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I huff and swat a lock of hair out of my eyes. “Get out of my way.”
“No.”
I blow out a breath. “If you’re not going to take me to him, I’ll find Carter myself.”
“And how are you going to do that? Are you going to drive around the suburbs calling out for him? Come on, Isabella. You’re a smart woman. You know that’s not going to work.”
I clench my free hand into a fist. “I don’t give a shit what you think right now, Tristan. Carter is supposed to be here with me and the baby. He shouldn’t have left.”
And if I have to drive around aimlessly to find him, so be it. We’re not going to get past our issues if he isn’t here.
A small voice in the back of my head insists that I’m the one who drove Carter away, but I shove it all down. Tristan continues to stand there, so I push past him and try to unlock Sam’s car, but my hands are trembling. Tristan takes the keys out of my hand and nudges me in the direction of the house. Realizing that I can’t fight him on this, I follow him up the driveway. Inches away from the door, I dart back in the direction of the car, my lungs bursting with effort.
I reach out to touch the door when Tristan yanks me back. “Isabella, stop. You’re not helping anyone, least of all yourself. Think of the baby.”
I kick and writhe and buck, but Tristan’s grip won’t falter.
If anything, he holds me tighter as we fall backward onto the damp grass. I roll away from Tristan, but he intercepts me without missing a beat. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a flash of movement, and Sam is running out of Anita’s house with Anita herself in tow. The two of them are waving their hands and calling out to me, but I can’t hear them.
I can barely hear anything past the pounding in my heart.
All I can think about is the sneer on Carter’s face as he stood across from me. In spite of my better judgment, I find myself replaying his words over and over till the poison seeps through the rest of me, leaving me with a tightness in my chest. Still, I push past it and try to get to the car, using every ounce of energy at my disposal.
I don’t stop until Sam’s arms close around me, and she crushes me to her. She is whispering in my ear, but I still won’t stop fighting. I can’t.
Because I’m afraid that if I do, I’ll have to accept that Carter really is gone.
How can he leave me behind?
I break free of Sam’s grasp, but instead of jumping into the car and driving off, my legs give out. I sink onto the grass and bury my face in my hands. Before I know it, my whole body is shaking, convulsing soundlessly as I wrap my arms around myself. Sam touches my shoulder, and her quiet voice washes over me, but it does nothing to soothe the ache.
Or the burn in the center of my stomach.
Anita kneels down next to me and takes me into her arms. I cling to her as wave after wave of emotion washes over me. Suddenly, I’m crying, loud, angry sobs that reverberate inside my head. Another tremor rips through me as I stumble out of Anita’s grasp and toward a row of bushes. When I sink to my knees on the cold, wet grass, I lower my head and retch, but there’s nothing in my stomach.
My eyes are burning, and tears are still running steadily down my face as I dry heave, spittle forming on the sides of my mouth. My chest feels tight as Sam stands next to me and rubs my back.
When I’m done, I use the back of my hand to wipe my mouth. Anita and Sam help me to my feet, with Tristan following close behind. In the doorway to Anita’s house, I sway, and my hand darts out to grip Sam’s shoulder. I miss and teeter forward. Before I fall, face first, onto the ground, a pair of arms encircle my waist, and Tristan’s unfamiliar scent washes over me.
He carries me across the living room and into the guest room at the end of the hall.
Carefully, he sets me down on the mattress while Sam and Anita stand on either side of the bed. With a frown, Tristan strides out of the room, and the front door bangs shut behind him. I flinch and shrink against the mattress. Anita adjusts the covers around me, and Sam climbs onto the bed. After another quick look in my direction, Anita leaves the room, leaving the door slightly ajar.
I curl onto my side and stare at the blue-colored wall opposite me. “He left me.”
Sam sighs. “He didn’t leave you, Isabella. I know it’s hard to accept that right now, but he’s trying to give you some space.”
A headache starts in the back of my skull. “What about what I want?”
The bed dips and creaks as Sam shifts closer. She touches a hand to the back of my shoulders and exhales. “He’s going to be back, Isabella. I know he is.”
I flip onto my other side so I’m looking at Sam directly.
I want to believe her, but I don’t know if I can. She doesn’t know Carter the same way I do, and the one thing I could count on was that he’d always be there, no matter how ugly things got.
But this time is different.
I’ve had the rug ripped out from under me, and instead of finding Carter there to catch me, he’s turned into a ghost. A part of me knows it’s my fault.
