He turned me, and I looked up at him, completely helpless. But it was okay that I was helpless because he’d never hurt me like Neil did. He’d never do anything but what he does for all the people in his life. He’d be devoted to me and cherish me and take care of me.
And he was right. I couldn’t escape this.
Love follows you. It goes where you go. It doesn’t know about social divides or distance or common sense. It doesn’t even stop when the person you love dies. It does what it wants.
Even if what you want is to not be in love.
Chapter 32
Alexis
He was my boyfriend.
We were in love.
And it didn’t change a thing. Not really.
I still couldn’t introduce him to my parents or my friends. The job was still going to take me away from him. He still had to live in Wakan, and I had to live in Minneapolis. I absolutely refused to let him move. We went around about it for hours last night until he finally gave up.
I wouldn’t let him sacrifice his life to try to salvage something that wouldn’t work out anyway. What did it matter if he lived in Minneapolis if I wasn’t going to be home six days a week?
He had to stay in Wakan. Daniel’s legacy was just as important as mine. Maybe more.
It felt like Wakan would cease to exist if it didn’t have a Grant in it. Like it would be instantly diluted and thin, like Daniel held it together somehow, just by being there.
I couldn’t even express how much it meant that he was willing to leave that all behind for me. But I also couldn’t let him do it. Not for something as doomed as us.
So all we’d done was opt for the life-support version of the end instead of the clean break.
But he wanted to see if he could save our relationship, and I loved him too much to do the right thing and say no to it entirely. So I didn’t.
I couldn’t.
Daniel woke up early and moved the branch so I could leave for work. I drove back to the Twin Cities in time for my shift, feeling mentally and emotionally exhausted.
The vote was today. They’d announce the results at six o’clock.
I worked the morning, then headed upstairs to cast my ballot and went straight to the ER to the nurses’ station to wait. Bri was there, charting her patients. She was off at six o’clock like me, but she’d stuck around for the announcement. It was 6:05 when Mom and Dad showed up with Neil, Gabby, and Jessica. They came in through the automatic doors and were still half a hallway away, but the results were on Dad’s face.
I got it.
“Congratulations,” Bri said, leaning in to hug me. “I voted for you twice.”
I laughed, and she let me go. “Call me when you’re ready to go celebrate. I’ll leave you to the brute squad,” she said, nodding at my family. Then she got up and left.
Dad approached the nurses’ station. “You did it! We have another chief in the family. Well done.”
I was oddly unexcited for some reason. Like it was happening to someone else.
I forced a smile and came around the nurses’ station so Gabby, Jessica, and Mom could give me hugs. Neil gave me a head nod of approval. “Congratulations.”
“What time are you off, princess?” Dad asked. “We can go catch dinner.”
“I’m off now actu—”
Gabby gasped next to me. “Oh. My. God…”
I wrinkled my forehead and turned around to see what she was gaping at, and my heart sank.
Daniel was walking toward me with flowers.
I was rendered completely mute. My mouth opened and closed, but no words came out.
“Isn’t that the squirrel guy?” Gabby asked from behind me.
Jessica didn’t take as long to catch on. “Oh, Ali…”
My ears started to ring. No. No no no no no no no, this wasn’t happening.
Daniel closed the gap between us, beaming. “Hey.”
I processed him in split-second clips of horror. He’d trimmed his beard down, and it somehow managed to make him look even younger than he was. He was in a faded T-shirt, and his tattoos were showing. All of them. He had on jeans and his leather bracelet, and his boots were muddy. Normally none of this even remotely bothered me. In fact, I liked how he looked. That was one of my favorite shirts, probably why he wore it. But I did not like this in the context of this situation. In the context of this situation, this was my worst nightmare.
He glanced at my parents, Neil. Then he nodded at Gabby and Jessica. “Hi. Nice to see you again.” He looked a little surprised to see them here, which made sense, since I’d never mentioned they worked with me.