Chapter 34 #3
“Yeah, I think you would have been so well-suited for him. You’re smart and independent. You wouldn’t have worried if he had to work late. You wouldn’t cling to him. You could both have your own lives, but still come together and make me some beautiful nieces and nephews.”
“Fiadh,” Amanda said, but the protest in her voice sounded false.
It was clear she would have liked that as well.
“But now he’s got some woman who’s too delicate to even meet his sisters. I don’t even know much about her other than her name.”
“What is her name?” Amanda asked.
“What was it? Wait a minute. Yeah. Lily St. Clary.”
“Oh my God, I think I’ve met her. Yes, that’s right. It was at some fundraising function. She’s engaged to Rick Sampson. Or she was. Did you know he’s broke? There are some rumors that she broke up with him because he’s no longer rich.”
Wow. Ouch.
“That’s so terrible. What did you think of her?” Fiadh asked.
“Cold, really cold. It seemed like she was barely paying attention to anyone. No smiles, no interaction. She clung to Rick’s arm and let him move her around the room.”
“Oh, no. Really? That sounds like the exact opposite of what Harvey needs. Well, I’m sure she won’t last long if she’s like that. He’ll soon come to his senses, and then I can set you two up on a date. It would be so awesome if we were sisters-in-law.”
“Wouldn’t it? Now, I’ve just got to find where I put my notebook. I know I left it around somewhere. Maybe it was in the kitchen?”
Shit, she needed to get out of here. The last thing she wanted was these two women finding her here.
Also, she was certain there was no notebook. She would have noticed something so out-of-place.
“When is your brother moving back in anyway?” Amanda asked.
“I don’t know,” Fiadh replied. “He hasn’t said.”
Lily quickly moved out of the kitchen and toward the stairs, lightly walking up them until she reached the bedroom.
Sitting on the side of the bed, she felt everything crash over her. All the negative emotions, all the reasons why she shouldn’t be with Harvey.
She was just a liability. Cold fish. No personality.
Someone who clung on and used him.
Suddenly, she couldn’t really breathe, and she knew she had to get out of there.
She had to go. Almost on autopilot, she moved to the closet to grab her handbag and a sweater.
For some reason, Harvey had insisted on buying her a new phone with a new number.
Maybe he thought that her mother might try to contact her again.
She wasn’t sure. But she left that on the bedside table.
Still hearing voices downstairs, and knowing she couldn’t risk going out that way, she headed to the double doors that lead off the main bedroom and onto the balcony.
Then she peered over the edge.
She should be able to drop to the ground. It wasn’t that far to go. The only issue would be if they looked out the window of the dining room at the same time that she dropped. But there was less chance of them seeing her that way than if she walked back down the stairs.
Sure, if she’d been in her right mind, she probably would’ve just stayed upstairs and waited for them to leave, then left herself.
But in her current frame of mind, she had to get out immediately. So she pulled on the sweater, placed her handbag across her body and climbed over the rail.
Then she moved her hands down the rails while still keeping her feet on the very edge, before she let her feet drop. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the strength to hold on, and she just ended up falling onto the ground. She landed on her right hip and let out a groan of pain.
Shit, that was going to hurt when she tried to get up.
But she forced herself onto her hands and knees, then crawled away from the window before getting onto her feet and heading out the back way. She was limping and she’d underestimated how cold it was outside. She should have put on a pair of pants.
When she got to the road, she realized she had no plan, no idea of what she was going to do. Did she even have any money in her handbag?
Opening it up, she found that she had about a hundred dollars in cash. She also had her mother’s credit card. Would it let her get money out?
There was also some jewelry in a small bag. Maybe she could sell it? She wasn’t sure.
Should she be doing this? The further she got away from Harvey’s house, the more despondent she felt.
Harvey loved her.
Harvey deserved better than her. He deserved someone who wasn’t falling apart all the time. Who he could leave for more than a few hours of time. That he could have sex with. The vibrator he’d ordered had arrived a while ago and she couldn’t even stand to look at it, let alone touch it. Use it.
Harvey would be so upset when he got home and she wasn’t there.
But he’d get over her quicker if she wasn’t around. Then he’d realize that he could have somebody like Amanda, someone independent and smart who had a good-paying job and knew what they wanted out of life.
Someone who wasn’t a liability. Yeah, she was doing this for him. This was for the beast.
Lily didn’t know how long she walked for, but she finally hit a small shopping area with a pawn shop.
Maybe she could make enough to afford a bus ticket out of town.