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Leaving the hotel I head straight to Sasha’s house. She isn’t home. She won’t be at the building site today, so I head over to her aunt’s place. Eileen will know where she is. I hope her aunt lets me explain myself. She’s my only hope at this point. It doesn’t take long to arrive.
With a heavy heart, I knock on Eileen’s door. Guilt fills me, though I don’t have anything to feel guilty about. I did nothing wrong, or I don’t think I did anything wrong. I was drugged... or at least I think I was. It’s the only explanation that makes sense. I wouldn’t cheat on Sasha. No way.
The door opens and Eileen gives me a cold stare as she blocks the entrance to her home. Disappointment fills me. This woman always wears a smile, just like her niece. I feel her anger. I have to convince everyone I didn’t do this to Sasha.
“I didn’t cheat on Sasha. I was drugged. I don’t know where Lily came from,” I say in a rush of words.
Eileen shakes her head. “I’m very disappointed in you. I imagine your uncle is as well. Sasha’s a good girl and you’ve hurt her badly,” Eileen says. There’s a mixture of anger and sadness in her tone. She doesn’t believe me. If I can’t even get Eileen to believe me, how will I ever get Sasha to listen? I look guilty. If I was on the jury, I’d convict me.
“I need to talk to Sasha. Please,” I beg. I never beg. This should show Eileen how desperate I am right now. I try to explain, but she’s not listening. I don’t know if anyone will listen right now. It looks really bad from the outside.
“You need to leave my poor niece alone right now. She’s hurting badly. She left town with her friends for a few days as she tries to figure out what she’s going to do next.” My heart sinks. I need to find her, need to assure her this isn’t what it looks like.
“Please,” I say, trying one more time. Eileen simply shakes her head, then shuts her door in my face. I’m not a man to cry, but right now I feel like I could shatter; I could sink to the ground and let out tears I haven’t released in many years. How can one day be so perfect and the next so totally rotten?
I turn to leave, my heart heavy. Maybe I need to give Sasha a few days. She’ll realize I didn’t do this, realize what we have together is too beautiful to throw away. I’ll convince her I didn’t betray her. If she needs a few days to think it all over, I’ll give her that. I won’t give up on us. I never needed or wanted anyone more than I need her.
We’ll come out stronger on the other side. Patience has never been one of my virtues, but I vow to have some now. I pray for the strength to listen and give Sasha what she needs. If this means I need to suffer for a while, I’m willing to go through hell. I’m willing to give Sasha everything. I love her. I can’t lose her. I’ll do whatever it takes to prove this to her.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Sasha
I come back home several days after walking into Callan’s room, finding him naked with another woman. I went through many emotional roller coaster rides, but with my two best friends at my side I was able to navigate the storm. I’m getting used to this feeling of despair. I don’t like it, but it’s here and it might stay for a while.
How could Callan betray me so badly? I have to stop my negative thoughts. This doesn’t make sense at all. It’s not who Callan is. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about him in the months since he rolled into town, it’s that he’s honest. People might not always like the truth he speaks, but I’ve never known him to lie.
As the sadness and anger fade the slightest bit, something else tugs against me. I don’t take Callan as a cheater. It doesn’t make sense. A bit of horror fills me. Did I get this all wrong? With shaking fingers, I pull up my computer and turn to Lily’s page again, something I vowed I wouldn’t do. There are no more updates, nothing showing her and Callan as this happy, loving couple riding off into the sunset together.
So I dive back in her feed and look at her other posts. Most of the pictures of the two of them are from before he was with me, and there’s no sparkle in his eyes. The last pic, the one when he was at his resort doesn’t show him smiling. He looks a bit shocked as her lips press against the corner of his mouth. He’s certainly not cozying up to her. I study it more. He’s between Lily and some other woman, but he doesn’t have his arm around her, doesn’t appear as a loving fiancé. I see her hand and realize there’s no ring on her finger.
I move to the picture of her with a diamond on her hand. Callan’s nowhere in the pictures she’s posted. There’s another picture of them after this, but I realize it’s an old picture she’s trying to make look new. Maybe she was lying. But how did they end up in bed together?
I won’t know if I don’t try to find answers. No one gets away with anything in this town without people gossiping about it. I decide to do some investigating. I go to the hotel and track down who was working a few nights ago. I speak to him, then walk away more confused than ever as he tells me Callan couldn’t talk and was walking really funny. He tells me the woman said he was drunk, but he wasn’t sure if he should believe that or not. He looks at me with guilt as if he failed Callan.
I go to the bar. Callan’s messaged me several times asking me to please talk to him, to let him explain what really happened, but I haven’t given him the chance. I’m starting to feel guilty about that. I need more answers first though. I walk into the bar to find Robert. It’s slow so I sit down.
“Need a drink?” he asks, even though it’s only one in the afternoon.
“Yes,” I tell him. I never drink during the day, but I’m making an exception today. He prepares my signature drink and I sip on it.
“I’m trying to figure out what happened with Callan the other night.”
Robert lets out a sigh. “I don’t know, Sasha. I know what people are saying, but the man only had a couple of beers. All of a sudden he was wobbling. I was going to talk to him about it, but he disappeared.” Robert looks guilty.
“Was he with a woman in here?” Robert immediately shakes his head.
“No, he was talking to locals, and then he went a little green. He went to the bathroom, and before I could talk to him, he paid his tab and was gone.” I pull up Lily’s social media feed and show her picture to Robert.
“Was she here?”
He nods. “She was in the bar. I couldn’t forget that face, but not once was she near Callan.”
My heart sinks as I realize I’ve been in misery for no reason at all. Was this all a setup? Did Lily orchestrate this entire thing. How could she have gotten him to his room and naked though? He’s too big to carry.
“You said he was walking?”
“He was walking when he went to the bathroom. What are you thinking?”
