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But to me? He was the exact opposite. And I wondered if I was somehow seeing it all wrong.
“Still,” I said with a sigh. “I should have known it was here. There’s so much I could have done?—”
“On a farm?” Dad asked. “You have a much better job here.”
Everyone kept telling me that. I wasn’t sure it was true, but I also didn’t want to quit either. It felt like giving in to something Trevor wanted.
“Why didn’t you tell me someone lived here?”
“I didn’t think you would disappear and go there, Mollie!” Mom snapped. “It’s three hours away.”
“I had to see it for myself,” I said.
“And now you have. So leave and come home. We’re worried.”
“I need a break.”
“From what?” Trevor asked.
“From everything,” I said.But mostly you,I thought.
“Then come stay with us,” Dad offered.
“I’m staying in Strawberry Springs.”
“Where? There can’t be any reputable hotels out there.”
“I—in the farmhouse.”
“What?” Mom’s voice was climbing. “You can’t?—”
“I own it.”
“Mollie, you’re not living with a random man.” Trevor’s voice was firm. “As your fiancé, I forbid it.”
“I left the ring behind,” I said. “I thought that made it pretty clear that wearen’tengaged anymore.”
“I don’t accept this.”
I screwed my eyes shut.Fuck.I knew he would do this. It was why I hadn’t wanted to talk to him ever again.
“Wha—what’s going on, Mollie-bear?” Dad tried. “This isn’t like you.”
Nothing I was doing was like me. That was the problem.
“I need a change.”
“What are you gonna do about work?”
“I could take a leave of absence.”
“We need you here.”
I winced. “I could also work remotely. I have my laptop.”
“Absolutely not,” Trevor protested.
Thankfully, Dad didn’t immediately say no, and he was the one who’d make the final choice. “You know I don’t usually allow that.”