Chapter 14

14

JODI

T hat night as I lay in bed staring up at the ceiling, I felt like I had gotten lost somewhere along the way and ended up in an alternate timeline. There was no way this was actually happening. Looking back on how my life had unfolded since leaving home, it just didn’t seem possible I was tucked into the spare bed in my boss’s home office, riding out the challenging situation I’d landed in.

And speaking of my boss, that was a whole thing of its own. Despite his caution when he was making sure I wasn’t part of some organized crime ring that was going to set up shop in his house or at his vineyard, the truth was, Derek was starting to show cracks of his true colors. And those cracks revealed sweetness and compassion.

And possibly a touch of naivete.

I didn’t want to think of him that way, but it was hard not to. Lying there in the dark, not able to close my eyes, I couldn’t help but focus on the reality that he hadn’t done a lot of thinking when it came to extending his offer of help to me. Maybe not any thinking at all.

Without knowing why I was upset, what I was running from, or where I might have planned on going, he opened his home to me. Then he kept it open to me on nothing more than my word. All he needed to hear was that I was being honest with him and not getting him involved in anything nefarious, and he was willing to accept it. Not only accept it but give me a place to stay without an end date and offer whatever other help I might need.

I could hardly believe there were actually people like that in the world. Truly selfless, caring people who wanted to offer their help and support to others in any way they could for no other reason than they needed it.

It wasn’t that I didn’t know any good people. There were people in my past who I cared a lot about and even missed when I let myself think about them. But I’d never encountered a situation where any of them gave of themselves the way Derek was.

It was nothing short of crazy, and as I lay there, I realized that whole thing was why I was unable to sleep. At first, I wanted to keep everything to myself and offer up as few details as possible because I didn’t want to open up. I didn’t want to give him a glimpse into what my life really was. Or, maybe, who I really was. Him just accepting that and moving forward seemed like a great thing.

But now it was eating at me. His sweet, trusting approach made me feel like he deserved more than just my word. He deserved the full truth.

I got out of bed and walked over to the door that separated our rooms. It had been closed since the first time I saw it, but I was very aware of Derek being right on the other side of it. The late hour made me worry he might have already gone to sleep, and I would be disturbing him, but seeing light trickling under the door told me sleep hadn’t found him yet either.

I hesitated for just a moment on my side of the door. I wondered if he could see the shadows caused by my feet and knew I was standing there. If he did, he didn’t say anything.

Knowing I needed to just bite the bullet and do it or I might lose my conviction, I knocked on the door. It only took a second for Derek to respond.

“Come in,” he said.

I swallowed and opened the door enough to stick my head into the room.

“Are you awake?”

It was one of those questions that was utterly stupid to ask. Clearly, he was awake. Not only had he told me to come in when I knocked, but there he was, sitting up in his bed with a book in his hands in front of him. Yet, it was the only thing that came out of my mouth when I tried to create some sort of bridge between opening the door and getting into the conversation itself.

Derek’s eyes slid back and forth like he was looking around the room, then came back to me and he nodded.

“Yeah. Come on in.”

I stepped the rest of the way into the room and walked toward the bed. I was trying hard not to notice that he had no shirt on and the cute way his tousled hair was falling across his forehead, still damp from his shower.

Gandalf lay on the biggest dog bed I had ever seen up against the wall and didn’t even lift his head when I walked into the room. Either I had already won over the giant dog and he didn’t think I was any sort of threat, or he really was the worst guard dog ever.

Derek closed his book as I got closer. I couldn’t see what the title was, but there was something about him sitting there reading an actual book, with pages and creases and a bookmark tucked in the back, that I really liked.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Can’t sleep.”

He gestured at the foot of his bed. “Have a seat.”

I plopped down at the foot of his bed and let out a long breath. He didn’t say anything else, but the look on his face was inviting. He was giving me space to talk if I wanted to, and the open expression had the words bubbling up in my throat.

“I told you I’m trying to get away from my family,” I started. “Well, that’s what I’ve been doing for a while now. I didn’t grow up anywhere around here. In fact, I’m really far from home. If I can even really think of it as home anymore. I was born in Rhode Island to a really wealthy family and grew up with pretty much anything and everything.

“I have a twin, a brother named Jack. He has always fit in a lot better with the family and the rest of high society than I have. Not that I was the major black sheep or anything. I just didn’t quite subscribe to it the same way. A big part of that is how my parents like to throw their power around. They know their wealth gives them a certain amount of sway, and they are always looking for ways to get more.

“To them, having as much control, money, and influence as possible is the most important thing in life. They will do anything to get it. Including a lot of things I didn’t want any part of. To them, anything is fair game if it gives them the ability to climb a little higher on the social ladder.

“I’ll admit, I just kind of let it happen around me for a long time. Some of what they did made me uncomfortable, but it was never illegal or totally morally repulsive. So, I turned a blind eye and just kept going about my life. In my mind, it wasn’t like there was anything I could really do about it. It wasn’t like I could stop them. Even when I did say something to them, it wasn’t like they listened or cared what I had to say.”

