Chapter 56 Resentment
Resentment
Three hours into the six-hour drive back to Duluth, the car is thick with silence and stale air.
Each mile marker feels like a slap to the face.
Claire’s jaw is tight. Her grip on the armrest hasn’t loosened since they left the island.
The anger—jealousy, really—is starting to boil.
Finally, she glances sideways and snaps, “I don’t see how it was fair. ”
Sara doesn’t even blink. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“How was it fair that you got to see him in Atlanta and I didn’t?”
Sara exhales, slow and hard. “Probably because it was my catering company hired for the event. Him being there? That was a coincidence.”
“Was it?” Claire presses, eyes narrowing. “Or was it planned? I remember how you used to flirt with him.”
Sara’s head jerks toward her, fury rising. “Claire Grace, you’re being absolutely ridiculous. I hadn’t talked to him since the island. You know that.”
“Then why did he show up at the restaurant?”
“Because he was already there with his partners from the firm. If you had walked in and caught me having dinner with him—alone—maybe you’d have a point. But that’s not what happened.”
Claire folds her arms and stares out the window, biting her lip. “I don’t believe you. I think you two have been talking.”
Sara slams her palm against the steering wheel.
“Okay, you want to act like a bitch? Cool. I can play that game.” Her voice sharpens, cuts.
“Here’s what you can believe. Believe it was good to see him after all this time.
Believe that you dragged my ass out of work to follow you on this pathetic little heartbreak tour.
And believe this—you’re the one who left.
You’re the one who didn’t say a single word to him afterward.
So don’t you dare sit over there and act like someone stole something from you. ”
Claire stares straight ahead, lips pressed tight. But Sara isn’t finished.
“You’re not mad at me. You’re mad at yourself.
Because he moved on. Because he went back to his life, his work, maybe even found someone else.
.. and you thought he’d be waiting for you like some damn ghost.” She spits the words like venom, not out of cruelty—but because Claire needs to hear it.
“You know what I think? I think if Jax had seen you again, it would’ve wrecked him.
Carter told me what those months were like for him after the airport.
You disappeared, Claire. You didn’t just break up with him, you vanished.
And he didn’t deserve that then. He sure as hell doesn’t deserve it now. ”
The silence that follows is thunderous. Only the hum of tires and the occasional thunk from a pothole cuts through the tension.
A few minutes pass. Then, in a voice stripped of all defense, Claire whispers, “I’m sorry, sis. You’re right.”
Sara doesn’t say anything, just stares ahead.
Claire sighs, voice breaking just a little. “I guess I’ve been looking for someone to blame… because blaming myself hurts too much.”
She pauses, letting the weight of truth settle.
“The truth is... I had an amazing guy. One who adored me. Who made me feel like I was the only woman on the planet. And when it came time to leap... I couldn’t do it. There were too many ‘what ifs,’ too many fears about leaving everything I knew. So I ran.”
And for the first time in that car, Claire lets the silence speak.