Laina Turner - Presley Thurman 08 - Vows & Victims by Laina Turner Page A

talking.
    “Is there something you need, Presley?”
    He wasn’t cold, exactly, but he wasn’t warm and fuzzy either. He seemed on guard or just a little reserved. I didn’t really know how to take him.
    “Actually, there is. I thought you should know that Dirt escaped from prison this morning.”
    “What! How?”
    “I don’t know all the details, but during some routine transfer he escaped. Officer Schultz called us in to tell us. Me and Katy that is, because I guess he’s made threats about coming back to Alkon. Oh, and Dirt tried calling Katy this morning. I guess he more than tried. He was successful, because she answered and he said he would see her soon.” I knew I was babbling.
    “Has he tried to contact you?”
    “No, just Katy as far as I know.”
    “Damn, and I’m getting ready to catch a flight.”
    “Here?” I asked, thinking maybe he was coming in early for the wedding and I got excited.
    “No, I’ve got a job.”
    “You’re still coming to the wedding, right?” I asked, afraid of what he might be about to say.
    There was a long pause, which really made me nervous.
    “No,” he said, blowing out his breath heavily as if he had been holding it. “I just took this emergency job and I won’t be able to make it.”
    “Oh, really? There’s no way you can make it?”
    “No. I already talked to Chris and told him.”
    Double oh. He told Chris and didn’t tell me. That hurt. He must be more upset with me than I thought, which hurt doubly worse. I never intended for this to happen.
    “Oh,” I said again, not knowing what else to say. “When will you be back?”
    “I don’t know. Probably a couple weeks. Listen, I need to run. I will call and talk to the police and if I hear anything else I’ll let you know.”
    “So, we’re still on speaking terms,” I said tentatively.
    “Presley, I don’t know what to say right now. I think we might just need a break from each other to figure out what we want.”
    “Oh,” I said for the third time, sounding like a complete broken record, but I was at a loss of what to say without coming across like an idiot or a whining girl. Especially when this was all my fault.
    “I’ll call you when I get back. I really need to get off the phone.”
    I hung up and just sat there. I didn’t know what I expected when I called him, but that wasn’t it. I didn’t think our conversation would end with him needing a break. I took a deep breath. My heart was racing. I didn’t know what to think because what I absolutely didn’t want to think was that we might be over. What if after thinking about things, he realized he didn’t want to continue our relationship? I wasn’t sure I was ready to get married yet, but I sure didn’t want to lose him. What was I going to do?

Chapter 8
    A fter driving around trying to gather my thoughts and emotions, I walked into my parents’ house an hour later to the yummy smell of food cooking. And I was definitely ready to eat. I wasn’t one who got sad or upset and lost my appetite. I was the complete opposite. I knew it would only give me a temporary fix, but one of my mother’s amazing home–cooked meals would hit the spot right now and definitely make me feel ten times better.
    I walked into the kitchen where my mom was stirring something on the stove that I assumed was the brownie frosting by the looks of it. “Hi, Mom.”
    “Good, you’re home. Just in time. We will be ready to eat in about fifteen minutes.”
    “Great. It smells wonderful. Want me to set the table?”
    “I would appreciate it, yes. And can you go tell your father to get off the computer and come in for dinner. I swear that man spends more time on Facebook.”
    “I heard that,” he said, walking in.
    “Good. I don’t understand what is so interesting in there.”
    “You’d be surprised, Sue, you’d be surprised. Hiya, sweetheart,” he said to me and gave me a hug. I could always count on my dad to make me feel special.
    “What do you