Holding his Hostage - Amy Gamet Page 0,11
imagining straightlaced David stealing a nickel from anyone, but even if he really had taken Bannon’s money, such a clandestine act seemed to require greater effort in hiding the proceeds.
With a sigh, she flopped onto her side, but every time she pressed her cheek into the pillow, all she could smell was Sloan.
Fear for her children’s safety and her residual feelings for Sloan took turns at the forefront of her mind, neither one of which was helping her sleep, though the latter was highly preferable to ponder than the first.
She pulled back the covers and walked to a wide double window, moonlight illuminating the snowfall and white yard below. With a sigh, she leaned her forehead against the glass. She never would have come here if she knew it meant relying on him. He was the one person she couldn’t stand to see her desperate.
He was the only one who knew just how bad things had been at home. Even when she married David, she’d glossed over her childhood with generalizations and platitudes about all she had learned. But Sloan knew the truth, the nitty-gritty of what happened, and to have him be the one to see her back down on her knees was almost too much to bear, especially with him asking questions about her relationship with David.
These past thirteen years, she’d tried not to think of Sloan at all. Usually, she succeeded. She’d been so angry when they broke up, so dejected and hurt, and seeing him again brought her right back to the moment he left. She had loved him with every fiber of her being. He was just having fun.
She sank to the floor and leaned back against the wall, pulling her nightgown over her knees and letting herself remember. Sloan was going to basic training in a week. They’d planned to ask Sloan’s mom if Jo could stay here in the house to finish out her last year of high school, but before they got the chance, Evelyn announced she was going on a whirlwind European adventure.
Jo had listened to the details with mounting anxiety, sharing the occasional worried stare with Sloan across the table. “I could house-sit for you,” she offered.
“Aw, thank you, sweetie, but it’s all taken care of. Louise down at the YMCA has a cousin who needed housing for the summer. I’ve rented it to him and his family, so I’m all set.”
Later that night, Sloan held her cradled against his chest. “So you’ll come with me to basic. Get an apartment. I’m sure you can find a waitressing job out there just as easily as you can here.”
“I won’t be able to afford an apartment on tips.”
“And I won’t be able to help out until I’m through basic, then advanced training and BUDS. You could stay here and get a place of your own.”
“When school starts next week, I won’t be able to work enough hours to afford it.”
“You could drop out, at least for now.”
“Are you kidding?”
He stroked her back. “I don’t think there’s an easy solution.”
She bit her lip. She could think of one that would make all their problems disappear, in addition to making her happy. “We could get married.”
His hand stopped moving. “What, like now?”
She propped herself up on her elbow. “Why not? We’d be husband and wife. We wouldn’t have to sneak around when we got back. Your mom would let me live here, or she’d help us afford a place until we got on our feet. I’d never have to go back to my dad’s. We could make a real home.”
“We’re a little young to get married.”
“Plenty of people get married at our age.”
He unhooked his arm from around her shoulders and sat up. “You’re serious.”
“Of course I am.”
“Jo, you know I love you. But I don’t want to get married. Not yet, anyway. Are things really that bad at your dad’s?”
She felt like she’d been slapped. “You know the answer to that.”
“Your uncle’s been gone a long time.”
“That isn’t the point! I don’t want to be there.”
“And I don’t want to go to basic and leave you, but we have to find some way to get through this. Even if it’s not ideal, it’s an option.”
“That isn’t fair.”
“It isn’t fair to assume my mother will pay for us to live if we got married. Jesus, Jo, how can we get married when we can’t even support ourselves?”
Her cheeks flushed hot. “We would find a way to make it work.”
“On somebody else’s dime. No,