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He reluctantly nodded.
She started to get out but then she stopped and turned back. “I love you, Dad. And thanks. For everything. ”
He smiled. “Love you too, baby girl. I’ll see you later. ”
She nodded and then closed the door. She waited until her dad drove back down the street before she started toward the bank. It took a little longer than she would have liked. Apparently cleaning out a savings account and converting to traveler’s checks wasn’t an everyday occurrence. Or at least not in Clyde.
Half an hour later, she walked out and tensed when she saw Seth’s truck parked on the street in front of the sheriff’s department. By now she was certain he’d know she was coming. Her mom and dads had likely been on the phone to let him know.
And she still had to see the realtor.
Hoping Seth would be patient and not come looking for her, she ducked into Clyde’s only real estate office.
An hour later and after much arguing with Janice, Callie walked out of the office with an envelope tucked under her arm. She headed down the sidewalk to the sheriff’s office and stepped inside where she was greeted by the receptionist who waved her on to Seth’s office.
She hesitated outside the door but then knocked softly.
“It’s open,” Seth called.
She pushed in and Seth shot to his
feet when he saw her standing in the doorway.
“Hi,” she said quietly.
He hurried around and without a word, enfolded her in a bone-crushing hug. “I’ve been so worried. ”
She smiled as she pulled away. “I just came by because I wanted you to know I’m not angry with you. ”
He stood back, his gaze taking in her bedraggled appearance. “You look like shit. ”
Trust her big brother to be blunt.
“I feel like shit,” she said honestly. “But I’ll get over it. ”
He put his hand out to touch her cheek. “I’m sorry, Callie. For a lot of things. ”
She shook her head. “Don’t be. I just wanted you to know I love you, and I know you did what you thought was best. You were trying to protect me. I don’t hate you for that. ”
“I’m glad. I handled it badly. I was pissed. I’d just gotten my report an hour before we left to go up for lunch. I saw red. Now I wish I’d done things differently. ”
“The outcome would still be the same,” she said softly.
“Want me to kill him?”
She shook her head sadly. “No. I want you to forget he exists. It’s what I plan to do. ”
She started to back toward the door. “Tell Lily I love her, will you?”
Seth’s brows drew together. “You can tell her yourself. Aren’t you going out to see her?”
“Tell her anyway. ”
She walked back through the door before Seth could do or say anything else. When she got outside, she put the envelope between her teeth and dug into her purse for the tiny silver key that Max had given her when he placed the bands around her wrists.
There was still one more person she had to see before she left town.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The knock at Max’s hotel room door startled him from his dark thoughts. He bolted to his feet, his pulse racing a mile a minute as he rushed to open it. He flung the door open to see Callie standing there staring at him with dull, dead eyes.
Her appearance shocked him. She was still wearing the same clothes as she had when they’d driven to her parents’ together. Her hair was limp, half covering her face. She looked exhausted. Her eyes were rimmed with red, her lips were drawn into a pale, thin line.
She looked liked death. She looked exactly like he felt.
“Callie,” he whispered past cracked lips.
Oh God, he wanted to pull her into his arms. He wanted to hold her and kiss her and tell her he’d never let anything bad ever touch her again. He wanted to say he was sorry, but the words—the damn words—were hopelessly inadequate. How could he possibly put into words what was bleeding from his heart?
She held out a large manila envelope that bulged at the bottom. Her fingers shook, making the envelope flap like a breeze blew it.
“This is for you,” she said in a low voice.
“Callie, come in. Please. ”
He would have reached for her but she shrank back as if anticipating such a move. She looked so infinitely fragile that he was afraid to demand—or ask—anything at all.
So he curled his fingers into tight fists at his sides as he tempered the urge to haul her into his arms and never let go.
She shook her head. “I can’t stay. I have to go. But I wanted—” Her voice cracked and she swallowed visibly.
She shoved the envelope toward him again, hitting him in the chest with it until he had no choice but to take it from her.
“It’s yours. I can’t…” Tears filled her eyes, and she lost the tightly held control that had made her face an unbreakable shield.
Her features crumpled and tears slid endlessly down her cheeks.
“I can’t… It’s ruined for me. I can’t even bear to look at it. You’ve ruined that for me. It’s not mine. It can never be mine because I can’t even be there without thinking of you. Of what you did. It’s not my safe place anymore. It will always represent hell and what I lost—what was never mine. ”
She took a step back and he panicked. His chest was so tight he felt like he’d explode. There was such grief. Such finality to her words and her actions.
This was her goodbye. He couldn’t let her go. Never.
“Callie, please, you have to listen to me. ”
She shook her head in denial and turned and fled toward the parking lot. He flung the envelope aside and rushed after her, his pulse exploding at his temples.
She fled like a spooked deer. Her truck door was open, the engine was running, as if she’d anticipated just such a flight. She was inside and backing out of the parking spot before her door even closed.
He hit the side of her door with his body, his hands pressed against her window as he shouted her name over and over.
She paused only to put it in gear and she looked at him. Just once, her face so tormented, hurt so bright in her eyes that he wanted to die on the spot.
“Callie, please. Don’t do this!”
She looked forward and accelerated, leaving him standing in the parking lot, shouting her name.
He stared after her, so numb, so frozen that he couldn’t process what had just occurred. He couldn’t let her go. Not this way.
