AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A sudden clatter comes through the phone. “Hey, I got to run, but we’ll catch up soon. I’m heading home tomorrow,” Jude rushes out before ending the call.
I let out a groan after he hangs up, scrubbing a hand over my face in exasperation. This conversation only confirms that I can run but can’t hide from my family. They’re like bloodhounds tracking down their emotionally obtuse son and brother, pushing me to engage, to be more human. Not just drifting through life on autopilot, numb to everything around me. The thought is exhausting, and an unfamiliar anger begins to simmer in my gut. Can’t I just be left alone?
* * *
When I arrive at my house, the phone rings. I groan when I see Piper’s name flash across the screen, a wave of weariness washing over me.
“Is everyone okay?” I ask hoping this isn’t part of the family intervention. Maybe Lyric already rallied everyone to nag me, even our cousins.
“Yep. You make it sound like I call you just to get medical advice. Just so you know Rhea and Orrick are healthy,” she says, mentioning her little girl and newborn boy. “Why are you so edgy?”
I rub the back of my neck, feeling a knot of tension there. “Not sure what you’re talking about. I’m perfectly fine,” I answer, clearing my throat.
“Uh-huh, tell me more about how perfectly fine you are, broody Gabe.” The condescending tone doesn’t sit well on my chest. “Sounds like someone either annoyed you or work sucked today. Have you thought about going into pediatrics? You’re really good with kids.”
Yeah? Nope? Both? My call with Jude angered me. But I also just gave the news to a family that their father isn’t responding to treatment. He doesn’t have much time left. Every time I have to do that, I feel like I failed my patients and their families. And though I’d love to discuss it with someone, I don’t.
“I have to pick up Lyr at the airport in about five hours or so,” I say, steering the conversation to a different subject, but obviously fail when I add, “According to Jude, she might be here for an intervention. It seems like once again, my life choices are a problem to everyone in the Walker-Decker family.”
Piper scoffs over the phone. “You’ve got that wrong.”
“She’s not coming for an intervention?” I can’t help but sound a bit too hopeful.
“No clue about that,” Piper says, a bit too casually. “I mean, it’s not just the Walker-Decker side. The entire family tree, grandparents, cousins, you name it, they’re all in on this ‘worry about you’ thing.”
I let out a sigh, half-exasperated, half-resigned. “Great, just what I need. Could you, maybe, help convince them I’m doing just fine? The last thing I need is more family meddling.”
“You’re ‘doing fine,’ huh?” There’s a playful skepticism in her voice. “That’s exactly why I called. To help you with being fine. Rhea’s teacher is single, and I was thinking?—”
“No,” I cut her off, my frustration boiling over. “If this is more meddling, then the answer is simple. I love you, Piper, but, seriously, back off.”
She exhales, a mix of concern and frustration in her breath. “I’m doing this because I care, you know? Like you were there for me when Archer was MIA. It’s my turn to help. Leslie’s been gone for twenty years?—”
“It’s been eighteen years,” I interject, not out of sentimentality, but a reflex of my knack for precision. “And it’s not about Leslie. You wouldn’t understand.”
If it were all about losing Leslie, I would be . . . Well, who the fuck knows? Piper doesn’t know why I avoid relationships. She never learned about Ameline since all that happened around the same time Archer disappeared.
Only the Walker-Decker clan met Ame and just two people know how deep my relationship was with her. Jude and Archer. The latter obviously forgot after his accident just like he forgot almost everything—except his love for Piper.
Do I regret how things played out with Ame? Every single day. I should’ve told my parents who she was. My wife, the love of my life, and . . . it’s too late now, isn’t it?
But I can’t turn back time. Dwelling on what could’ve been won’t change anything. And letting my family in on the whole Ame saga? That’s a can of worms I’m not ready to open. It’s just easier to let them believe I’m still hung up on Leslie. The truth about Ame, with all its lies, mess, and a heartbreaking ending, is on a need-to-know basis and no one has to know it.
So I always allow them to assume that I’m not over Leslie. I understand it’s not fair to her memory, but it’s easier than telling them about Ame. The lies, complications, and the bitter end.
Forever, it turns out, was nothing but a cruel illusion.
“Listen, I know how much it hurts to lose the love of your life, but you can’t just keep going through the motions,” she says. “It’s like you’re living in limbo. Let us help you.”
It was brutal and heartbreaking. I lost her twice. The second was out of stupidity, and I have to live with the consequences. And no one can help me.
No one.
Maybe they can by leaving me the fuck alone.
“I have a life. You people just don’t acknowledge it,” I protest.
“It’s not healthy. Wouldn’t you want to fall in love again?”
