by Sara Evans
“I don’t deserve this, Rebel, not in my own home. Where’s Constance?”
“I sent her home. Didn’t need her interfering.”
“Never again, you hear me?” June’s voice rose with command. She would be obeyed. “Never. In my home. Do you hear me, Rebel Benson?”
Dread filled Jade’s belly. Never again? Max never mentioned his dad’s affairs. A door slammed. Footsteps hammered down the stairs and tapped across the marble.
“Jade?” June’s call carried up from the foyer and bounced around the hollow pockets of the second floor.
She couldn’t move.
“Jade!”
Pushing off the floor, Jade scrambled for the stairs. She peered at June as she inched her way down.
“You might want to keep this to yourself.” June gripped her hands together at her waist, squeezing her fingers.
“To myself?” The chill of the encounter lifted, but her bones rattled beneath her skin. “What are you saying? Max doesn’t—”
“Jade, you heard me.” June’s olive-green eyes pleaded, red and swimming. “To yourself.”
The story continues in Softly and Tenderly by Sara Evans with Rachel Hauck.