Salvation (Surrender 3)

I lay my head against his chest and grasp his arms. “I-I-I… S-s-h-h-e-e… hates me. I-I-I had to see for myself,” I stammer.

“Why? Why would you put yourself through that?”

“C-c-can we talk about this later?”

His chest relaxes under my cheek, and his hand massages my head gently. “Yeah, babe, we’ve got plenty of time. Give me your keys. I’m driving home.”

I fish them out of my purse and turn to face Finn. “Sorry.”

“A lot of people care about you. Talk to us if you need to. Don’t chase the demons on your own. And that’s what your sister is, a demon.”

“You don’t have to worry about it happening again. This is the last time I’ll voluntarily ever be around her.”

He squeezes my shoulder, and the look of sympathy in his eyes causes a few more tear

s to drip down my cheeks. “Follow y’all back.”

Robbie helps me into the passenger seat and kisses my temple before going around. I run my fingers over the scar and watch him fold into the driver’s seat.

“Ember, I love you… so much it physically hurts when you’re upset. What happened out there just now? The look of devastation on your face, the tears, your body trembling —it kills me. The rage inside wants to destroy your sister.

“But this is where we talked about trust. I would have driven you here today and waited as long as it took for you to do what you needed. Instead, you kept it from me. I hate Natalie, and I can’t understand why you’d want to put yourself through this.”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “It was a really dumb idea.”

He drives toward the interstate and stays quiet, letting me process my emotions. This is the perfect time to tell him everything. His phone rings, and when he answers, I glance at my own.

The phone I now refer to as ‘Dade’s phone’ has a text message.

Dade: $ tomorrow.

Me: Okay Dade

I turn it to silent, burying it in the bottom of my purse. Robbie finishes talking to Tripp and tosses his phone on the dashboard. Reaching for my hand, he runs his thumb lightly over my wrist.

“You ready to talk about it?”

“I had to see for myself if she was serious about getting better. When Dad told us all that stuff, I agreed with Cruz. It was too easy for her to blame me and put the fault on everyone but herself. I lie in bed at night, wondering exactly how she became so screwed up. Did my dad really love me more? Finally, I had to confront her myself.” The explanation is semi-true. But guilt curls in my stomach for keeping out the most important reason for my visit.

“Did you get the answers you wanted?”

“She hates me, and in my opinion, she’s using dad and his generosity to take a vacation. The place is nice. I didn’t see much, but what I did see was incredible. There are beautiful furnishings, an expansive landscape in the back, great spaces to hang out with your visitors. I figured she was sitting in a small room with only access to her therapy sessions. That isn’t correct.”

“The rehab I was in for my leg was nice like that. I think it’s important to help the patients heal.”

“Yes, but you were hurt in the war! You’re a man who served our country and saved lives. She’s a bitch with an axe to grind. She should spend her days reliving her miserable life!” My nails dig into the flesh of Robbie’s thigh as I rant.

“Calm down.” He rubs my fingers until they loosen. “Are you going to tell your dad your theory?”

“I should, but his loyalty seems to be all about making things right. He may or may not believe me, which would drive a wedge in our relationship. The only thing I’m going to tell him for sure is to stop talking about me at all. She practically spewed venom when she mentioned my degree, full time job, and my fancy dresses. There’s only one way she’d know any of that.”

“Regardless of what you decide to tell him, I’ll support it, but we need to talk about something else, too. You said earlier you lie in bed at night with things running through your mind. It hasn’t been lost on me there’s something going on. When I asked, you flat out lied. Don’t do it again.”

I bite the inside of my cheek and nod. Tomorrow, this will all be over. I’ll give Dade the first half of the payment then buy some time to figure out what to do next.

Chapter 40

Make you a Deal