AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I just don’t understand, I feel safe with you. I don’t want to leave,” she speaks into my chest, not looking at me.
“I know, baby, I’m sorry.” I hold her tighter. “If you don’t want to come back, I understand. I know there isn’t much here for you. But, I’m always a phone call away, whenever you need me.” I tip her chin up to make her look at me. “Whatever you want from me, Callie. I’m here.”
“What if I need you now?” She asks, her voice a whisper. I don’t have a good response, so I just crush my lips to hers, needing to taste her one last time, in case this is the last time. She responds immediately, pressing her lips to mine, and opening her mouth so my tongue can slip in. We stay like that for seconds, minutes, an hour, I don’t know, but I don’t want to stop.
Once we stop, I’ll lose her smile, her laugh. I’ll lose the sweet way she talks in the morning, her voice still filled with sleep. It only took a few days to learn these intimate details about her, and I know I would miss it the rest of my life. No matter what it takes, I have to get her back, there’s no option, my life is nothing without her. She’s become everything to me.
“Come on, we gotta go, I’ll follow you to the state line,” I mutter against her lips, not wanting the words to come out.
She stiffens in my arms before letting go. “I never knew emotional whiplash could hurt so bad.” Her words gut me, but I don’t say anything, I’m not strong enough to. The misery I feel as she climbs in her car has to be punishment. Punishment for past crimes or for a life I never deserved, I’m not sure. I get in my truck as she puts her car in drive, driving away from me without even a glance in her rearview mirror. I easily catch up, following her as we descend the mountain, then to the interstate. The lump in my throat has not eased, and I’m sure there is a permanent scowl on my face, but I can’t stop trying to get a look at her in her mirrors. Not once, the entire drive to the Tennessee border did she look back, not once.
I pull over on the side of the road and watch as her car gets further and further away. My hands slam against the steering wheel, and I roar a scream. Fuck! This is not fair, it’s not fucking fair. I am going to kill those bastards, fuck them for doing this to Callie, to me. I pull out my phone, finding Callie’s contact and the heart she put next to her name, I wince at how drastically the day changed from just this morning. Sending her a text, I ask her to call me when she gets home safely. Hoping that she’ll do it, because not knowing will drive me crazy with worry.
I think for a second about following her all the way home, but decide against it, not wanting to waste time. I plan on taking care of our little problem as soon as I can and as fast as I can without leaving any evidence behind. Dammit, I wish I still would have given her a gun and made sure she knew how to use it. My brain is so scattered I forgot. Fuck.
I pull back onto the interstate, heading back towards Whitewater, and make a call to the local tow company. A nice old lady answers, so I turn on the charm, asking her to pull up a tow record from yesterday. I told her that I needed to know who called in to have my wife’s car towed, because I was worried she was cheating on me, and her boyfriend was probably the one who called since they were together. The lies roll easily off my tongue, and she eats up every word, giving me a “bless your heart” and an “Oh you poor thing” before putting me on hold to search the records.
As I’m waiting, I ponder the idea of Callie as my wife. Something I never thought too much about before her. All my past relationships weren’t even close to serious, let alone marriage-worthy, I was always too committed to the job. Callie, though, I would have given it all up in a heartbeat if she was a choice.
The lady from the tow company clicks back into the call, interrupting my thoughts. “Okay, sweetie, I don’t have a name for you, but the caller did leave their number behind on our caller ID. Would you like it?” Not a name, but something to go on, hopefully, a piece of the puzzle that will lead me right where I need to go. I get the number from her and thank her for her time, disconnecting the call.
Scrolling through my contacts, I know exactly who I need to talk to next. “Hey, Jesse, I need your help.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Callie
My life has turned upside down in a matter of days. Three days ago I was driving home from Georgia, listening to break up songs, cursing my ex’s name. Now, I couldn’t care any less about him. Yet, I’m on the same interstate back to Tennessee, crying my eyes out, heartbroken over another man. I’m not sure how it’s possible that I fell head over heels in love with Nathan in three days, but the feelings I have right now confirm that I’m undeniably in love with him. I feel broken. The rational part of my brain knows that he didn’t want to send me away, he just wants me to be safe and out of harm’s way. The irrational part is devastated that it ended like this. It started as a shitty situation, but meeting him was fate. Deep down, I feel like we were meant to find each other.
My phone pings a message from an unknown number. My heart leaps, hoping it’s Nathan telling me to turn around and come back to him. It is Nathan, but that’s not what it says.
Call me when you get home. Be safe, baby.
Fresh tears spring to life in my eyes, blurring my vision. I quickly wipe them away so I can see the road clearly. Why is this so hard? He said I could come back, he said he wanted me. Why does it still feel like this goodbye is final?
Those few minutes after he told me he wanted me to go back home felt like my heart had been stomped on. He had just fucked me ruthlessly, then told me I needed to leave, no discussion. That fucking hurt. Then I walked outside and saw that he was in just as much pain as I was. He didn’t want me to leave, but once again my shitty circumstance is ruining everything. I’m the one in danger, and Nathan is doing what he can to keep me safe, just as he has since the moment I met him.
The rest of my drive home is on autopilot, so lost in thought that my GPS startles me every time she speaks to give me new directions. After a couple of hours, I pull into the driveway at my parent’s house and turn my car off, but I can’t make myself get out. How am I going to explain all of this to my parents? Hey, I have a couple of guys trying to kill me and I’m totally obsessed with the guy who saved me from them. It sounds stupid to me and I’m the one in this situation.
He told me to come back if I wanted to, but I just got done living with a boyfriend and that definitely didn’t work out. I can’t move to North Carolina to pursue a relationship that is barely even a relationship, that’s crazy. I am crazy. I need a drink. And sleep.
I take my time getting out of the car with my bags, not looking forward to the conversation ahead with my mom and dad. As soon as I see my dad in the doorway, the dam breaks and I start sobbing all over again. He holds me, my mom crashing into us from the side, joining in. I didn’t realize how much I needed them until now. All the sadness, anger, and fear caught up to me, making me weak on my feet.
They usher me up the steps and into the home I am familiar with, the one I grew up in. The family pictures on the wall and the scent that I’d know anywhere, a mix of fresh laundry and coffee, calms me as I enter. I missed this home, I missed my parents. I hadn’t seen them in a few months, and even though I was living in an apartment on my own before I moved to Georgia, I was still home for dinner at least once a week.
My mom asks if I want to talk about what happened, but I shake my head, afraid any words I speak will lead to more hysterics. She brings me a glass of wine and my dad covers me with a throw blanket, urging me to get some rest.
“We’ll figure everything out, tomorrow,” my dad assures me, tugging my mom towards the kitchen, forcing her to give me some space. For the first time in months, I feel like I can relax. There is no question whether or not I belong here, no question if I’m loved or not. There is peace in belonging somewhere. No matter where life takes me, I know I’ll always be safe here.
After two sips of wine, I fall asleep right where I’m at, not waking until after midnight.
I rub the kink in my neck, grab my bag, and walk toward my old room turned guest room. I know my mom will have it set up for me because that’s how she is. I remove clothes from my bag needing to change for bed, but when I pull out my phone charger it hits me that I never told Nathan I was home. I dig through the front pockets of my bookbag, looking for my phone. It lights up, three unread texts, and one missed call. Shoot.
Nathan: Callie, you home yet?
Nathan: Let me know that you’re safe baby.
Nathan: Call me, please. Even if you don’t want to speak to me. I need to know you’re okay.
