“How could your parents let her go through that?” I charged.

“My parents loved Easton,” he rushed out. “They always had her best interest at heart. They thought it would pass and didn’t want the press causing more harm.”

“Does she at least have a restraining order against him?” I shot out.

The last thing I wanted was this guy trying to come back into her life.

“Wouldn’t be much point,” he replied flatly. “He’s dead.”

“Dead?” I questioned, hoping I’d heard him right.

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Two years after the stalking began, when Easton was eighteen, she’d finally had enough,” he told me. “She got bolder. She started sneaking out for late-night jogs, leaving her hotel room door unlocked, getting a phone behind our parents’ backs…” He looked up, meeting my eyes. “She was daring him,” he clarified. “She was tired of being afraid, and she wanted her life back.”

How long would you stay?

Longer than anyone else.

“Standing in the middle of a burning room,” I mused, remembering how she liked a dare.

“What?” he asked, confused.

I shook my head. “Nothing. Go on.”

“One night,” he continued, “Stiles left a note on her car, promising that she would never forget him.”

I turned my head, trying to hide my anger.

“Later that night, Easton disappeared, and my parents were frantic.” He leaned in, lowering his voice as much as he could manage with the noise. “They took Avery with them but left me at the house in case Easton came home, and they drove around looking for her, not knowing that she had gone to Chase’s apartment to confront him.”

What?

“When Chase never showed up, she came home, but the police were already at our house, giving us the news,” he told me. “My parents had lost control of the car in the rain and swerved into the path of a semi.”

“Jesus Christ,” I whispered under my breath.

Easton and Jack had gone from a family of five to a family of two, and now I understood. Not so much in what Jack told me but in everything Easton hadn’t.

She’d had her heart broken too much and didn’t gamble on uncertainties.

But she’d opened up for me. Even just a little. She had shown me that she cared.

“Why wouldn’t she tell me all of this?” I asked him.

“I’m sure she would’ve,” he assured me. “Eventually.”

“And Chase Stiles? How did he die?”

Jack hesitated, taking a deep breath. “He… committed suicide earlier that day,” he admitted. “I’m guessing the note he left for her was a suicide note.”

So Easton had gone to wait outside his apartment, and he was already gone. I was tempted to inquire how he’d killed himself, but if it didn’t directly concern Easton, then I didn’t want to know anything else about him.

“Easton died a little that night, too,” Jack added, getting ready to leave as the music stopped and Principal Shaw wished everyone fun tonight.

I held Jack’s eyes as he continued. “It’s not that I don’t like the woman my sister’s become, but since that day, her heart is a machine,” he cautioned. “She can start and stop it at will.”

“Dad?” Christian called, running over to the car, his light blue button-down hanging out of his uniform dress slacks. “Would it be okay if Patrick picked me up after he takes you back to the office?” he asked. “I want to have some friends over.”

I slid my phone back into my pocket. “I’m not going back to the office.”

His forehead creased with surprise. “Really?”

I nodded, pushing up from where I leaned against the car. “I thought we could order pizza and watch the fight.”

There was a match on Pay-Per-View I wasn’t interested in seeing, but I definitely enjoyed spending time with Christian, so…

“Are you sure you don’t want to work?” he pressed. “I mean, I appreciate the effort you’re putting in, and it’s the thought that counts, but…” He trailed off, glancing back to where his friends were joking around.

“But…?” I inquired.

His arms hung at his sides, and he looked severely displeased. “Well, I wanted to have some friends over tonight without my dad hanging around, you know?”

I scowled. “You’re fourteen.”

And then it dawned on me.

“Are you inviting girls?” I exclaimed.

A nervous smile spread across his face, and he glanced behind him again. I noticed Clyde Richmond’s daughter shifting her gaze over to us, and I immediately started shaking my head at my son.

“I may not be father of the year,” I chided, “but I’m not stupid, either. You’re not allowed to make me a grandfather for at least another fifteen years. Understand?”

He rolled his eyes, his shoulders dropping.

“But nice try,” I allowed.

“Okay.” He groaned. “Can I still have friends over, though?”

“Yeah,” I allowed. “Let’s see how many we can fit.” And then I pointed to him, stopping before I turned for the car. “And no touching my pool table this time.”

Last time he’d had friends over, I’d found a pizza stain on the ten-thousand-dollar table.