After he dropped her at her cottage, he drove back to the packhouse. He had seen the 13 missed calls and the countless messages from his parents asking him to come back home immediately, but he’d ignored them until now because he wanted to reassure Vanessa first, make her understand that he would stand up for her and that she could trust him. She was more important than his parents at the moment, but now he couldn’t delay the discussion he knew was waiting for him at home any longer.
He parked his car and went inside, taking a deep breath. He could hear his parents arguing in the living room, but he couldn’t make out the words they were saying. When he stepped inside the room, their conversation stopped and they both looked at him, his mother with a more concerned look on her face, his fa
