You Thought My Turn Could Always Come Later Chapter 10
After the paperwork was signed, Ronan didn’t leave Boston.
He sat on a bench across from the school gates all day.
When Ms. Ward finally came out, he stood up and intercepted her.
“Is Sabine… is she doing okay in there?”
Ms. Ward gave him a long, cool look.
“She’s quiet. Very independent.”
“When the dorm supervisor gave her a set of sheets, the first thing she asked was if she had to pay for them.”
“When the cafeteria staff set up her financial aid for meals, she insisted she would pay it all back.”
Ronan’s eyes immediately reddened.
“She wasn’t like that when she was little.”
“She used to cling to me.”
Ms. Ward’s voice was flat.
“Children don’t grow distant from their parents overnight, Mr. Burke.”
“She just learned that clinging to people was useless.”
Ronan drove home alone.
When he opened the front door, he heard Chloe in the living room, talking on the phone.
She didn’t know he was back, and her voice was bright with laughter.
“Of course I was faking it.”
“I just have to say my stomach hurts, and he’ll skip Sabine’s awards ceremony to stay with me.”
“And I totally stomped on that inhaler thing. She was always hiding it like it was some kind of treasure.”
“Ronan doesn’t dare yell at me. He owes my dad his life.”
Whatever the person on the other end said made Chloe laugh even more smugly.
“My mom says as long as I cry, he’ll give me anything I want.”
*Clatter.*
The car keys slipped from Ronan’s hand and hit the floor.
Chloe whipped around, the smile freezing on her face.
“Ronan? What are you doing back so soon?”
He walked toward her, one slow step at a time.
“The stomachache—you faked that, too?”