Page 61 of The Broken Note

Miss Jamieson lifts her head and pins her mother with a nervous stare. “Mom.”

“What?”

She sets a hand over her mother’s, a silent instruction to be quiet.

Despite her daughter’s warning, Marion slips her hand away and keeps yapping her mouth. “As Jarod’s new wife, I want to create a harmonious environment. I don’t see why everyone can’t get along.”

“We don’t usually meet the wives,” mom says calmly. She sticks a carrot slice into her mouth. “They don’t stick around long and it’s a bother to keep remembering the names.”

Marion stiffens.

Dad scowls. “Do you have to go this far?”

Mom swirls her wine around. Her eyes meet mine, a glinting hazel. Like the single flame that flickers over a candle. “I’m stating the obvious, Jarod.”

“If you were just going to complain, you should have stayed away.” Dad rolls up his napkin and tosses it into his plate.

“Believe me, I wanted to. But when I received my invitation, I couldn’t say no.”

Dad curls his fingers into fists, saying nothing more. The power balances are slipping. They always do when mom enters the room. Dad might have been the young, rebellious rockstar who caught mom’s attention, but she was the one who got him knocking on the right doors and meeting the right people.

ShemadeJarod Cross.

Part of me is hoping she can finish him too.

Dad’s new wife suddenly rises from the table. Her smile is trembling. Any minute now, it’s going to collapse. “I’m feeling a bit weak. I’ll go lie down until it’s time to return home.”

“I’ll come with you,” Miss Jamieson says.

Zane leans forward as if he plans on escorting her. At the last minute, he catches himself and remains seated.

Our Lit teacher loops her arm around her mother’s elbow and walks with her up the stairs.

Zane’s eyes are trained on them, brimming with a longing that I know well.

Because I feel it every damn time I look at Cadence.

My fingers close around his shoulder in a comforting squeeze.

He brushes me off and draws his chair back. “I’m done too.”

I glance at Finn. My brother and I share an unspoken communication before Finn gets up and goes after Zane.

Mom motions her fingers to dad. “Jarod, let’s talk.”

Martina, our housekeeper, waits until mom and dad leave the room to approach me. “Señor Dutch,” she says in her heavy accent, “would you like me to bring a plate of real food for you?” She winks.

I smile and shake my head. “Maybe later.”

She gives me an ‘okay’ sign and gestures to the servers waiting on either side of the table. They rush to remove our plates, heaping stacks of wasted food on trays and wheeling them out of the dining room.

Finally, dinner’s over.

I need to check on Zane but, first, I call Cadence.

She answers on the fifth ring. “What?”

“Were you sleeping?”