AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s too late, Reed.”
“Maybe, but I’ve got to try. Please? So much has happened tonight. I need to see her. Will you get her for me?”
“Reed,” she sighs out my name in a way that I guess should warn me that something bad was coming, but I’m too lost in everything I’ve learned that I don’t quite grasp it.
“Katie, please. Callie can tell me to go to hell, but you asked me to leave what is between you and Jake between you two and now, I’m asking you to do the same.”
“She doesn’t live here anymore. She’s living down at the Starlight Trailer Park.”
“She moved?”
“She’s done a lot. If you loved her, Reed, you shouldn’t have left her alone.”
She’s not wrong, so really, there’s nothing I can say to that.
“I’m sorry to bother you, Katie,” I respond, my heart hurting inside my chest. There’s too much going on in my head.
“Reed,” Katie calls out.
“Yeah?” I ask looking over my shoulder.
“She’s in the blue trailer, lot twenty-two.”
That’s all she says, before closing the door.
I hop in the old jeep I bought a month ago, only half knowing what I’m doing.
There’s just one thing I’m sure of.
I have to talk to Callie.
When I get there, I don’t bother pulling behind the trailer where the driveway is. I just leave my jeep parked by the paved road right in front. I hop out, not even taking the time to shut my door. Sunlight is beginning to filter in through the morning clouds. I haven’t slept, but I need to see Callie.
The trailer doesn’t look like much, but even as I step on the porch, I see signs of Callie. She’s got little pots of flowers hanging off the porch railing. There’s a welcome sign made from wood, with the word welcome written vertically. There are sunflowers painted and intertwined with the letters. My heart squeezes in my chest when I see it. I’ve missed her so much and I didn’t show her, I left her alone because I thought that was best for her. I brought a poison into our lives and instead of shielding her like I thought I was doing, I let it destroy both of us.
I bang on the door, although I do try to keep my voice down a little. The last thing I want is for the police to come haul me away before I get the chance to talk to Callie.
“Callie! Callie, I need to talk to you.”
I press my forehead against the door, the metal cold and wet. It feels good, however, because I’m exhausted, and it wakes me up. My heart is still pounding. I’m starting to wonder if it will ever return to normal.
“Callie, please,” I ask again, slapping my palm against the door again. “Please, Bluebird.”
The door opens and I look at her—really look at her for the first time in months. She’s beautiful, but there are dark circles under her eyes. Her hair is down, ruffled from sleep. She has on a pair of pajamas with little pink hearts all over them. Seeing her makes my heart squeeze painfully in my chest.
“Reed? What are you doing?” she asks, sleep evident in her voice, but there’s something else. Pain. I see pain on her face.
Because I’m here.
Because of what I’ve put her through.
Because I hurt her.
“I need to talk to you, Callie,” I mumble, rubbing my hand through my hair, tousling it out of nervousness and stress—or from trying to keep myself from grabbing her and pulling her into my arms.
“Reed, I have to be at work soon. I can’t think of anything we have to say to one another but come by the diner later and we will talk then.”
She goes to close the door, but I put my foot in the way, stopping her.
“Chas is dead.”
Callie flattens her hand out and rubs her forehead, her face tight and obvious shock written all over her.
“What happened?” she asks, her voice quiet.
“Drugs.”
It’s one word, but it’s so bitter on my tongue that it feels as if it’s pulled from my fucking soul.
“What about…what about the baby?” Callie asks.
“There was no baby, Callie,” I breathe. The words sound raw, maybe because they are coming from deep inside of me. It feels like they’re cut out of my soul, instead of spoken.
“What?” she asks, her brow crinkling, and she shakes her head, not understanding what I’m saying. Hell, I’ve lived it and I don’t understand it all.
“There was no fucking baby, Bluebird. It was all a lie. She played me for a chump. She made it all up. I destroyed everything,” I confess. “I destroyed everything, Callie. I destroyed it all for no reason.”
“I…I’m sorry, Reed. I hurt for you. I do. I just…”
“Callie—”
“I don’t understand what you want from me.”
“I’m here, Callie, because I want you to give me another chance. I know I’ve fucked up, Bluebird. I know… God, do I know.”
