Kaitlyn tried hard to hide the bile in her throat, her hands becoming finicky when the anxiety grabbed hold of her throat. She blinked away the irrational fear that caged her, looking down at her hands that had become fisted in her lap. "I... see. I'm just surprised he didn't tell you, Randy tells you everything." "No, I know. That's why it's strange. I could tell you everything he's had for lunch for the past week, it's not like him to keep me in the dark." When she glanced up, Joshua had a scrunch to his brow, and a tension to his jaw. It reminded her a lot of when he used to scold them as teenagers, especially when they made plans to sneak out one night against his vocal protests. It meant something was bothering him, something he didn't like. It didn't help her worries at all. Because no matter how she tried to make sense of it, she failed. Something was strange, despite her hopes, her log

Chapter 24. The slam of the door shook her awake, a tension in her shoulders as she all but jumped from her crumpled spot at the end of the bed. An odd sense of dejavu coursed through her system and she looked around with a groan. "Jackson?" she called weakly, trying and failing to adjust her blurry eyes to the darkness. "What time is it?"The overhead light flicked on, and to her surprise it was Randy standing there, not Jackson. The man in question was at her side in an instant, his brown eyes crinkled. "It's midnight, K. What on earth have you been doing?" he chuckled, and she wasn't sure why he was laughing at her until he began wiping the beads that had been stuck to her cheek. His warm and tanned hands brushing the crafting items off her face with a gentleness she craved. For a moment, she found herself leaning into him. The touch of his fingertips making her sigh in content. She could recall their first k

"We'd be more than happy to have you here. Welcome aboard Jackson! We're looking forward to working with you. When will you be available for training?"  Jackson didn't hesitate, his smile tight as he answered, "immediately."  As soon as the interview came to a close, his offer letter and hiring papers weighing heavy in his hands, Jackson crashed down into the seat of his car.  The tangle of emotions inside him sporadic as he tried to focus on which one he could really process.  On one hand, he was happy, fucking ecstatic even that he had finally landed a job. It meant he could finally move on with his damn life.  On the other, the events from last night stained everything that happened on his entire day.  Like a cut that wouldn't scab over, the angry wound kept bleeding.  "God fucking dammit!" His fist slammed into his steering column, and he slumped forward into his seat, unsure on how to avo

"Princess, c'mon, you have to give me a little more than that." Jackson was basically pleading as he said it, his face feeling tense and uncomfortable as he found his jaw grinding with his worries.  Kaitlyn looked almost psychotic from where he was sitting. As if something had actually drove her into a psychosis; he had seen her suffering many times within the last few months, but never like this.  It left cold ice in his chest, the fear making it hard for him to think.  She was buried into a ball like she was three, rather than almost thirty, and was almost completely unresponsive again. Taking a gamble, he snatched the phone from the spot a few paces away from her feet.  And when he picked he up, he cussed, realizing it had locked again.  "Kaitlyn, can you help me out here? Let me see what hurt you." He knew he was acting like he was talking to a child right then, but right now, he didn't know how else to get her to

Chapter 30Kaitlyn wasn’t sure how to process anything. The solemn air of the house, down to the emptiness that seemed to radiate from within her chest.It was hard to focus, her precious paid time off being used to secure her last few days at home.She hadn’t wanted to do much of anything. Eating seemed like a chore, like it was sand in her mouth. Work seemed distant and far away, her crafts were untouchable, even the television seemed vacant.It seemed all she could manage to do was sleep, cry, and repeat.Honestly, the only good that seemed to come of it seemed to follow Jackson.His presence a foothold that kept her sane as she tried to traverse uncertain waters.She didn’t know how to act now that Randy was gone. A pain so sharp it left her feeling like half the woman she was. She couldn’t even remember how it ended, all a blur as she woke up one morning after finding the texts between him and Natalie. The