Chapter 24
When I woke up the next day, it took me a few minutes to remember where I was. The feel of the blankets, the angle of the ceiling, even the art on the walls. It all had me extremely disoriented until suddenly the events from yesterday came rushing back to me.
The fair.
Jay.
His apartment.
Of course, somehow, instead of avoiding the dentist/boss, I ended up living in his house.
I groaned, groggily dragging myself out of bed to head into the kitchen.
Just as I reached the fridge, I realized that I had zero groceries and let out an exaggerated sigh.
Wishful thinking had me opening the cupboards, and by some miracle, I actually found some coffee and a box of granola bars.
I snatched them off the shelf and began making myself some coffee in the brand-new, pristine coffee maker next to the toaster.
Because it was so new and state-of-the-art, I literally had to read the manual to figure out how to get it working.
After about twenty minutes, I finally had a steaming mug in my hands, a granola bar between my teeth, and a book squished beneath my arm as I headed outside to my balcony.
The view was incredible, even more incredible in the morning sunlight. I could see the entire private lake that surrounded the cabin castle, and the mountains, like a fortress, had me pausing for a moment to suck in another breath. This couldn’t be my new place. Could it? Surely I was dreaming.
I set my things on the table, then went to lean against the railing, taking in a deep breath of fresh mountain air.
My eyes wandered to the back porch, which was also part of my apartment view.
And that’s when I caught movement in the corner of my eye.
In the dim morning light, I was able to make out Jay coming up the stairs of his deck.
And he was completely shirtless.
It looked like he’d just come back from a morning run.
“Oh gosh—” I said, backing up a bit from my prominent perch.
If he saw me, surely he’d assume I was staring.
I backed away out of his line of sight, paused for a moment, and then, because I was only human, my curiosity got the best of me, and I peeked over the edge again, just for a few more seconds.
He was now on a yoga mat laid out on the massive deck, doing push-ups.
“Of course,” I rolled my eyes, but for some insane reason, I was unable to tear my eyes away.
As the sun came up fully over the mountains and the sunlight hit him, I could see the sweat glistening on his spine. All I could do was stare until he finished his set. It was somewhere around a hundred, but who was counting?
When he stood up, I quickly backed away again and hurried inside.
“What happened to self-control, Hope?” I told myself out loud like some crazy person.
It had been less than twenty-four hours, and already I was staring at Jay on his deck.
I was going to have to set some ground rules for myself—no more balcony.
I was going to have to keep it locked, just in case, so that I wouldn’t stumble upon any more of Jay’s outdoor activities.
I decided I would go grocery shopping.
I spent the day running errands. I stocked up at the mini mart. Filled up my car with gas. I went to the bank. And I even stopped for a car wash.
Was I stalling going back to my house?
A little.
The tiny fear that I might accidentally run into a shirtless Jay or something was enough to keep me meandering aimlessly around town.
Eventually, when I couldn’t find any feasible errands to run, I headed back.
It was around dinnertime when I pulled back up to the house. I came in through the garage; it was quicker to my side of the house that way. And thankfully, without any interruption, I made it back into my apartment.
I put my food away and made myself an easy dinner. Frozen pizza. It was surprisingly just what I was craving, and it fueled my evening writing session. I got two whole chapters in before I started to feel sleepy.
Just as I was closing my laptop for the night, my phone started ringing.
I picked it up from its face-down position on the side table, and my heart immediately dropped into my stomach when I saw the name on the screen.
Dad.
I stood up slowly from the couch, letting the phone ring three more times before I found the courage to answer.
“Dad,” I answered, my voice going cold as stone. My lungs constricted, and I struggled to take a breath.
“What are you doing, Hope?” he asked. The disappointment in his tone was so evident that it felt like a physical blow to my chest.
“I’m being an adult. Living on my own and figuring things out for myself.”
I couldn’t hide the contempt in my voice. I didn’t want to hate him, but I did.
My fingers became numb, and I tried desperately to keep hold of the phone.
“Come home. If you want an apology from Dr. Pike, I can work something out, but you are not going to just give up your chance at dental school—”
“Stop.” My skin crawled, and my blood ran cold at the mention of his name. I leaned on the side of my bed to steady myself. I would not crumble on the phone. “Don’t call me anymore if you’re just going to ask me to come back.”
“You’re being unreasonable. I didn’t raise you to be so difficult—”
“What could you possibly still want from me?” I whispered.
“I want you to live out your full potential, Hope. I don’t want the Elmswood name to be associated with people who give up. I didn’t go to all this work to have our legacy die.”
“So this is about appearances?”
“No, it’s not just about appearances. I care about you, Hope. About our family.”
“You have a funny way of showing it,” I scoffed, feeling like I was talking to someone who was actually insane. He had to be, if he had the guts to call me like this and tell me I was being unreasonable after everything.
“Please. Come home.”
“I don’t want an apology,” I said, clenching my eyes closed. “I don’t want to see that man ever again. And I most definitely don’t want to apply to dental school. Don’t call me anymore, Dad.”
“Hope—”
“Goodbye.”
I hung up the phone and threw it onto the ottoman. Then came the tears, followed by shuddering sobs.
I fell to the floor and put my head between my knees, trying desperately to breathe. My whole body was going numb; it radiated clear up to my face, my nose, my tongue. My heart was pounding so loudly it felt like my whole world was thrumming.
“Breathe. Breathe. Breathe,” I told myself between hiccuping sobs. The tears fell down my cheeks, warm and hot. I felt better when I cried; I wished the tears could melt away whatever this feeling was, eating away at my chest.
I stayed curled up on the floor the rest of the night until my anxiety couldn’t beat out my exhaustion any longer and I fell asleep on the rug.