Page 8 of Her Unending Horizon

“Uhm… Zarek?” she said finally. “Aren’t you going to say something? You called me, remember?”

There it was.

Not sharp. Not cold.

Light.

Was that—was that a hint of laughter in her voice?

Please God, say it was.

I leaned forward, elbows braced on my knees, phone pressed tight to my ear. When was the last time I’d heard anything like laughter from her? Not something that grated, as she tried to fake it for her sisters.

“I—yeah,” I said, clearing my throat. “Sorry. I just… wanted to see how you were doing.”

The words felt clumsy, inadequate. Too small for the space between us.

“I’m okay,” she said. “Actually… I really am.”

I sat up so fast I almost dropped my phone.

“You are?”

“Yeah, kind of weird, huh? How are you doing?”

“Fine, just fine.”

Liar.

“Liar.”

When had I ever gotten away with anything with Chloe?

“Maybe,” I admitted.

“Tell me how you really are.”

A mess. A fucking mess. But I sure as hell wasn’t going to admit that to Chloe, even if she did call me out on it.

“I’m coping. The job helps. How about you. Are you drawing?”

“Yeah,” she whispered.

“Do you like it?” That was the million-dollar question. If she liked her work, then I knew there was hope for her. Hope that maybe one of us was finding a way out of the pit of hell.

“I think it’s good, Zarek. Really good. I wish you could see it.”

My stomach clenched as if someone had punched me.

“Do you really mean that?”

There was a long pause. It was so long, I took the phone away from my ear to see if we were still connected.

“You were always honest with me, but you never ever made me want to quit. You were my safe place.”

My throat ached; I felt a sob welling. “Then why aren’t I now?”

Again there was a long pause. “This isn’t about you. This is about me. I’ve needed to get my head and heart together. Zarek, this was so much worse than ten years ago, I felt crushed, like the world, like God, was against me. I couldn’t see a way out. I couldn’t be that Chloe with you again. I just couldn’t.”