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“She’s gone. They both are,” he called, walking a few steps closer to the half fence. “Left a few days ago, her and someone that looked like your girlfriend from that dinner party.”
Shit. I hadn’t anticipated them leaving.
“You know where they went?”
Colson shook his head, flicking his cold gaze behind me once before clenching his jaw.
“But, uh…you okay, with your girl and everything? She seemed pretty upset the other day when she got here. I was fixing my truck and heard her crying pretty hard.”
Shame smothered my response, to the point it felt difficult to breathe. I didn’t want to stand here and hash out all my problems with someone I hadn’t kept in touch with, but it wasn’t like the rest of the town didn’t already know something. Hell, he probably knew but was trying to be polite.
“Just fucked some things up. I’m trying to fix it.”
Colson gave me a pitying look before stepping back toward his truck. “If it helps, I heard Nora yell something about three days of no responsibilities…that should put them back home today or tomorrow.”
“Thanks, man.” I gave him an appreciative nod and returned to my truck.
I could wait, and during that time, I’d figure out what to say to get Rae back.
* * *
The hot coffeewarmed my fingers and burned my tongue. I deserved it, because I was stalking Nora’s house like a psychopath. Every day, I had been back, seeing if they’d returned, watching for a pair of headlights to pull in. While they were gone, I called Rae’s phone, but she never answered. I hadn’t quite braved texting her yet, because I didn’t want to say shit through text, even if it was just asking where she was.
I still wasn’t sleeping, and my face and body showed it. I hadn’t shaved in days, my hair was shoved under a hat, keeping the greasy, matted mess down, and I had to ask Gavin to go to my house and take care of all my animals yesterday. I wanted to be here when she got back.
I had to be.
I just needed a chance to explain myself.
Hearing her voice in my head, begging for the same opportunity, haunted me while I sat across the road, waiting for Nora’s car to pop into view.
Hopefully, Rae would be merciful and allow me the chance to say a few things, because after so long without her, I had several words I wanted to share. But with each passing day, those words kept boiling down to just three.
Flicking my gaze down the street, a flash of blue caught my eye, and my heart rate spiked.
Nora.
Slowly, the car made its way down the street and carefully maneuvered the smaller space to the left of Rae’s car and parked. I was out of the truck, marching across the street, ready to pull Rae’s door open and just hold her in my arms for five minutes before I said a single, fucking word. But Nora’s head popped up, and her blue eyes narrowed in a determined way that reminded me way too much of when Rae got pissed.
“She isn’t here.”
I stopped short, the air leaving my lungs in a rush. “What?”
I edged closer, so I could hear her better.
Clicking her tongue with clear annoyance, she exhaled. “She isn’t with me. She boarded a plane in Portland, and we parted ways there. I headed home, and she headed…somewhere else.”
No, she wouldn’t do it again. Not to the town, not to her parents.
Not to me.
I forced myself to form the words burning in my head. “Where did she go?”
“Colorado, I think.” Nora leaned in to grab a bag and then slammed her car door shut. “Look, she just wanted a little more time away to clear her head. She wasn’t ready to potentially run into you. Which, given you’re already standing here, was a good call on her part.”
“I just need to talk to her.”
I tried defending why I was waiting here, clearly stalking her premises, but I was starting to forget why it mattered. I loved Rae, I wanted her back, and I’d do whatever it took to get her.
