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After we park, she looks through her stuff to see if anything is missing. Her phone and laptop are untouched, but she tells me that her center console and glove box have been rummaged through, and that her wallet is missing.
Callie grabs her back pack and one other bag and I let her into the house. She plugs in her phone to the wall outlet in the living room, leaving it to charge. She uses my phone to cancel her credit cards. If they’re willing to kidnap someone, they’re probably willing to steal her money too, but hopefully they didn’t get a chance yet.
We eat lunch in relative silence. Callie seems lost in thought so I do my best to give her space to process everything. I know she’s worried about retaliation, thinking they took her wallet to figure out where she lives.
I attempt to ease her worry, telling her that I don’t think they’re bold enough to travel across state lines to find her and that they might have given up after seeing a Tennessee address on her ID.
“Georgia,” she says, her eyes downcast.
“What?”
“My address. I had gotten a new license in Georgia when I thought I was going to be living there,” her hands rubbing up and down her thighs anxiously, “in the apartment I shared with my ex.”
I hesitate to respond, not sure what to say. She told me she was in Georgia for a few months but didn’t mention why. Her body language tells me this is a fresh wound though, and I’m annoyed at the jealousy I’m experiencing. I just met her, I have no right to feel this way. Yet, my jaw clenches a little bit when thinking about her with another man.
“If you’re worried that they’ll go to that address…” I try to choose my words wisely, “Do you want to call your ex?”
“No!” She says a little too loudly, making us both freeze for a second. “I mean, I just don’t want to talk to him, I don’t want to tell him what happened to me. Things ended poorly,” she fidgets in her seat, tugging at the sleeves of her sweatshirt.
Her reaction is sending warning signals to my brain, telling me there’s more to it. That something happened to make it more complex than just “ending poorly.” I won’t push her, she’s been through enough already the last twenty-four hours, but I have to ask, “Did your ex hurt you?”
“He didn’t hit me, no.” We both stew in silent contemplation after that, her not elaborating has my imagination running wild with what she might have gone through.
I don’t think she understands the lengths I’ll go to keep her safe. The lengths I go to protect what’s mine, my team, and my family included. The second I looked into her eyes back in that clearing, saw her fear, and held her trembling body, I knew she was mine to keep safe. But, not wanting to sound like a possessive asshole, I keep it to myself for now.
“How are you doing?” I study her silent form from across the kitchen island, not wanting to leave for town until I know she’s okay mentally.
“I’m fine.” She answers too quickly. Clearly, she’s not fine.
“Callie…”
“I’m just overwhelmed, and a little scared to be honest. I’ll be fine though, I have to be. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can leave all this behind me,” she pushes up from her seat, taking her bags to my room.
I know what she means, she’s ready to leave yesterday’s events in the past. She wants to move on without being in fear. However, the churning in my gut reminds me that I’m a part of this story too, and once things are resolved she’ll be out of my life also. The thought of saying goodbye to her leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
Even if I didn’t want to, I’d let her have a clean break. I wouldn’t reach out to her and risk stirring up all the negative emotions associated with being here. I’m not worth it.
She comes back into the kitchen, still wearing the same clothes as before even though I had assumed she was changing into her own things.
I hate how much I love seeing her in my sweatshirt, how my pride swells at the thought of her choosing my clothes over her own. Maybe she’ll want to take it when she leaves, a small piece of me to remember. Hell, she can have everything in my closet if she wants.
“I’m ready,” her voice pulls me out of my thoughts and I realize I’m staring at her. She fidgets, tucking her hair behind her ear like I’ve been dying to do a hundred times now. Noticing her pink cheeks, it takes me a second to recognize why she looks different. She put makeup on. Barely enough to notice, but I noticed.
I’ve never cared about shit like that before. I’ve known Callie one day and I can already tell if her eyelashes are a darker shade than normal… Am I losing my fucking mind?
“Let’s go,” I grunt, shaking myself for letting a woman have such a stronghold on me. I don’t know if it’s better or worse that she probably doesn’t even realize the effect she has on me.
We get back in my truck and head into town. Our first stop is the local auto repair shop to see about buying a new tire. The spare is only meant to last a few miles and she’ll need a replacement before she tries to make the rest of the trip home. I try to push the thought of her leaving to the back of my mind.
The shop doesn’t have the tire in stock since it’s a small business. The owner explained that they only get so much inventory to have on hand. He writes my name down, thinking he might get it in tomorrow on their truck. We give him our thanks and leave.
Callie doesn’t say anything else until we are pulling out of the parking lot. “Are you sure you don’t mind that I stay with you one more night?” She asks, biting her lip, “You won’t hurt my feelings if you want me to stay in a hotel tonight, I promise.”
“Not happening,” I insist, shutting down any argument she might have. She doesn’t argue though, instead, she smiles softly and I’m transfixed on her mouth.
She doesn’t want to stay in a hotel, she’s just being polite and trying to give me an out, a way to get rid of her if I want to. But, I don’t want to, not at all. Especially after she gives me that sweet smile, bolstering my belief that she may not be eager to get away from me either.
I pull back into the roadway, “I need to grab some groceries, then we’ll go to the Sheriff’s Department.” She only nods, the mention of the Sheriff making her nerves come back.
