behind for God only knows how long.
Maybe it won’t be for more than a couple weeks. Then I can come back, and Matthias and I can pick up where we left off last night.
CHAPTERSIXTEEN