Sweet Liar (Candy #2)(23)

Tears trailed down Theo’s cheeks. He didn’t try to hide his face or dash them away; he let them flow, and he let me see them. Even though it was instinctual to want to hug him, his stiff posture told me not to. At this moment, Theo was a combination of strength and vulnerability that took my breath away. He was also unbearably sad.

I reached out and took his hand. It was cold and dry, but his fingers squeezed mine, and I hoped he knew that he wasn’t alone. He was the reason I didn’t feel so alone when I lived here with my aunt, and I wouldn’t let him feel that way either.

No matter how hard it was, I’d be here for him. I’d help him in any way I could.





On the way home I listened to the radio, gritting my teeth as the announcer talked about spinouts on the road and whiteout conditions. He also said the storm was moving from south to north and the worst had already passed through the Glenn Valley area, but I was apparently driving in the heart of it now. My hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly, they were slippery with sweat. I could barely see the asphalt as my gaze latched onto the red taillights of the car in front of me, using them to guide my way.

The ride was slow, and I had miles to go before I reached Glenn Valley. In my bag, my phone kept making noises, but conditions were too dangerous for me to reach over and check it.

For the entire ride, I’d been thinking about fate and timing, and the fact that I learned about my mother’s treatment at the same time Theo decided to stop his. I’d never believed in fate before, but now I wanted to. If fate were responsible for the collision of these events, then maybe fate wanted me to help Theo. Maybe the treatment that helped my mother could help him too. A kernel of hope formed inside me, and I knew I had to find out more about the clinical trial.

The Glenn Valley exit came up fast, and I pumped the brakes on the slippery road like my father taught me to when I was home visiting one winter. The car slowed, and I managed to exit off the highway and onto a side road, which had been cleared of snow.

When I finally pulled into the driveway, Jonah’s Jeep was parked in it. I was gathering my things and startled when my car door was yanked open.

Jonah stared down at me with eyes that were slightly wild. “You shouldn’t have been out driving in this.”

“I’m fine,” I said, but he wasn’t angry; his face was lined with worry. I let him take my arm to help me out of the car as I dragged my overnight bag out behind me.

We walked into my house together, and I didn’t find it strange that he had no key and yet he still opened the front door and went inside. Locks and an alarm hadn’t kept his father out, and I suspected it would be no different for Jonah.

Still perspiring from my white-knuckle ride, I stripped off my coat and gloves, dropping them in a pile on top of my bag on the floor as Jonah stood there looking at me.

“How’s Theo?” he asked.

It was a simple question, but it destroyed me. I’d been holding my emotions in for so long that I finally crumpled and broke down into tears, folding in on myself.

Jonah’s arms wrapped around me, holding me up as he pulled me close. My hands were pressed between us, and I fisted them in his shirt as I buried my face in his collar. All the emotion that I couldn’t show Theo poured out, and I didn’t try to stop it because I knew I couldn’t.

Jonah held me while I cried, and kissed the top of my head every so often. I was still second-guessing every word that came out of his mouth, but the comfort of his strong arms did more for me than any of the apologies he’d uttered. I was falling, and he was here to catch me. Somehow, I knew he would.

“Talk to me. Tell me what happened,” he finally whispered, his warm breath fluttering through my hair.

I took a deep breath and wiped at my wet cheeks. “Theo’s treatment isn’t working. He’s stopping it.”

That was why I was crying, but it wasn’t the only thing going on. There were so many other things I couldn’t say, like the fact that I’d met Jonah’s mother and how I hoped to help Theo. Oh, and now I knew for sure that my father had committed treason and why. But I couldn’t tell Jonah any of it.

“What’s he going to do?” Jonah asked.

I looked up at him and shook my head. “Nothing.”

His throat worked as he swallowed. “Nothing, as in no more treatment?”

Nodding, I looked away, but when I tried to move from where I was standing within the circle of his arms, he didn’t release me. Instead his hand smoothed up and down my back.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I wish there was something I could do.”

“Me too.”

Jonah’s words were the sort everyone offered, a platitude spoken to say something comforting, but with no real meaning behind it. My words were different. They were real. I might actually be able to help Theo.

We both broke the embrace at the same time, gradually, reluctantly, but Jonah’s hands lingered on my shoulders before completely releasing me.

“Sorry about your shirt,” I said, looking at the wrinkles and dampness I left behind.

“I don’t care about the shirt.” His gaze held mine in a soft and sympathetic stare, and he had no idea how he was twisting me into knots with one tender look because I believed it. I believed he cared.

My focus shifted to his scar, the raised pink line that rimmed his right eye, and I thought about the knife responsible for it and the hand that had wielded it. Jonah had his own tragic past, and I couldn’t help wondering if that was why I was drawn to him from the beginning, before I knew anything about him. Maybe something inside me sensed the tragedy inside him? Maybe it called out to the shattered parts inside me? I wasn’t sure.