AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Maybe Diane was home and would let him peek inside. With a new purpose, he walked a little faster to get home before Holly. He peeked in the window and saw Diane sitting on the couch, earphones on her head. He waved to get her attention, and eventually she cracked the door open.
“Long time, no see, Eric. How are you?”
“Good. Is anyone else home?”
She shook her head. “Nope. And why are we whispering?”
He laughed and backed away to speak normally. “Can I come in for a second? I need to check something.”
Diane raised one eyebrow, but opened the door wider to allow him to come in. “Hurry. Aimee should be home any minute.”
He walked into the kitchen and opened Holly’s cupboard. Nothing. “Why doesn’t she have food? Is her food somewhere else? In the fridge maybe?”
Diane shook her head. “We’ve been eating on campus for every meal. It’s the only way we can meet with her since she has such small windows of time.”
“So, when she comes home, she has nothing to eat?”
“We share with her if she needs anything,” Aimee said, joining them. She had slipped in without them realizing. Eric whipped around, and her mouth dropped open. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “You look like you haven’t slept in days.”
He ran a hand through his hair, making a mental note to take a shower. It was time.
“That’s what happens when you can’t see the woman you love. You work yourself to death and fall asleep, one eyelid closed at a time.”
Aimee crossed her arms across her chest and pouted out a lip. “What are you doing here? Are you checking to see if Holly’s eating? Don’t you see her every day? It’s not enough for you to see her on campus? You have to come here?”
Diane pulled on one of her arms and shook her head.
“What?” Aimee said, her face reddening.
“They’re on a break.”
She dropped her hands and stared at him. “What? You broke up with her?” Her voice softened.
“No, actually she was the one who pulled away. She was too worried about your feelings.”
“That’s not my fault.”
Eric sighed and shut the cabinet door. The tone of her voice made him angry. He and Holly had done nothing wrong, and he wasn’t afraid to say it. The only thing that held him back was hurting Holly more.
“I should go,” he said, looking only at Diane. “Thanks for letting me in. I’ll see you around.”
“Tell Cameron I said hi,” Diane said. “I’m sure we’ll see you soon enough.”
He was clinging to that hope.
Before he could escape, Aimee asked her why she hadn’t seen Cameron and if she—Aimee—was the reason behind it.
Yes. Yes to all of it.
On Valentine’s Day, it was just another empty day for Eric, but he refused to let it remain that way. After taking a test—one he’d studied pretty well for—he hurried to his guidance counselor’s office to discuss internship options.
His counselor, Brett Callen, was waiting in his office, an application ready for him to fill out. Eric spent the first ten minutes in silence as he filled it out, the only sound was the clicking of Brett’s keyboard. When Eric slid it across the table, he asked, “How likely is it that I’ll be assigned to one of the two Logan locations? I’d really like to be considered.” Even if things weren’t great with Holly right now, he clung to the hope that things would work out.
Brent shrugged. “Can’t really say. A couple dozen people have applied for Logan, and we consider all situations. Families with kids will be considered first, of course.”
“Right. Okay, thanks.” Brent’s answer hadn’t given him any confidence. If he was sent away, it was sure to ruin his relationship with Holly. Would she follow him? He shook his head and hurried back to his apartment. He was getting ahead of himself. Considering their pending relationship, giving Holly a Valentine’s Day gift was daunting enough.
After dropping his things on the counter, he grabbed his keys and headed to town. If he hurried, he could have the surprise in place before Holly got back from class.
