Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
There’s a beat of silence and then my mother muses, “I’ll need to call your dad right away. He’s at the store.”
With Reid and Lance’s dad. This is where things will become difficult.
“He’s going to be furious at Lance,” she warns. “But that can’t be helped.”
“Mum,” I say, my voice cracking. “I don’t want this to ruin Dad’s partnership with Graham. I don’t want it to mess up your friendship with the Hemsworths. It’s part of the reason I stayed with him so long… I didn’t know how to resolve all of this.”
“There’s nothing to resolve, love,” my mother says gently. “Lance did something wrong, not you. We’ll all figure out how to deal with the fallout, but it’s not something for you to worry about.”
Tears well in my eyes. It’s the same thing Reid said. “I hear you.”
“And I’m so proud of you,” she says. “For getting out. For not making excuses. For being brave and choosing yourself.”
“I don’t feel brave,” I whisper.
“You don’t have to. You already did the brave thing. Now, if Reid is okay with it, I think it’s best for you to stay with him for now.”
“For as long as she needs,” Reid says, his eyes locking with mine. “And if it’s okay with you, Margot, why don’t you let me call the store and tell my dad and Colin at the same time.”
My mum blows out a breath. “Yes, that’s probably a good idea. If I know those two men, they’re going to be on the warpath for Lance.”
“They’ll need to get in line behind me,” Reid says in a dangerously low tone that causes me to jolt slightly. “And Margot, we don’t want Lance to know where Lara is, at least not until we can determine what sort of headspace he is in.”
“Of course. I’m glad to know my girl is well protected,” she replies, and for the first time since this call started, I hear a sorrowful tone. Like me, she knows things won’t ever be the same. “Call me later, Lara.”
“I will, Mum. I love you.”
“Love you too.”
When we disconnect, Reid looks at me pointedly. “You okay?”
“That was hard, but I’m also relieved to have it over with.”
“Good,” he says, giving me a small, steady smile. “Now it’s my turn.”
I sit beside him while he calls his dad, who will most assuredly be at the store with mine. They love running that place together and the social interaction they have with their customers.
Reid puts his phone on speaker so I can listen and his dad answers with a cheery, “Reid! Great to hear from you, son.”
“Hey, Dad. Is Colin there with you?”
“Um… yeah, do you need to talk to him?”
“Actually, I need to talk to you both and just so you know, I’ve got Lara here with me on speakerphone.”
I can feel the concern come through the line. Then Graham clears his throat. “Sure. Let us get back to the office so we can have some privacy.”
There’s an almost unbearable quiet and I assume Graham muted his cell phone until he could get settled with my dad. I imagine both men are confused as to why Reid and I are calling together.
Graham’s voice comes back on the line. “Okay… we’re both in the office and on speaker. What’s going on?”
“Lara and I need to tell you both something. We just got off the phone with Margot.”
There’s a pause, then my dad says, “You’re scaring me a bit here, son.”
“Scaring me too,” Colin says. “Lara… are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Dad.” I look over at Reid, but I’m at a loss for words. I’m sapped after laying all that out to my mum.
To my surprise, Reid reaches over and takes my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze, and holds tight. He leans closer to the phone. “Lara left Lance last night.”
Dead silence on the other end. A shift. The faint creak of a stool or a counter. “What happened?” Graham asks.
“He hit her,” Reid says, and my dad utters a string of curses. Reid rolls right over him and proceeds to tell them the entire story, the whole truth, from the controlling behavior to the jealousy, emotional manipulation and cheating. He does it efficiently, keeping his tone calm and even.
Except when he mentions the slap again. “He left a mark on her face,” Reid growls with menace. “And Lance will answer for that.”
“Jesus Christ,” Graham mutters. “He hit her?”
My dad’s voice is flat, cold. “And where exactly is Lance?”
“Yes, he hit her,” Reid says again, and I get that this is hard to comprehend. “And we don’t know where he is. He blew up her texts last night when she left and said he was headed home and that she better be there. But bottom line—Lara’s going to stay here with me until we can figure things out.”