“But I’m guessing something changed,” Derek said.

I nodded. “It did. About a year ago, my parents were working on an important business deal. It would tremendously grow their business, essentially instantly increase their wealth, and give them major leverage. It was something they really wanted, but they were having trouble securing it. There were issues that needed to be worked out, and my parents realized they were going to need to make their offer more appealing.

“So, they found what the other people wanted and offered what they thought was a commodity they could easily control. Me.”

Derek stared at me, looking both shocked and confused. “Wait… what do you mean?”

“The people on the other half of the business deal were a family mine had known for years. In fact, their son, Lincoln, was one of my good friends. We’d grown up together and knew each other really well. Which they thought meant neither one of us would mind when they arranged for us to get married,” I said.

“Get married?” Derek asked. “They were trying to arrange a marriage for you?”

I nodded. “Yep. That is the basic idea. Lincoln is the only child in his family, and his parents were looking ahead to the future of the company. They didn’t like the idea of him taking over without the stability of being married and a future generation ahead. But Lincoln didn’t have any prospects for marriage, and they were starting to get uncomfortable with the whole situation.

“So, they decided that I was the perfect solution. If Lincoln and I got married, we would merge the companies, which would offer both sides even more benefits. And both families could feel confident in the future of the business. Considering my brother was already poised to take over the company, they saw this as me doing my part to further secure the financial and influential strength of the family and the business.”

“I can’t believe they would actually be serious about that,” Derek said.

“They were. Extremely so. But I couldn’t do that. Lincoln is a good guy. He’s always been a good friend. I enjoy being around him, and we have always had fun when we spent time together, but there was no way I could marry him,” I said. “We’re friends, and we could never be more. There are arranged marriages that work, of course. Plenty of them. People learn to love each other over time. But that wasn’t going to happen with Lincoln and me. Lincoln is gay.”

“Oh.” Derek nodded. “Well, that would put a damper on things for the two of you. Do his parents know?”

I shook my head. “No. And obviously that’s just part of it. The fact that we would never fall in love and have a happy, functional marriage is deterrent enough. But the sheer audacity of our parents is what really upset me. That they would use me as a pawn like that, treating me like I was a piece of property or an asset they could just offer up, was horrible.

“I couldn’t stand the idea of giving up my own future, the possibility of having a life I wanted, to fall in love, any of it, just so that my parents could have a stronger standing for their business. That wasn’t the kind of life I wanted, and I wasn’t going to accept it. But when I went to my parents to tell them that, they didn’t care. They wouldn’t even listen to me.

“No matter how much I talked, my parents wouldn’t listen. They just started planning the wedding. They were going to have a big announcement of our engagement, complete with splashy photoshoots to spread all over the society pages. It didn’t matter how much we pushed back, they were hearing none of it.

“But I kept arguing, and I kept trying to stop everything. I tried one more time to talk to my parents about the whole thing, and they just shut me down and told me I would do as they expected me to.So, I ran. I’ve been running since then. I just went off the radar, started using a different name when I needed to. I couldn’t use my family’s money, of course, so I started getting whatever jobs I could and working under the table. I would stay in a place for a while, saving money and just drifting along, then move to the next town and the next job.”

“And they’re still looking for you?” Derek asked.

I nodded. “Actively. My parents are furious I would go against them and humiliate the family this way. They are angry I won’t just do what they want me to do and that everything they’ve already put into the engagement and wedding have been wasted. My brother is even angrier. Without my cooperation, his future isn’t as certain as he’d like it to be.

“Of course, they don’t let people know the truth when they are making posts about me online or going on the news to ask for information about me. Then it is all sob stories and crying. They talk about their missing daughter, the child they love so much, and they just know is in danger. They plead for information about where to find me or for me to come back.

“I will not go back and do their bidding. I just won’t. And I’m done fighting and talking and not being heard. So, I keep moving. I really thought this town was going to be the safest place for me. Since coming here, I hadn’t had any problems. But then I saw Jack’s car in town.”

“In town?” Derek asked, sounding shocked. “He drove all the way across the country to find you?”

“He must have,” I said. “But the point is, he’s here. I saw him, and I know he found out where I was living. That was why I packed up everything as quickly as I could and how I ended up here. I knew I couldn’t stay where I was any longer. I didn’t know what I was going to do or where I was going to go next, I just knew I needed to go. And you were there to help. So, thank you.”

Feeling lighter, I stood.

“Jodi,” he said.

I turned to look at him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gone on so much of a tirade.”

I took a step toward the door, and Derek’s hand shot out to grab hold of my wrist.

“Hey,” he said. “It’s okay. You shouldn’t be embarrassed or feel uncomfortable. Not with me. And as for this whole situation, we can help you. It’s that simple. If you stay, we will figure it out.”

I stared at him, trying to figure out what to think and how I was going to interpret the situation. Finally, I slipped out of his hold and went back to bed.