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“Stop being such a dick,” Hendrix warned.
“I’m not,” I said, far enough from her earshot.
“You are,” Shane whispered.
I shook my head, trying to focus on what was happening. “Whatever. Let me get rid of her so we can get back to this shit.”
Thea whipped her head around, a death glare trained on me. “What did you just call me?” she snapped.
“Nothing.” I stopped in front of the car, hooking up the battery while Thea tapped her foot impatiently. As if I wasn’t going fast enough for her, when she should be thankful I found her in the first place.
I glanced over my shoulder, giving her a pointed look. “Can you stop making so much noise?”
“Can you literally be anyone else?” She huffed, glancing at the darkness around us. “You’re not funny. I hate you and your stupid jokes,” she muttered to herself. Or maybe to the ghosts that she saw.
Either way, girl was crazy, and we all needed to stay the fuck away.
Chapter Thirteen
Thea
Tears fell from my face, blending with the hot water falling from above. This day had been emotional, I was exhausted, and I missed my FaceTime with Paisley.
My car had broken down halfway home, and I was stuck out there for two hours before Calder happened to cross paths with me. Two hours of being helpless, of raw emotions stirring inside of me and the inability to get my car home. I could have probably walked home. It would’ve taken hours, but it was dark, I had no flashlight and I was new to the area. I’d been worried I’d get lost and wind up on a milk carton after being eaten by mountain lions.
Though, the longer I stewed, the more I realized no one would be looking for me for a very long time. Kyle would be glad I wasn’t bothering his time with Paisley, Chrissy and I could sometimes go a week without talking if we were both busy, my dad was dead, and I was barely on speaking terms with my mother.
Someone may find me, but no one would know to be looking, and that had me frozen in fear.
I was angry with everything and I took it out on Calder. He was as good of a punching bag as any. He was rude, and I hated that. He didn’t even know me, yet he’d written me off after a thirty-second meeting.
I continued my shower, letting the tears freefall and blend into the water. I needed a warm bath and a glass of wine. Or maybe the bottle, though I knew that it was unhealthy to cope with my mental health at the bottom of a bottle.
If Calder hadn’t been there to save me, I’d still be out there, helpless, starving. Alone. I hated that word. It made me sick to acknowledge how alone I truly was. How alone I’d been since Dad died, and even before he died. He wasn’t home much, and whenever he was on the road, I was left waiting, my life on pause until he returned.
I wasn’t truly living that way, so I acted out. I hung out with the wrong crowds in high school, and I paid the price. Dad had never said he was disappointed. We kept in touch in various ways depending where in the country he was. Emails and video calls, or phone calls, sometimes texts or instant messages.
When I’d gotten pregnant with Paisley, I’d been scared to tell him. I never actually did. He left when I was twelve weeks pregnant without knowing. Then, when he returned, I was days away from giving birth. I had sent him an email with my new address in North Carolina. He assumed Mom had moved us there.
When he showed up, he learned the truth. I was renting a room with Kyle out of someone’s house. We didn’t even have access to the kitchen. The room had a microwave and a mini fridge, and I was washing dishes in our bathroom sink. The baby didn’t even have a crib. She was going to be sleeping in a small bassinet in the bed between the wall and me.
Still, he showed up, he never questioned what I was doing. He never looked at me with anything but love. Maybe a deep part of him knew that he should have been there for me more, or maybe he just had more faith in me that I’d make everything work out.
Or maybe he knew he’d die young and it would solve all of my problems. That the courage to leave Kyle would come with the financial freedom he’d given me. That caused a lump in my throat. I didn’t want to look at his death that way, but it was true. It made me feel horrible.
I shut the water off, then reached for the towel hanging beside the curtain. The muscles in my shoulder were tight, and it shot a heating pain through me. I had so much work to do tomorrow, yet I didn’t think I had the strength in me to get it done.
Groaning, I headed for my bed. I was going to text Parker so that he knew I wasn’t intentionally ignoring him today, then crash. I still needed to open the texts he’d been sending me since this morning when I snuck out before he and Hendrix woke up.
I pat my body dry, the towel falling to the ground when I was finished. My feet pounded to the opposite end of the tiny house. My body fell onto my bed, a groan escaping as I reached for my phone. The screen lit up, with another text from Parker, and I unlocked it with my face.
Parker: You left without saying goodbye.
Parker: Everything ok? Hope we didn’t scare you off.
Parker: Calder just told us about your car. Did you get home safe?
Parker: Jesus, Thea. You really ghosting me over here? I thought we had a good time together. ;)
