Page 34 of The Lucky Heart (Jamison Valley 3)
Chills traveled down my spine. No. I would not turn into my mother. I had to make it on my own. I wasn’t ready to depend on Silas, or anyone, to make me happy.
I had to make it on my own, which meant this thing with Silas couldn’t continue. I had to stop this before it hurt us both, before I couldn’t let him go. Silas could see the world. I could escape Prescott.
And I had to make it on my own.
“When did Jess get back?” Silas asked, pulling me from my thoughts as he parked in front of my house.
“Huh?” I looked up to see Jess standing outside the front door. I jumped out of the truck and rushed straight into my brother’s arms.
“Hi,” he said.
“I missed you.”
Jess had been at community college and then the police academy for the last two years and didn’t get home to visit often. This trip could not have had better timing.
“Missed you too.” He engulfed me in a tight hug. “Wes came by an hour ago looking for you. He had quite the swollen face.”
“Yeah, I know. He found me.”
“Want to tell me what’s going on?”
I shook my head and hugged him tighter.
“Welcome back,” Silas said behind me.
I released Jess so he could shake Silas’s hand. “Glad to be back.”
“How long can you stay?” I asked.
“All week. I’ll head back after your graduation ceremony. Then a couple more weeks and I’ll be back for good. Figured this week I’d get all the paperwork squared away at the station so I can get deputized and start as soon as I get home.”
“It’ll be good to have you back,” Silas told him.
“Jess?” Mom called from inside.
“Let’s catch up later this week.” Jess waved at Silas before leaving us alone.
“Call me later?” Silas asked.
I nodded. “Okay.”
“Bye.” He waved and walked back to the truck.
“Silas?” I jogged after him. He turned just in time to catch me as I ran into his arms. “Bye,” I whispered, my heart cracking at the three-letter word.
He bent to kiss the top of my head. “I’ll see you later.”
No, he wouldn’t.
For a week, I ignored every one of Silas’s calls. When he came to the high school’s graduation ceremony, I ducked out the second after I walked off the stage. Then the next day, I packed up my car and drove to Seattle.
And cried the whole trip.
Time hadn’t dulled that memory in the slightest.
My scared eighteen-year-old self had let fear drive her away from Silas. I had been so terrified of depending on him that I’d run away. Running hadn’t been the answer but I had been too young to know better. I had acted like my father, a coward, totally focused on my own feelings.
I’d never even told Silas why.
