ERIKA
A multitude of rides later,the queasy feeling in my stomach wasn’t from the life defying spin of the Zero Gravity we’d just exited.I beelined for the cake tent to check on Josh, telling Vinny and Knox I’d meet them at the front gate in a few minutes.
On the way, I ran into Drew heading the opposite direction.I called after him and jogged a few steps to catch up.“I’m really sorry.About all of it.”
He shrugged but kept his gaze fixed somewhere over my shoulder.“It’s okay.”
“It’s not,” I said quietly, reaching for his hand before I could overthink it.“I never meant to put you in the middle or hurt you.You didn’t deserve that.”
His jaw tightened, but he nodded once.“I know.”He pulled his hand from mine and walked away.I let him go, wishing I’d been more careful, and hating that an apology couldn’t undo the embarrassment I caused him.
Inside the cake tent I only found Marty.“Where’s Josh?”
“He stayed maybe a half-hour.That was…” She rolled her wrist.“An hour ago.Then he had a dreadful argument with Milly.He’s usually tactful, but I’m afraid he broke it off with her in a bad way and, bless her heart, she didn’t take it well.Timothy was kind enough to help get her home, at least I think he walked her to her car.”
“Timothy was kind?”I blinked trying to picture that.
“He’s not all piss and vinegar, hon.When a lady needs help, he can behave like a gentleman.”Marty’s forehead wrinkles deepened.“I’m worried about Josh.I’ve seen him have bad days, but today between the two tough clients, the inspection, dealing with coming here and then Milly…” I heard the tension in her voice, even though she kept it even.“I can’t leave to check on him until after the raffle in an hour.He won’t reply to my texts.”
“I’m sure he’s fine.Maybe he needed to get away from the festival and all.”I forced fake happiness into my tone but had to concentrate to swallow the bile burning its way up my throat.
The look Marty shot me told me she wasn’t buying my false cheeriness.“We have rough days all the time, but the past few weeks would be too much for anyone.”
A chill worked its way through me.“You think it’s serious?Him not replying?”
“I’m worried.He always replies to my texts.”
I’d lost a good friend from vet school after one too many bad things happened on his job.An out-of-context video went viral..After a particularly bad day, that wonderful soul took his own life.It was too easy to OD on a drug from the clinic.
“If you can watch Vinny for a bit tonight, I’ll go check on Josh right now.I promise.I’ll have Knox bring him by before he goes home.”I felt terrible shuffling Vinny around, but he seemed to be having fun hanging out with Knox.
* * *
Twenty minutes later, I knocked at the front door of Josh’s early 1900s house just off Main Street.No answer.
Please be okay.
One more knock.
Silence.
My stomach twisted so hard I thought I might puke.He might be with someone else.The thought clawed right through my ribs.It’d be fast for a rebound, sure.But it wasn’t like he’d have to try hard.There were plenty of women who’d line up for a chance to warm his bed.
Was I trying to convince myself not to go in?If I walked in and found him tangled up with another woman, I’d blow that situation to pieces without hesitation.I’d rip the whole room apart if I had to.And then—thenI’d give him every bit of the heartbreak he’d earned by leading me on and making me believe we might still have something real.
I pressed my palm to the door, trying to steady myself.I’d go in slow, just to make sure he wasn’t actually—God forbid—hurting himself.I just needed to know he was alive, breathing, not drowning in whatever darkness he carried.
I used the key Marty lent me to let myself in.Marty had agreed to watch Vinny and keep him at her house after the festival.Knox had been kind when we parted, but he didn’t like the thought of me running over here to Josh’s house.
I paused in the foyer.The hallway smelled refreshing, the pine scent of wood cleaner wafting from the floor.I could hear the muffled sound of a TV somewhere deeper in the house.
“Josh?”I called out.The wood floor creaked under every step, the sound echoing.A massive wooden side table and a wardrobe-style cabinet filled the foyer, both pieces vintage and gracefully worn.They looked intentional, as if someone with an eye for design had chosen them.I wondered if he’d hired an interior decorator.
I didn’t find him in the main dining room or kitchen.Relief washed over me to find him on a normal sofa in front of a gigantic TV screen.He had his head craned back like he was…
I ran for him and shook him.“Don’t you dare be dead.”
“Wh-What?”he looked groggy.His hair was damp as if he’d just climbed out of a shower.
