Hearts Like Ours | Red View Romance #1

🍏 Twenty Six

In the early afternoon, Layla went up to her bedroom and closed the door behind her, taking a deep breath as she walked over to her desk. Her phone was still there, untouched since she'd silenced it after the call with Colin.

When she picked it up and unlocked it, the first thing she noticed was that her battery was at ten percent. Then she saw the twenty missed calls from her parents and Colin, and even more texts. Instead of listening to any of the voicemails, or reading any of the messages, she went straight to her contacts and clicked the little green phone under her father's number.

He picked up on only the second ring. "Layla!"

"Hi, Dad." She fought to keep her tone light. This didn't have to be unpleasant, even if the anger still clung to her like barbed wire.

"Christ, you had us scared half to death. If we couldn't reach you today we were sending Colin out there to look for you."

"Well, that won't be necessary." She kept her gaze trained outside, on that wonderful, grounding view of the apple trees. In the back of her mind, she pictured Dawson working somewhere amongst them. "I just needed time to cool off."

Her mother's voice could be heard just slightly farther away. "You sure took your time doing so."

Her father gently scolded her, probably worried Layla would hang up again if they didn't handle this gently enough. In their eyes, they still had the power. They could still affect her, still have her spiraling into another meltdown. But Layla had a feeling she was about to turn that table, whether she wanted to or not.

"Are you alright?" he asked, voice laced with both concern and frustration. They were mad, and it was obvious. Unfortunately, she was about to make them a whole lot angrier.

"I'm alright. I figured it was time to call. Time to get all this sorted out."

"Well... Sweetie, I don't know that there's much to sort out. What Colin told you... it was a final decision."

She ignored the way that it burned, to have him not even give her a chance to change his mind. But she hadn't expected one. "I know. But that was a decision that you all made for the company. I called to discuss the decisions I'm making for myself."

"Layla, honey," her mom spoke again, voice lighter this time. "I'm not sure I'm following."

"I'm staying in Red View, at least until after the McAden-Clark wedding." It felt strange referring to it that way now, like it was something she was attending for business rather than choice. 

"You're..." Her father trailed off, and she could picture him running a hand through his elegantly-greying hair, leaning back in his office chair the way he did when something wasn't going the way he pictured. "Now why would you want to do that?"

"Because I have more decisions to make, and I need time to think about them. Time away from home. I'm not sure Foster Fitness is what's right for me anymore." And because she wanted to see her friends get married. Because she wanted to spend more time with Dawson, no matter what the outcome. 

"Layla!" Her name was a laugh as it came out of her mom's mouth. "Layla, listen. We understand if you're angry. But this is all sounding a bit dramatic. You don't have to put on a show for us to feel bad about what we did—we already do. So don't waste your time hanging out in the country just to prove a point."

"We need you here, Layla," he added.

"I'm not putting on a show." Fury bloomed inside of her at the accusation, her words biting now. "I mean it."

"What about Colin?" her mother questioned, using his name like it was the magic word that would send Layla sprinting back to New York.

"Colin isn't a factor," she said, putting it to them the same way she did to Dawson. "He doesn't love me, and I don't love him."