Page 105 of One Last Thing Before You Go

“Please go.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

KNOX

Iadjust the tripod height and the light umbrella, making sure the shot catches the best angle of the light coming into the bookstore. Or rather, empty space. We’ve staged the place with a few knick-knacks on the new shelves, put a fake plant in a corner, and a vase of flowers by the register. But other than that, the space looks depressing and bare in comparison to the organized brown chaos it used to be.

I sigh, checking the time on my phone once again.

She’s late.

She should’ve been here for the photoshoot over an hour ago, and she’s nowhere to be found. The last time she was late she was bedridden—couldn’t even get up from the pain. What if it’s the same thing now? What if she needs me to come get her? I could take care of her. Show her that I can be there for her, no matter what. Show her that last night was dumb and we should just be together. I don’t care about the kid thing because all I care about is her. She makes me happy. And we can be happy, just us two. We can get a dog or something. I’ll even agree to a cat, if that’s what she wants.

I consider dropping the shoot and heading straight home to her, but I stop myself. Because I know better than to push her. Even if I’m running on exactly zero hours of sleep. Even if it feels like every muscle in my body is sore. Even if it feels like my heart has been ripped from my chest and kicked across the floor.

I know better.

Plus, we do need to get this done—it’s one of two remaining sticky notes still hanging from Walter’s office—and I’m not going to let a bump in our relationship stop me from finishing this. Because it is a bump. It’s gotta be. Lottie and I cannot be over. Last night… Last night was just a glitch in the matrix or something. We’re still together. We’ll get through it. She just needs time.

The bells above the store doors jingle making my heart somersault in my chest. I exhale in relief.

“Finally. I’ve been waiting all day for⁠—”

“Hey, man. I just came to see how the photoshoot was going.” Daniel walks in, briefcase in hand, sad smile on his face.

He knows.

“Hey. Yeah, it’s going good. I’m pretty much done.” There’s no use in hiding the disappointment or misery in my voice. Literally could not possibly care less right now. There’s only one person I wanna see today and she still hasn’t shown up. “Sorry. Thought you were Lottie.”

“Lottie?” Daniel furrows his brows. “I… No. Why would you even think that? Of course not.”

I freeze, something in the look in his eyes sending a shiver down my spine. “What—” I clear my throat. “What do you mean of course not?”

“Well… I—Because she left.”

No. Because... because no. Absolutely not.

“She left?”

His face falls, drags a hand across his mouth. “Are you saying she didn’t even bother to—” He exhales, shaking his head. “She didn’t tell you?”

“Daniel. You’re going to need to explain yourself. Because if what you’re saying is true. If—If—” I will lose it. I will officially lose it.

Daniel looks like he’d rather be anywhere but here—doing his taxes, scrubbing his toilet bowl, having to sit through three hours of C-Span—literally anywhere but in front of me right now. So when he tells me the words I’ve most dreaded hearing, I know he made it to the bookstore out of the kindness of his heart to check up on me.

“She’s gone, man. I—I thought that’s why you broke up? Because she left.”

“Where the—” I take a breath, try to slow down my heart as it beats a deafening drum against my ribs. She’s gone. “Where did she go?”

“I think you know.”

New York.

“Right.” The need to scream is almost overpowering, but I can’t make myself speak over a whisper.

“That friend of hers. The old coworker? Lottie took the job she offered.”

What job? Madison offered her a job? She never told me about a goddamn job. Never told me Madison had come through with anything. “Right.” I nod as if I knew. As if she’d told me. As if she cared enough to keep me in the goddamn loop about her plans. As if we really had been partners like I thought we had evolved to and not just the fuck buddies we started off as.