Page 49 of Tear Me Apart

And she leaves the ward. She leaves me there. Alone, in our room.

Liesel gets out.

And I am stuck inside.

I hate her as much as I love her.

27

THE WRIGHTS’ HOUSE

CURRENT DAY

Lauren wakes at dawn. Jasper is splayed out facedown next to her, naked, the sheet thrown off, sleeping deeply. She pulls the sheet and blanket up over his haunches. He doesn’t move; his breathing doesn’t change. Good. She dresses quickly, goes to the kitchen, starts the coffee, then scurries to her office to erase the history on her laptop.

Jasper is sitting naked at her desk. Her laptop is open, and he is staring at the screen.

“What are you doing?” She tries not to sound defensive or scared—but what the hell is he doing?

“Who is Zack Armstrong?”

“I, what—” she starts, but Jasper holds up a hand.

“Listen to me, and listen carefully.” It is his court voice: formal, educated, remote. A chill spikes through her. He’s never—never—spoken to her like that. Clients, opposing lawyers, the judge, yes. But her? Her heart flutters as it takes on a shot of pure adrenaline.

“You have put yourself in an untenable position, Lauren. I’ve just found out you’ve been lying to me for seventeen years, literally from the moment we met. Now you’re sneaking around in the middle of the night doing private searches on your computer for a man I’ve never heard of—”

“How can you see my private searches?”

“I saw the search over your shoulder last night. I am a very patient man, and I can handle a lot, but any more lies between us will not be tolerated. Do you understand me?”

She does. She hears him loud and clear.

She turns and walks out of the room. There is no way in hell she is going to explain herself right now. She can’t take that chance. And he is right; she shouldn’t lie to him again.

He follows, of course, bellowing her name. She doesn’t stop, doesn’t hesitate. She grabs her boots and her purse, the keys to her car, and keeps on moving, straight down the back stairs into the kitchen, out to the garage. Jasper keeps on her, calling, trying to block her way, but she simply looks through him until he gets exasperated and moves, allowing her to walk out the door.

She throws herself behind the wheel and dumps her things into the passenger seat. She finally meets his eyes, forcing away the qualms she feels when she sees how truly confused and upset he is. He has his anger on a tight leash, and she knows it. She needs to be very careful; she can’t afford to turn Jasper against her.

She puts down the window. “This story has nothing to do with you and is long, long past. I love you, and only you. Now, I’m going to see Mindy. I’d appreciate you not breaking into my computer again.”

The window slides up with a whisper, and she backs out of the garage, her bare feet cold on the pedals.

* * *

VAIL HEALTH HOSPITAL

“Mom!”

Mindy’s smile is wide and thrilled, and Lauren realizes Dr. Oliver was right. Mindy needed the break as much as she did.

“How are you, little peep?”

“I feel good today. Better. Whatever they gave me worked. I don’t hurt at all. They’re going to make me stay in here another day, then I can get back home. I slept all night, and Lolly and I had fun yesterday. She likes Sarah J. Maas too, so we talked for a long time about fantasy. You know, I think I want to be a writer. I mean, when I retire from skiing.”

“You do?” Lauren sits on the edge of her daughter’s bed, smoothing the jumbled sheets. “What do you want to write?”

“Novels, silly. Big, sweeping fantasy novels, where I can build the world myself, and make all the rules.”