Chapter 35
thirty-five
ROSE
The trip home is filled with tense silence. What started off as a fun vacation ends in a tornado of confusion and doubt. Dare stares out the airplane window, a notch between his eyebrows. Brooding, for lack of a better word. My thoughts race, and I’m forced to try different breathing techniques to keep from spiraling.
Maybe it’s nothing.
Maybe he was shocked that you were going to say the big words.
Maybe he has no heart and you’ve been stupid.
He didn’t tell you who the texts were from, and he instantly got defensive when you asked. That’s a warning sign.
The first morning we’re back, I head to JD Miller it was from his sister and they were attacked. But why would my dad try to kill his sisters? And what about Irene?
My breathing grows heavy, and the harder I try to slow it down, the more difficult it is to breathe.
How do I know this isn’t orchestrated? Phone calls can be faked. It could all be a ruse.
If I believe him, which I desperately want to, Irene is safe, but that means my dad lied about that too. But Dare hasn’t given me any proof. Only his word.
Can I trust it?
Do I believe him?
I shiver and look at him, struggling to figure it all out. My head is so fucked up.
What about us? Would Dare really say all that terrible stuff about me to protect me from my dad?
“Was any of it real?” My voice is thick with emotion and my heart trembles in my chest like the final leaf of autumn waiting to fall from the tree. All it would take is one word to strip me bare.
Dare places his hands on either side of my face, far more gentle than I expect, given the tension coiled around him. “More than you know, but I can’t even look at you right now, Rosalynn,” he confesses.
I take a quick breath, pressing my hand to my chest. The use of my full name cuts deep. I glance down to see if he stabbed me, but no. The only weapon here is the way he takes a pointed step back, creating a divide I don’t know how to bridge.
“I need you to leave.” He walks away from me, unmuting his phone and talking to whoever is on the other end of the call .
Dare leaves me standing in the foyer.
Leaves me questioning everything.
Leaves me regretting every word I said.
I step toward him. “Dare.”
“Go, Rose,” he demands.
And so, I do.