Page 108 of All I Feel

I forced a smile, even though the thought sent a wave of dread washing over me. The last thing I wanted was a night away from Ace. “I appreciate that. Hopefully, it won’t come to that.”

With near perfect timing, my client walked in, followed by Lark’s, so we both got back to work. I spent the rest of my day doing my best to focus on my clients and my work, but it wasn’t easy. My mind drifted regularly to Ace and the morning we’d had together.

By the time the end of the day rolled around, I was eager to leave so I could get back to Ace’s house, prepare dinner, and wait for him to get home from work. Lark wished me good luck, and after we said goodbye, she took off. I walked the remaining distance to my car, but just as I was about to open the door, one hand clamped around my mouth as the other went around my waist.

It took me a moment to realize what was happening, and I began kicking my legs and flailing my arms, to no avail. I was carried away from my car and to a dark blue truck. A truck that looked precisely like the one that ran me off the road. When I saw it, I panicked even more. And that was just enough for the man holding me to smash my head against the side of it, knocking me out.

When I woke up some time later, I was shocked to see where I’d been taken.

ACE

This had easily been my most frustrating day at work. And the reason for that had nothing to do with a single vehicle I worked on.

Everything had been perfect. Almost too perfect. I should’ve expected that something would come along to ruin what Tessa and I had.

I was still so disgusted by the way we’d spoken to each other. By the way we’d handled our first argument.

Neither of us had done a good job of it. I was so angry with her—I still was—and Tessa was content to just walk away.

I’d spent the entire day replaying our morning over and over in my head. Despite what I’d told her, I was jealous. Seeing my beautiful girl wearing her ex’s sweatshirt while she was in my kitchen sent me spiraling in a way I didn’t even know was possible.

God, I’d hated it. And that she didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with it, that she believed I had no reason to be upset, made the whole situation worse.

At this point, the only thing I was grateful for was that my workday was done, it was Friday, and I could go home to talk this out with her. I could only hope the hours we’d had apart were enough for her to be willing to discuss it with me.

I took off at my usual time and drove home. When I walked up to the front door, it didn’t open.

Evidently, Tessa hadn’t cooled off at all, and she wasn’t going to give me the one thing I desperately looked forward to after a long day at work. I guess I couldn’t blame her when I’d shouted at her the way I had this morning. But mystomach felt hollow as I walked inside and called her name. “Tessa?”

No answer.

I went in search of her. “Tessa?”

Still nothing.

Then it dawned on me. Her car wasn’t outside when I pulled up. I’d grown so accustomed to my sister dropping her off that I hadn’t thought twice when I didn’t see it there.

Great. It seemed like she was holding a bigger grudge than I thought.

Deciding to be the bigger person and break the ice, so we could talk and work this out, I pulled out my phone and called her. The phone rang four times before it went to voicemail. I left a message. “Tessa, I’m sorry about this morning. I just got home, and you’re not here. I’d really like you to call me so we can talk. We need to work this out.”

I should’ve waited. Been reasonable. But I was too upset about the whole situation. So, I called my sister.

“Hi, Ace,” she greeted me.

“Hey, Lark. Listen, I was just curious if I could talk to Tessa.”

“What?”

“She’s with you, isn’t she?” I asked. “I just called her and left a voicemail, because I got home and she isn’t here. We had a fight this morning, so I’m guessing she thought I wouldn’t want to talk tonight.”

“Ace, she’s not with me. You’re telling me she’s not home?”

Something unwelcome settled inside me. “No, she’s not. Did she leave work at the same time as you?”

“Yes.”

“Have you talked to her since?”