police department in Amesport.
He looks happy. Everyone looks so damn happy.
Julian felt a twinge in his chest as he looked at all of his cousins, every one of them appearing like they had everything they wanted in life. Maybe he wasn’t the type of man to settle down, his life too mobile and crazy to ever consider a relationship, but at that moment, he almost envied them. Most of the time, he was secretly happy for all his cousins. They’d lived through a fucked-up childhood. They deserved to be content as adults.
Another sharp pang stabbed him in the chest as the backslapping and jokes started again as he and Micah went to leave, making him remember the times when all of the Sinclair men had spent summers together when they were younger. There was something to be said about always knowing another Sinclair had your back. In California, Julian could rarely tell enemy from friend in his superficial world.
As he followed Micah out the door, Julian wondered if he’d forgotten what it was like to have anybody he trusted in his life. Sadly, as he walked away from the comfortable atmosphere of family, he couldn’t think of a single person in California who would be at his back if he wasn’t a billionaire or his career wasn’t going as well as it was right now.
CHAPTER 8
The next afternoon found Tessa rolling her shoulders to release some tension as she skated through her warm-up, trying not to regret her words to Micah the day before. Oh, not that he’d treated her poorly, but he had backed off, asking her a few polite questions about the bleakest time in her life before getting up and taking her hand as they made their way back to Randi’s house.
He’d left soon after they’d arrived.
Now, she could feel him watching her as she skated, and he’d been unusually quiet since he’d picked her up this morning.
What did I expect? Did I think he was going to understand why I wanted to off myself? Hell, sometimes I don’t even understand it now. But back then, her desperation had been all too real.
After her mother had died, she’d been so alone, feeling so damn worthless that she hadn’t wanted to live anymore. She’d shared with Micah how she’d put together a cocktail of medications that she’d been pretty certain would kill her, mainly from a stock she’d had left of her mother’s pain and sleeping pills. She’d been ready to go to sleep and never wake up, let the dark pit she’d sunk into take her away.
The only thing that had stopped her at the last minute was Liam. She couldn’t leave him all alone, and she knew he’d blame himself for the rest of his life if she ended her own . She had been selfish, ready to ease her own pain at the expense of her only living close relative.
At the last minute, she’d dumped all of the pills in the toilet and flushed them down the pipes, unwilling to end her pain by causing more for Liam.
Tessa had experienced episodes of depression since her hearing loss, but she’d found herself in her darkest days after her parents were both gone, leaving her alone in a hearing world when she had none. Isolated and feeling separated from the rest of the world, she’d had to battle her way out of the darkness and back into the light. She’d finally escaped after Liam had come home and she’d reached out for counseling. Tessa had never talked about her near-death experience to anyone. How she’d gotten to the point of no return she couldn’t fathom now, but she’d been there, ready to take her own life just to escape her anguished existence.
Maybe it had crept up on her a little at a time. Maybe she’d always just gone through the motions after going deaf. The dark cloud had descended when Rick had dumped her, but then she’d had her mom and dad, a reason to stay alive, people who loved her. Too much pain, blow after blow, had rendered her helpless to fight her depression. She was recovered now, for the most part, but she sure as hell knew she couldn’t go back
He looks happy. Everyone looks so damn happy.
Julian felt a twinge in his chest as he looked at all of his cousins, every one of them appearing like they had everything they wanted in life. Maybe he wasn’t the type of man to settle down, his life too mobile and crazy to ever consider a relationship, but at that moment, he almost envied them. Most of the time, he was secretly happy for all his cousins. They’d lived through a fucked-up childhood. They deserved to be content as adults.
Another sharp pang stabbed him in the chest as the backslapping and jokes started again as he and Micah went to leave, making him remember the times when all of the Sinclair men had spent summers together when they were younger. There was something to be said about always knowing another Sinclair had your back. In California, Julian could rarely tell enemy from friend in his superficial world.
As he followed Micah out the door, Julian wondered if he’d forgotten what it was like to have anybody he trusted in his life. Sadly, as he walked away from the comfortable atmosphere of family, he couldn’t think of a single person in California who would be at his back if he wasn’t a billionaire or his career wasn’t going as well as it was right now.
CHAPTER 8
The next afternoon found Tessa rolling her shoulders to release some tension as she skated through her warm-up, trying not to regret her words to Micah the day before. Oh, not that he’d treated her poorly, but he had backed off, asking her a few polite questions about the bleakest time in her life before getting up and taking her hand as they made their way back to Randi’s house.
He’d left soon after they’d arrived.
Now, she could feel him watching her as she skated, and he’d been unusually quiet since he’d picked her up this morning.
What did I expect? Did I think he was going to understand why I wanted to off myself? Hell, sometimes I don’t even understand it now. But back then, her desperation had been all too real.
After her mother had died, she’d been so alone, feeling so damn worthless that she hadn’t wanted to live anymore. She’d shared with Micah how she’d put together a cocktail of medications that she’d been pretty certain would kill her, mainly from a stock she’d had left of her mother’s pain and sleeping pills. She’d been ready to go to sleep and never wake up, let the dark pit she’d sunk into take her away.
The only thing that had stopped her at the last minute was Liam. She couldn’t leave him all alone, and she knew he’d blame himself for the rest of his life if she ended her own . She had been selfish, ready to ease her own pain at the expense of her only living close relative.
At the last minute, she’d dumped all of the pills in the toilet and flushed them down the pipes, unwilling to end her pain by causing more for Liam.
Tessa had experienced episodes of depression since her hearing loss, but she’d found herself in her darkest days after her parents were both gone, leaving her alone in a hearing world when she had none. Isolated and feeling separated from the rest of the world, she’d had to battle her way out of the darkness and back into the light. She’d finally escaped after Liam had come home and she’d reached out for counseling. Tessa had never talked about her near-death experience to anyone. How she’d gotten to the point of no return she couldn’t fathom now, but she’d been there, ready to take her own life just to escape her anguished existence.
Maybe it had crept up on her a little at a time. Maybe she’d always just gone through the motions after going deaf. The dark cloud had descended when Rick had dumped her, but then she’d had her mom and dad, a reason to stay alive, people who loved her. Too much pain, blow after blow, had rendered her helpless to fight her depression. She was recovered now, for the most part, but she sure as hell knew she couldn’t go back
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