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“She left you this.” Simone handed me a note, a somber expression filling her pixie-like features. The sparkle in her eyes wasn’t there, and her hand shook a little as she extended the piece of paper toward me.
“What is this?” I asked as I unfolded the piece of paper.
Alina’s handwriting I recognized, but the words, and their meaning, might as well have been written in hieroglyphics for the amount of sense they made.
We’re done.
“Is this a joke?” I asked her in a snap, accusing her like she had knowledge of the betrayal.
“I don’t know. She was upset looking for you, and then she just left.”
“And you didn’t try to stop her?” I flinched at my tone, pressing my fingertips to my temples as I squeezed my eyes shut. I sounded cruel, and none of this was Simone’s fault. “What did she say, Sim? She must have saidsomething. ’Cause this note…” I shook it at her like she hadn’t known of its existence and hadn’t just given it to me, “… I think she just left me again.”
Simone clutched at her chest as the tears threatened to spill.
I didn’t waste time checking if she was okay while I raced toward the back of the store where I had just parked my car.
* * *
My heart sank lower when I stepped inside the house with her letter still clenched in my fist. Her suitcase sat off to the side of the doorframe like a taunt. I eyed it with distaste while fighting the urge to pick it up and march it back upstairs. If I took it away from being so close to the exit of the house, maybe she would change her mind or forget the idea of leaving altogether.
Alina was sitting quietly at the kitchen table with her hands clasped together in front of her. Her demeanor was calm, although her eyes told me another story, the sadness they held was a warning sign to tread carefully.
“I got your note.”
My temper had reduced to a simmer. I’d worked so hard to get myself under control before I reached Alina’s doorstep. I slid into the seat opposite her as I had so many times before. But when I reached for her, she pulled away from me like we were suddenly magnets pushing against each other.
“But I don’t get it, Alina. What has happened between yesterday and now that is causing you to feel like you need to leave me again? Please, darlin’, tell me what has gone so tragically wrong,” I pleaded with her. “And I’ll fix it.”
She avoided looking at me. Instead, she dropped her eyes to where her hands fidgeted in her lap, making me sick as the knots in my stomach rolled on waves of turmoil.
“You said no more secrets. I thought we were at a place where we could tell each other everything, and we were moving forward toward being together,” I hedged.
“Yeah, well, so did I, but it turns out that neither of us is able to make that sort of promise. This town will never let me move on from the past, Callum. I am the daughter of the town nutcase, and in their eyes, I am a murderer, and I’ll never be good enough to be worthy or accepted.”
“What are you talking about?” I could feel the frustration and confusion beginning to resurface. Alina was making no sense. There was more to the story than she was letting me in on. I was bewildered and had no idea what to say or do. “Please, Alina, tell me what is going on. I don’t know what you need from me to fix this.”
“You can’t, not without a time machine that will take us back a decade.” She puffed out a sigh before slowly bringing her eyes up to meet mine. “I don’t fit in here, and I never will. That much has been made perfectly clear.” Her voice was quiet, barely a whisper between us.
“I don’t give a flying fuck about you fitting in out of anyone in the entire universe. It is you who was born to stand out. I know it’s been hard for you here, but we can work it outtogether.” I searched her eyes, hoping for some tiny spark that she might hear me and listen to what I was asking of her.
“You can only say that because you’ve never been the outcast. For my entire life, I have wanted to be just ordinary. To be normal and accepted. So, for you not to care about my fitting in, it just goes to show you don’t know me at all.” Her eyes shone with conviction and unshed tears.
“Alina, don’t give up on this. Don’t give up onus,” I pleaded with her. Her spirit was broken, but together, I knew we could repair the damage.
“It’s too late, Callum. The real estate agent will be out by the end of the week to list the house for sale.”
I took her in as she squared her chin at me. Her guard had gone back up. My heart broke for her, for us.
“I can’t do it anymore. I tried.” She pushed back the chair before making her way to the front door of the house. “I’m sorry.”
Softly, I cursed under my breath. None of this made any sense. Hastily, I trailed after her.
“If you leave, Alina, that is it for us. There is no coming back. My heart can’t take it. It’s not an ultimatum. It’s self-preservation. Do you hear me?”
Her shoulders tensed as she straightened in the doorway, her hand adjusting the grip on her suitcase. For a fleeting moment, I thought she had reconsidered until she stepped over the threshold and out of my life all over again.
ChapterForty-One
