Far Love (Book 1)

24 | Shelter

September 29th, 2023

It's been a day.

A whole day since I talked to Amanda Hoggs.

One whole day of laying in bed with a steady sound of click, click, outside the windows. A steady flow of voices all around the house.

Somehow I've endured it. Probably because I have much, much more than just the fact that they are here for me on my mind.

Dylan hasn't picked up his phone. Not once. I've called six times since the first time, and each time he doesn't pick up, I understand more and more how badly I've fucked up.

Image is so entirely a big part of celebrities like Dylan's lives--and I kept critical information that could seriously fuck up his and his family's image.

What would have happened if we announced our not-even-a-relationship to everyone? What would have happened when they figured out who my father was?

Everyone knowing wouldn't be the issue. The issue was the fact that somehow he always ended up in scandals with other celebrities that had more fame than him. The issue was that they always suffered after that and his business always profited off of it.

I'd watched it happen year after year as I grew up. No one ever figured it out, except apparently Amanda Hoggs.

I roll onto my side. I'm lying in my bed, sheets pushed off the ends of the bed. At some point last night I kicked them off and never brought them back over me. They felt suffocating anyway.

I want to jump on a plane to Seattle so terribly bad and explain myself to him, but it seems he doesn't want to speak to me. Add that on top of the fact of how dangerous that was, it scared me more than never having him. I have to keep him and his reputation safe.

The bedroom door opens, and from the way I lay, I have a direct view of the door.

"I thought some breakfast might help..." Amy says. Holding a tray piled with breakfast food.

I sit up and smile. A genuine smile, one that I save for my close friends and family. "Thanks."

She sets the tray on the bed and sits down on the other side of it. "I was thinking..." Oh boy, "Maybe, if you want to, you can stay here a little longer."

I bite a piece of bacon, "What do you mean?"

"Well..." she scratches the back of her neck. "Since the cafe is going to be under new management soon, you won't be working there anymore probably, and since your main source of income is your writing, you don't have to do it in LA."

"I can't move in, Amy."

She looks at the floor. "I always loved that about you, even before we adopted you," referring to her and Mara. In a way, Mara adopted me just as much as Amy did. "You never liked feeling like you were intruding or taking something." She meets my eyes, "You need a place that's farther away from all those cameras," she waves her hand toward the south. "And I think being away from Mara and Nina will be better right now. You always liked dealing with things alone. And if you need some motherly love, I'll be right here."

I ponder it. "I kind of want to go back..." That's a lie. I wanted to stay curled up in my blankets to not be disturbed. I wanted Dylan back.

"Do you?"

I shrug. "It would be nice to stay here, I guess. It would also take me away from the cafe. Put some distance between me and it." I'd need to call Marla and Rob some time to give them my formal resignation then. I'd only told them I'd be gone for the weekend, and we never covered where I'd be needed when I got back.

She interrupts my thoughts, "If you want to stay, let me know later today so I can cancel your ticket back. You can use my house as a shelter for as long as you need."

I nod and chew on more bacon and also go for a small blueberry muffin. "Thank you."

She stands up and walks to my side. "Of course." She leans down and cups the side of my head, planting a kiss on the top of my head. "I love you," she whispers.

"Love you too." I peer up at her as she walks out.

She pauses in the doorway, "Door open or closed?"

"Open should be fine now." Maybe being locked away in this apartment wouldn't be awful, but I still needed my mom.

She nods and pulls it three-quarters to closed, giving me some privacy.

When I hear her footsteps travel to the kitchen, I pull my phone off the nightstand and dial Rob. A second later I hear his weathered voice through the line, "Hello?"

🪿
I'm thinking that this the third season of bridgerton can't be released soon enough...

🪿
Katelynn J. Peterson

Published: February 17th, 2024