Ron pauses, and for a moment, I think he’s going to press the issue.
“Okay,” he relents. “I’ll let you go so you can focus on the road. Call you tomorrow?”
“Yes. Tomorrow,” I say. “Tomorrow is good.”
“Perhaps we can grab dinner together?”
I clear my throat. “Um, maybe. I’ll have to let you know.”
Another pause. “All right, then. Sleep tight, Myra Jean.”
“You too,” I say before ending the call.
My mind races, stopping only long enough to wrestle with my heart, letting me know sleep won’t be in the cards for me.
29
LINDSEY
“Hellooo,”Lucy’s voice rings out in the lab at the clinic late the next afternoon. “Earth to Lindsey.”
I jump, nearly dropping the chart I’m looking at. “Sorry, what?”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asks, ambling over to me with the extra-floofy Cavapoo she’s just finished grooming.
I press my tongue to the inside of my cheek. I’m not okay, and I haven’t been since I got the call from Joe last night that Oliver was in the hospital.
“I’m fine,” I insist. “Just exhausted. I didn’t sleep well.”
At least the last part isn’t a lie. After I left the hospital, I drove around for over an hour, my mind running wild with possibilities of what might have been, each vision more gruesome than the last. When I finally got home and crawled into bed, I spent hours staring at the ceiling. My mother’s words sat heavy on my chest, making it hard to breathe.
Love comes at a cost that someone must pay.
“You act like I haven’t known you myentirelife,” she says, playfully rolling her eyes. “I know what happened last night freaked you out, but it seems like there’s more going on in that head of yours.”
I drop the chart on the counter and press my fingers into the back of my neck in an attempt to ease the pressure that’s been building there.
“I can’t do it, Lucy. I have to call it off.”
“Call what off?” she asks, scratching the pup she’s holding behind the ear.
My throat feels like it’s coated in sand. “This thing with Oliver.”
Her eyes go wide. “Wait, really? Are you serious?”
“Lucy, Gizmo’s owner is here to get him,” Kayla calls, entering the room. She catches a glimpse of the gloomy expressions on our faces and frowns. “You guys all right?”
“Kayla, do you mind taking Gizmo up front for me?” Lucy gives her a pleading look.
“Of course,” she says, taking the pup from her arms. “Come on, Gizmo Bo-bizmo. Let’s get you back to your mom.”
She disappears from the room, and Lucy shifts her focus back to me.
“Let’s go into your office,” she says, already steering me in that direction. Once inside, I sit behind my desk and she closes the door before settling into the chair across from me.
“Now, talk to me,” she says, leaning forward. “What’s going on?”
I suck in a breath to try and calm my nerves.
