Prologue
Nora
Three Years Ago
My car made a sad, pathetic sound when I pulled the parking brake. Normally I’d have been a bit gentler, but time was of the essence. I was already flinging the strap out of the way, unbuckling as if the seat belt were trying to strangle me. I winced when it slapped against the glass.
“Shit, shit, shit,” I chanted, grabbing my bags and slamming the door shut with my foot. I ran up the stairs to the house and barreled through the front door.
“Jason, are you ready?” I called, tossing my school books onto the couch and slinging my leather bag over the back of the chair.
Bounding up the stairs, I charged into the master bedroom, finding my boyfriend sitting on the bed, staring at his cell.
“You’re ready, right?” I veered for the walk-in closet, hitting the light while I grabbed my duffle. “Because I’m not and we’re already so freaking late.”
His silence was a little too loud as I piled my clothes into the bag and exited the closet.
“Hey…” I tried again, a bit slower and less panicked, he continued to stare at his phone making my anxiety spike. Either he was ignoring me, or an alien had stolen his body.
I wore insecurity like a second skin when it came to relationships, which was why I had turned Jason down the first three times he’d asked me out.
We dated for six months before he asked me to move in with him and we celebrated our one-year anniversary last month.
Part of me wondered if a proposal was on the horizon, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up.
It made me nervous to think about getting married, but I loved Jason and the idea of being his wife made my stomach flip with excitement, not fear.
I gently nudged him with my foot, and that seemed to do the trick.
“Hey…sorry, I was just thinking,” he finally replied, giving me a half smile.
But it felt different from any look he’d ever given me.
He stood and grabbed for his duffle, and I let out a sigh of relief.
“No worries.” I gave him a warm smile in return and turned toward the dresser. “If we leave within the next fifteen minutes, we can make it to my parents’ before dark.”
My back was to him, but I watched in the mirror as he bent down to put on his shoes and I removed my earrings. When he shoved his arms into his coat, I turned.
“You have something thicker that you’re bringing, right? Because it gets really cold in Macon…and we have to go tree hunti—”
“Nora.”
I paused. Uncertainty rattled in my chest like a bottle of prescription pills.
Dipping his head and tucking his hands into his pockets, he explained.
“I’m not going to your parents’, Nora…I’m going home to mine.”
Feeling my face fall with confusion, and a tiny tendril of worry flicker in my core, I calmly asked, “Why, what’s going on?”
We’d already agreed to go to my parents’ house for Christmas.
I had met his family at Easter, and when he had suggested we spend the holidays in Macon, a part of me thought he’d want to talk to my dad about asking for my hand in marriage.
Not that he had to, it was an ancient tradition anyway, but my dad was old-school.
He shifted, revealing a pained expression. “I can’t do this anymore.”
Bending to grab his bag, he continued, “Can you have your stuff moved out by the end of Christmas break?”
“Move out?” My lungs wanted to close. It wasn’t like I’d been physically active and yet, my chest felt like I’d run up a hill at a breakneck speed. We’d been together for a year, how could he just—
“I don’t want to fight, Nora…” He sighed dramatically, walking over to our dresser. He opened the top drawer and dug around.
My gaze narrowed and blurred as I processed what he’d grabbed. “Wait…so you’re not coming with me, but you’re taking condoms with you on break?”
What the fuck was happening?
He didn’t respond, his face flushed red as he stashed the rubbers in his duffle.
“Just hang on for a second, explain what’s going on.” I sat down, putting my hand to my head.
It was spinning as unease unfurled inside me like a balloon.
Stepping closer, with his bag completely zipped and the evidence that he planned to move on tucked away, he softly replied. “I know this isn’t easy…I’m not trying to hurt you, but…it’s over.”
Tears stung my eyes as I looked up, and he met my gaze with an indifferent stare. As if I were a stranger, he politely asked me to vacate his home. I hated that he’d had time to adjust to this ending, slowly building up all the reasons in his mind as to why he wanted it to end.
“But why, what in the hell happened? Was it something I did?”
“It’s what you don’t do, Nora.” His hand dropped, like he was exasperated with this conversation. “It’s just, you know how your parents fix all your problems? I’ve recently realized how involved in our lives they’d be if I stayed with you…I need someone a little more independent.”
“No…that’s not…” I shook my head, tears trailing my cheeks. “My parents aren’t that involved…”
They weren’t. It was the normal amount of involvement…his mom called plenty. They always sent him money, they bought him a car. This was normal. I was an only child, and had recently left home…it was an adjustment, that’s all.
Jason stepped closer and the green in his eyes shone bright as the sun shifted, breaking through the bedroom windows. “I called your dad three weeks ago, and do you know what he said when I asked for your hand in marriage?”
Emotions clogged my throat as I considered that maybe this was all a very confusing and backward way of him proposing. He’d asked for my hand! That had to mean something…it had to mean—
“Your dad told me I wasn’t good enough for his little girl. He reminded me what it would take to care for you, he went on and on about how you can’t do things on your own, how you’ll be a kept woman one day and you needed someone who would be able to provide that.”
My face twisted in confusion as I stood. “What are you even talking about?”
Jason shook his head with a scoff. “He told me that you needed someone who would care for you, and honestly, I’m just not looking for someone who needs to be catered to like that. I’m looking for someone who wants to take care of herself.”
He stepped back, giving me one long look.
I followed after him, all the way down the stairs, feeling a fire to defend myself rage in my chest.
“I’m not that girl, that’s not me. You know me.”
He stopped, turning on his heel, suddenly cupping my face with tenderness. “Don’t you get it, Nora? That is you…you rely on your parents for everything and have since I met you. You want them involved in every aspect of your life. You may not think you want that life, but I know that you do.”
Pity lined every crevice of his face as he leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead. His lips were only there a brief second before he was moving down the stairs again.
I hated myself for going after him again. He’d torn me wide open, and I was tossing salt into the wound.
I called after him as he opened the front door and walked out. He didn’t stop.
“You can’t just end this without letting me defend myself…” I cried.
Tossing his bag into the back seat, he slammed the door and exhaled evenly.
“There’s nothing to defend, don’t be upset. This is a good thing. Your parents will help you get into a new place…you’ll find someone they like who can give you the life you want.”
He didn’t let me say anything else before ducking into his car and driving away. I watched him go, feeling like my heart had been ripped from my chest, but the hands responsible belonged to more than just Jason.
My father’s prints were all over the shattered pieces he had no business touching.