Page 119 of Drive
Dylan Reeve’s frown turned into a scowl. “You’ve wanted for nothing,” he hissed. “You and your sister don’t have to work a day in your life if you don’t want to. That’s because of what I’ve givenyou.”
Rainey shook her head. “No amount of money could have helped me deal with watching my brother die. I needed you. I needed you to walk me through that. And instead, you pulled away. You let me down. Whenever you’ve faced the choice to do the hard thing for your children or the easy thing for yourself, we’ve always come outlast.”
She cleared her throat, finding the words easier to voice now that she’d freed herself to say anything. “I can’t speak for Holi or Ray, but this is the last time you’ll disappoint me, Dad,” she said, her chin quivering but her voice ringing clear. She squeezed her fists so tight her nails dug into her palms. “If this drug trial doesn’t work, and we lose Holi, I willneverforgive you,” she swore. His eyes widened at this. “Because I will know you let us down yetagain—”
Her father shook his head. “You don’t know that Ray Charles is a match,Rain—”
“He goes byRay, Dad,” she growled. “And you’re right. I don’t know, and I won’t know, but I’ll always wonder. And if I lose my sister, I’ll always wonder if you could have saved her by simply being a betterman.”
He reached for her, his eyes both surprised and pained. “Rainey—”
“No.” She gulped, stepping out of his reach. She walked to the door and slowly pushed it open before facing him again. “Wanting anything from you is too painful, so from now on, I want nothing. I don’t want your money. I don’t want your phone calls. I don’t want the birthday cards and Christmas presents your manager picks out for me. But I’m sure you’ll be relieved that you won’t have to worry about me getting in the way of yourcreativity.”
She shook her head at him, making a promise to herself as she did. “I don’t need you in my life.” Rainey took a deep breath and released it, already feeling lighter. “Neither of us needs to pretendanymore.”
The words held an honesty and conviction she hadn’t known she possessed. In a perfect world, she’d cherish a relationship with her dad. One that was genuine, mutual. One where she could share the ups and downs of her life with her father supporting and loving her througheach.
But Dylan Reeves probably wasn’t ever going to change, and she wouldn’t wait for him any longer. She wouldn’t cling to an image of him that wasn’t real, and she wouldn’t accept his excuses. Notanymore.
Still wearing a look of surprise, he said nothing as she turned to go, and Rainey told herself it was no less than what sheexpected.
When she stepped out of the sound booth, her gaze fell to the end of the hall and landed on Jacques, who looked like he was straining against imaginary chains. Archie stood at his feet, pulling at his leash with the same impatience. Rainey gave Jacques a shaky smile, and that was all he needed to meet hermidway.
He collided with her, wrapped her tight in his arms for an instant, and then pulled back and braced her by the shoulders. “Are youokay?”
Swallowing hard, she nodded. Now that she was with him, feeling his touch, reading the concern and genuine emotion in his eyes, she felt vulnerable, fragile. Like she’d fall apart any second, and she didn’t want to do that. She reached down and gave Archie a reassuring stroke as he balanced his front paws against herthigh.
“Let’s get out of here,” sherasped.
This was all she had to say. With a quick jerk of his head, Jacques grabbed her hand, and they sped to the lobby. As they crossed the sleek space, Rainey’s eyes met the receptionist, who looked more than a littlesheepish.
“Whatever you do,” Rainey told her. “Don’t let him get youpregnant.”
Lacey the receptionist’s eyes widened with the warning, and at once, her cheekscolored.
Yep. She slept withhim.
Rainey gave a resigned shake of her head before she pushed through the exit. But as she stepped outside into the spring afternoon with Jacques and Archie, she let thoughts of her father’s indiscretions roll offher.
Somehow, she’d found the courage to tell her father what she felt. To tell him how he’d let her down, let them all down. Time after time. And she’d made it clear — both to him and to herself — that she would not accept that anymore.
Lightness rose up through her limbs. She felt almost weightless. As they walked to the car, the sun touched her face, and she tipped her chin up to it, savoring the warmth. Jacques’s hand in hers was a conduit to joy, as if she’d plugged into the universe’s source ofhappiness.
Everything felt brighter.Lighter.
Or maybe she was truly proud of herself for the first time in sixyears.
Either way, Rainey smiled up at the sky and gave thanks for thefeeling.
Chapter 27
He’d expectedshe’d need comforting when she emerged from the showdown with her father. He’d anticipated she would need reassurance that she’d done the right thing in confronting him. Jacques was ready to offer both and thensome.
But when Rainey emerged from the music studio, she’dbeamed.
He’d heard her. Or at least he’d heard the rise and fall of her voice from down the hall. The soundproofing in the studio was good enough that he couldn’t have made out her actual words — not that he was spying, but he wanted to make sure she was okay and that her father never mistreated her — but he could hear well enough to know that she’d done most of thetalking.
And Jacques had wanted to cheer for her. He wanted to cheer for her now, even as they drove through Mississippi headedhome.
