Free I Won't Give Up on You by F. L. Jacob Page B

about.”
    Pulling myself together, I text Caston that I found a dress. I know he’ll be happy to hear it. Grabbing the bag of sexy lingerie I bought to surprise Cass with, I check my phone to see if I have a response yet. He hasn’t even read the message. I start to get a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. Something isn’t right.
    Sara and Beth are waiting for me. Walking through the doors, I suddenly feel light headed. A chill runs through my body, and I break out in a cold sweat. My chest feels constricted, and my stomach flips. I cover my mouth, turn to the bushes, and proceed to lose the contents of my stomach.
    Feeling hands on my back, I know Sara is there. I sink to the ground, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.
    “What’s wrong, honey?”
    I shake my head. “I don’t know what came over me. Maybe the champagne isn’t agreeing with me.”
    “Let’s get you home.”
    Looking at my phone again, I still don’t have a text back from Caston. It makes my already churning stomach clench again.
    Sara helps me up and walks me back to the car. Beth hands me a bottle of water and wipes my forehead with a cool cloth that she got from the ladies in the bridal store. “You guys are too nice to me.”
    Beth hugs me. “Bre, we love you.”
    “That was so weird. It came on all of a sudden.”
    Sara gets into the driver seat and starts the car. “I just sent a text to Caston to tell him we’re on our way back.”
    “Has he responded?” I ask Sara.
    “No, why?”
    “I sent a text to him before I left the store, and he still has yet to respond. That isn’t like him.”
    “Definitely not,” Sara says as she eases her way onto the highway.
    Beth rubs my shoulders from the backseat. “I’m sure he’s just busy, Sabrina.”
    I hear the worry in her voice, and Sara’s biting her lip as if she’s worried too. I try not to think negatively and lean my head back. Taking deep breaths, I will my stomach to settle. The sky is beginning to darken with storm clouds and it racks my nerves more than I want to admit. Something is off, I’m just not sure what.

 
     
    James and I stare at each other, neither one flinching. My jaw is tense. Finally, he looks away.
    “Caston, I helped Rose disappear. I’ve also been in contact with her all these years.”
    “WHAT?” I threw my glass behind him, smashing it to a thousand pieces making him jump. His head flies around to catch my gaze.
    Eyes wide he says, “Now, please, don’t. Let’s just calm down.”
    Seriously, he is trying to calm me after he tells me he has been keeping my mother from me for twenty-two years. Lunging toward him I drag my own father up by the neck of his shirt and bring him within inches of my face.
    “Don’t you fucking dare tell me to calm down. You are nothing to me anymore, James. NOTHING!” I finish through gritted teeth.
    I see him flinch when I say that. It’s true. He has lied to me all these years, kept me away from my mother, and kept me in the hands of that bitch this whole time. He obviously has no respect for me, no love. I shove him back down onto the couch.
    “Listen, when I finally came to my senses Rose was gone again! After she was gone for a few years Beverly filed the paperwork to get Rose legally declared dead. I was devastated thinking I’d never see her again. Then one day out of the blue I got a call from a hospital halfway across the country. They explained that there was a Jane Doe that was badly hurt and was repeating my name and number. I didn’t understand what was happening. Immediately getting a feeling that it was Rose, I left for what everyone thought was a business trip. I was taken aback when I walked in that room and it was her. She was beaten, cut, broken—mentally and physically. I feared for Rose’s safety now that I’d found her again, I couldn’t just leave her. She was the one. You must understand now that you have found Sabrina.”
    I stand staring at him dumbfounded.
    Pacing the room I