I’ve considered scouring the city looking for them, but it’s the equivalent of finding a needle in a haystack. I have no choice but to stay put and wait for her to come home. She has to come home, and when she does, I’m going to be here waiting for her.
I meant what I told her. I let her walk away once. It’s not going to happen again.
Chapter 29
Peyton
My belly is twisting as I step onto the elevator beside Dad. Paisley asked me not to tell, but this feels like it’s a big deal. Like maybe I should tell even though I promised my big sister that I wouldn’t.
I think about the tears that day and what I heard my dad say. I didn’t know what to think, but I didn’t think she would break up with Cameron. I know I’m only twelve, but even I can tell that she’s important to him. They remind me a lot of our parents, and they’re the real deal.
The elevator’s doors slide open, and I step off beside my dad, following him to my uncle Drew’s office. “Easton,” Uncle Drew says. He sounds upset.
“I just ran into Cameron. What the hell is going on?” Dad asks.
“You’re going to want to sit for this,” he tells him. Dad sits, and I take the seat next to his. “He came in here telling me he wants out. He wants his contract destroyed.”
“What?” Dad asks in disbelief.
Uncle Drew goes on to tell him how my sister overheard a conversation between the two of them and that she’s convinced that they were talking about Cameron. “How could she have overheard, and did you set him straight?” Dad asks.
“I don’t know, man. No, I didn’t set him straight. There was no talking him down. He’s convinced this is the only way to keep her in his life. The only way that Paisley will be happy.”
“Son of a bitch,” Dad mumbles.
“Daddy?”
He turns to look at me. He must see the guilt written all over my face. “Peyton, what do you know?”
He very rarely uses my real name unless he’s mad or it’s very serious. “I was there. When she heard you.”
“Go on,” he urges softly.
“She picked me up from school yesterday. She was going to your office to say hi to you, and she heard you talking about her and Cameron. I heard you too,” I confess.
Dad leans over and gives me a one-armed hug. “Thank you for telling me. You do realize that eavesdropping is wrong, right?” he asks.
“I know. I didn’t mean to. I went to find Paisley, and she was in the hallway listening, and it was hard not to hear,” I say, as a tear rolls down my cheek.
“It’s okay, lady,” he says gently. “You’re not in trouble. Thank you for telling us. Now we know what we’re dealing with and how to handle it.”
“I’m really sorry,” I say, the tears continuing to fall.
“Peyton,” Uncle Drew says. I turn to face him. “You did good, sweetheart. Thank you.”
“What do we do?” Dad asks.
“I need to have a talk with my niece.”
“I’m going to call her,” Dad says, reaching for his phone in his pocket.
“No.” Uncle Drew holds his hands up. “Let me do this. She needs to understand what he’s doing for her. I’m afraid if it comes from you that she’s going to get defensive. If she knows he came to me and what he asked for, she’s going to take that seriously.”
“Fine,” Dad grumbles, sliding his phone back in his pocket. “You have twenty-four hours, and I’m stepping in.”
“Won’t need that much time as long as my niece is cooperative and answers her phone.”
“Let me know what you need,” Dad says, standing. He holds his hand out for me, and I take it. He doesn’t speak until we are on the elevator again.
“Love you, lady,” he says, pulling me into a hug.
“I love you too, Daddy.”
I know he’s not mad at me, but Paisley, she’s going to be, and that still makes my belly upset. I hope she doesn’t hate me.
Chapter 30
Paisley
The hotel stay was a good idea. We stopped on the way and loaded up on junk food, and spent the night watching TV and snacking. We didn’t once bring up his name, and I’m grateful. However, even though I was exhausted, I couldn’t fall asleep when it was time for bed. My phone mocked me from its place on the nightstand. It’s been turned off since we left our condo. I reached for it several times through the night, only to put it back in its spot without turning it on. That’s an accomplishment.
However, my willpower is waning. The clock on my nightstand shows 6:00 a.m. on the dot. I know that Willow will be up soon, and we have a 10:00 a.m. checkout. I can no longer hide from my reality.
Glancing at the bed across from mine, I see Willow is still sound asleep. Grabbing my phone, I turn it on and wait for it to power up. Sure enough, there is an onslaught of missed calls and messages. Most of them are from Cameron, but there are three missed calls from my uncle Drew and a message. I go straight to the message.
Uncle Drew: Call me when you get time. I need to ask you something.
He’s not just my uncle. He’s my boss. I know I wasn’t supposed to be at work this week, but tension still builds as I wonder what he wants. Forgetting that it’s the ass crack of dawn, I find his contact in my phone and hit call.
“Paisley,” he answers immediately.
“Hi,” I say meekly.
“Where are you?”
“Why?”
“I went by your place last night. I couldn’t get you on the phone, and I need to talk to you about something. Your car wasn’t there, and Cameron came out of his place to tell me you’d been gone all day.”
“Yeah. Willow and I had a girls’ night. We rented a hotel room, ate junk food, watched trash TV, that kind of thing.” I blow it off like it’s no big deal.
“He told me you called it off.”
And there it is. The one thing I hoped I wouldn’t have to talk about. “I did, but that’s not why I called. What’s up? Your text said you needed to ask me something.”
“I do. I was hoping you could meet me at the stadium so we could talk.”
“Talk about what?” My stomach drops at his request.
“Changes in the training room. Not staffing wise.” He’s quick to say. “Organization and layout. I thought it would be nice to see it through fresh eyes. As our newest trainer, that defaults to you.”
“When?”
“Today if possible. I… need to get on this.”
I’m not really ready to face him and any conversations he may want to have about Cameron. However, I do need to talk to him. To turn in my resignation. Bile rises in my throat when I think about it, but it’s what I have to do. “Okay. I have to run home for a few, but I can stop by after.” I need to print my resignation letter.
“That’s perfect. I’m getting ready to head there now.”
“The sun is barely up,” I tease, hoping to expel some of the tension I feel. I don’t know how he’ll take me quitting, and I’m sure that will put a strain on our relationship.