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Chapter 19
Six Weeks Later
Caleb
Six weeks have passed since we were at my parents’ cabin. Six weeks since I slept in the same bed as Aria. Six weeks, and we’ve hardly spoken a dozen words to one another, and even then, it was over a phone call. Six weeks, and the police have made no connections at all. We’re still as blind as the day we found Aria in the fucking woods. Nothing has changed, apart from Aria now being twenty weeks pregnant, and she won’t let me comfort her. Her brother has been home for six weeks, but even he can’t get through to her. He calls me daily, but like every day, I have no light to shed. It’s Christmas in ten days’ time, and everyone is on tenterhooks about how to approach the subject to me or Aria. I think we need to celebrate it with our loved ones. I think we need that normalcy; it’s just hard to think about celebrating with everything hanging over our heads.
I stand up from my desk and pour myself a large whisky. I have nothing to do tonight, apart from sleep in my brother’s spare bedroom, and even that is getting on my nerves now.
The burn of the amber liquid sliding down my throat is refreshing. When I feel that burn, I know I’m still alive, because the last few weeks have made me feel dead inside. I don’t care about anything, and I can’t even be bothered being at work, unless it’s to follow leads on Aria’s kidnapper. I’ve lost my spark for everything I love doing.
“You’re going to turn into whisky,” says Clay from the doorway.
He throws his keys down on my desk and sits opposite me. He folds his leg over his knee and just sits there. He knows the silent treatment gets on my nerves, but the last time I checked, this was my office. It seems the only place I have left that is mine.
“What do you want, Clay?” I growl.
“I’ve just come from your house.”
“Good for you.”
“You know what? I want to bang your fucking heads together. Aria is over there wallowing, just like you are here. Only she doesn’t have a whisky in her hand, but if she could, I’m sure she would. Be a fucking man, Caleb. Go over there. This has gone on long enough.”
“And say what? I’m only doing what she wants, Clay. You were there. You heard her.”
“I heard a desperate woman push the love of her life away, because she thought that was the best thing for him. You’re killing yourself with a case that the police are no closer to closing than we are. We’ve got nothing, Caleb. Nothing. Our business needs us. Your woman needs you.”
I snigger. My woman has a nice ring to it. If only it was true.
“You’re driving us all crazy. You’re at work, but you’re not here. You’re at home, but you’re on a different planet. Look, Aria has a scan tomorrow. You’ve been there for every baby appointment so far. I said I’d go with her, but we all know she’d rather have you there.”
“Is she okay?” I croak. I feel the emotion stirring inside of me.
“The scan is just a routine check up to check the growth. The doctor was happy with her last week. I’m trying to get her to talk to one of the counsellors at Women Matters, but she’s just as down as you are, and there’s no getting through to her now. I think it would help her a lot.” He shrugs. “For what it’s worth, I haven’t seen her this depressed before. She needs you, Caleb. Be the man that I know you are. The man we all look up to.”
I nod. I look at the empty glass sitting on the desk. It’s killing me more to hear how much she’s hurting. I want to take her into my arms and hold her. I want to tell her everything is going to be okay. Only, I’d be lying, because I don’t know what’s going to happen next.
“Are you coming home?”
“In a little while. Don’t wait up.”
I sit back in my seat and close my eyes. I’ve given Aria six weeks to work out things in her head, but by the sounds of it, it’s doing more harm than good.
This is one of those moments where I either follow my head or my heart.
