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Instead, only an hour later, she was sitting on my front porch with her camera bag in her lap, waiting on a ride.
“You don’t have to do this, you know,” I reminded her for the millionth time. It was a struggle, but I managed to keep most of the whine out of my voice. “You could just stay, get your work done, relax a little.”
“No, I can’t,” she answered, looking straight ahead. She wasn’t even rocking in the old chair beside mine. She just sat perfectly still, looking uncomfortable. “If I don’t go now, maybe I won’t ever go. Then where would you be?”
I started to answer, “In heaven,” but knew that would only scare her into taking off running up the road to meet the car service halfway. Anything I said would only make her bolt out of here even faster. The only answer I had was… don’t. Don’t leave, don’t turn away. Just don’t. But she didn’t want to hear that.
We rocked in silence, neither one of us admitting what we were feeling. From time to time, Meredith’s phone would ping with another text, no doubt from her editor demanding to see the pictures and at least a few words of the article. It was annoying, but at least it let me know she was telling the truth. She really did have to go.
We heard the car making its way up the dirt road long before we could see it. Off in the distance, the cloud of red dust that floated over the vehicle gave away just how close it was. Meredith stood up and shouldered her bag, watching for the car.
“You’ll come back, won’t you?” I asked hesitantly, taking her hand before sliding my arm around her waist.
“Of course,” she said, but her voice was as empty as her promise. “I can’t wait to see what you’re installing in the north pasture over there. You told me about it, but I bet it’s really something when you see it in working order.”
When the dark blue car pulled up in front of the house, the driver got out and came towards us. It’d been a long time since I wanted to punch someone so badly, even though common sense told me he didn’t have anything to do with this. This was just me being pigheaded, and Meredith being her stubborn, adventurous self. She’d rather take off back to the big city than give me a chance… or give us a chance, that is.
“Well, bye,” she said awkwardly before turning and heading down the steps. “I’ll send you a message when the article goes out, and I’m sure the PR department will send you a few copies. And…um, thanks.”
I was frozen in place, unable to run down the steps and throw myself in front of the car. I felt something dangerously close to hope when I saw her through the back window, I swear it looked it like she’d reached up and wiped away a tear. Even if she had, it wasn’t enough to make her stop the car and come back to me.
Having her here for just these few hours had been like waking up at last. I hadn’t realized I’d been in a deep sleep, one where I didn’t dream or even really rest. The sleep was nothing more than holding still and trying hard not to hurt, until Meredith showed up on my doorstep and woke me.
They pulled away, and there was nothing left for me to do but head back
to work. A few backbreaking hours in the scorching heat might help me think of something but Meredith, and if I was really lucky, I’d forget she was ever here.
Chapter 10
Meredith
It’s really hard to look professional while you’re choking on your own tears in the backseat of a car. The driver had glanced in his mirror once or twice at the sound of my muffled sobs, probably just to make sure I wasn’t going to throw up or jump out of the moving car, but then had the blessed courtesy to let me be. The last thing I needed was to make small talk about where I was headed.
How did I get myself into this? It was supposed to be a great opportunity to get my work some more attention, maybe lead back to the kinds of assignments I used to thrive on. I’d gone on hundreds of assignments that didn’t end with falling into bed with my old childhood crush, so what had gone so horribly wrong?
You’re weak, that’s what happened, I chastised myself. You saw him standing there, dripping wet and half naked, and you turned back into a giggly teenager. And you have the nerve to call yourself a journalist.
Almost as big as the hole in my heart where Colt had been only a few minutes ago was the nagging feeling that Diana was going to learn about this, and that would be the end of my career. That thought actually made my stomach churn, and I carried a tense feeling in my neck every time I thought of being called into her office. My only hope was that the draft I send in this afternoon would redeem any wrong I could commit, and that was a big “fat chance” considering I was going to be writing it in an airport restaurant.
There’s no point in worrying about it, my inner voice reminded me. What’s done is done, now just do your job.
Even without the threat of my job hanging over my night with Colt, there was someone else to think about: Bryant. How would he react if he knew? I sincerely doubted he’d send a bottle of champagne with a note that said, “Congrats on banging my baby sister, hope it was fun.” In fact, picturing my big brother’s face if he ever found out the truth nearly had me ready to vomit in the back of the car.
Mercifully, we arrived at the airport without too much conversation. The driver left me at my terminal, and since my luggage was still sitting in my dead car’s trunk, the check in process was a breeze. Before too long, I was seated at the bar of some non-descript restaurant near my gate, working on my article and waiting for my flight.
“Is this seat taken?” a thirty-something business traveler asked, pointing to the bar stool next to me. I looked up long enough to note the row of empty chairs that ran along the gleaming bar, and then shot him a look.
“Um, yes. I’m working here, so my bag kinda needs that chair,” I explained kindly, pointing towards my laptop open in front of me.
“Come on now, all work and no play makes a beautiful girl like you a pretty dull person,” he answered with a smirk, moving to sit on my other side. He leaned against the bar, propped up on his elbow, and basically leered at me. “Besides, life’s too short to spend it working all the time. You gotta leave time for fun.”
“Oh, do I? And what kind of fun would that be?” I answered sarcastically. “I don’t usually hang out in the airport to go looking for entertainment.”
“I know a few places around here that can be a lot of fun, if you catch my meaning.”
I seriously avoided looking at him, certain that his idiotic attempt at a pickup line would be followed by a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows.
“Like I already said, I’ve got work to do. Thanks for the offer of ‘companionship,’ but this seat’s taken.”
