Through the Fire (Daughter of Fire, #1)(16)

Why would he plan such a beautiful week just to ruin it all? Was he frightened off because I wanted him to meet Dad? Surely he’d understand why it was dangerous for Dad and me to keep secrets from one another?

I saw the warehouse looming in the distance, and my heart went from fluttering uselessly to pounding desperately. There was an unfamiliar red muscle car in front of the building. I would have thought nothing of it, except Clay was outside clearly having an argument with someone. Driving closer, I saw a young, bottle-blonde woman standing next to a Chevelle hardtop. Her hands flailed in the air as she argued just as passionately about something as Clay was. My mind offered up a hundred possible explanations for the blonde, none of them good. Jealousy struck me hard as I wondered whether maybe, despite the obvious disagreement they were having, she was an ex—or even current—girlfriend. The thought instantly sickened me, twisting in my stomach until I was certain that I would vomit.

Clay’s gaze fell on my behemoth F-truck and a horrorstruck look crossed his features. In response to his pause, the girl’s head turned partially toward me before Clay shouted something more at her to draw her gaze away from the road. In the instant I’d seen her face, I recognized her. His twin sister—my high school tormenter. In school, her hair had been dirty blonde and always pulled tightly to either side of her head and secured in two plaits. Now it was almost platinum, cut short in the back with the front just long enough to tip over her eyes.

To avoid detection—if it wasn’t already too late—I turned my head away from the scene as I passed her car. I was close enough that I could hear some of the words that they were shouting` but it was such a small snippet of conversation that it didn’t make immediate sense. I could easily imagine the cause of their heated exchange: me. Or more specifically the fact that he’d left his family to come to Charlotte, which he’d done for me.

At least I understood why he hadn’t come to my house; he wouldn’t want to draw her to me. Or were the last few days just a stalling tactic until his family could arrive?

It seemed possible that everything we’d shared was nothing more than a ploy to keep me in one place, but I couldn’t believe it. Surely if he’d wanted to kill me, he could have done it himself or brought his family when he initially came. Either way, a surprise attack would have been more effective.

Unless he wanted you to suffer first.

No! I couldn’t think like that, or our relationship would be doomed before it really even started. Again.

With a deep breath, I exhaled all of my doubt. I’d made my choice to trust Clay, and I would just have to keep doing it. I had no idea how long his sister would keep him from me, but I was confident he’d find a way to get away from her eventually. I couldn’t warn Dad because he would overreact. The solution was easy. I would have to be extra cautious for both of us until I could figure out if it was safe.

With the evidence that Clay’s failure to show had less to do with me and more to do with his family, the drive back home was a little easier on the car. It was still stressful, I still worried about how he was and what his sister might do, but at least the car didn’t have to suffer from additional heat-inflicted damage.

He’ll come as soon as he can.

When I arrived home, Dad waited anxiously for me. One look at his face and it was clear I had put him in with my dishonesty and by running off so quickly. Unfortunately, I still couldn’t be honest with him. I didn’t want him to know exactly who Clay was until they’d met and he could see the way Clay looked at me. The mere thought of his scorching gaze was enough to set a fire of passion racing through my body. Surely that alone is proof he wouldn’t hurt me?

“He wasn’t home, but I think it was just a case of crossed wires,” I said. “Maybe tomorrow.”

“Are you sure?” Dad said uncertainly.

I nodded. “He wants to come. I know he does.”

“How do you know?”

“I just got the days wrong, Dad. He’s excited to meet you.”

“Maybe you can try to go down the road to call him from a payphone later?”

My mouth twitched in an attempt to smile. “Maybe.”

“You’d tell me if there was something going on, wouldn’t you?”

Swallowing the guilt that was like a deadweight in my chest, I nodded. “Of course.”

The evening was awkward. Dad spent the whole of dinner warning me about letting people be cavalier with my heart. After dealing with as many of his warnings as I could, I took my morose self to bed.

For too long, I stayed awake worrying about everything. Clay most of all. I had no way of contacting Clay short of getting in the truck and driving back out to see him. If I did that and his family was nearby, they’d realize that I was the reason he was in Charlotte—that is, if they didn’t already know. I tossed and turned as I stumbled around the edges of sleep until eventually a quiet tapping at my window pulled me completely awake.

What the hell?

I dragged myself out of bed and over to the window. Carefully, I peeled the curtain back the tiniest amount, less than an inch, and tried to see outside. The side of the house that my room backed onto was away from all of the streetlights, so it was impossible to make out anything more than a shadowy figure pacing outside the window. When the figure spun around to face the house again, I released the curtain and pressed my back against the wall.