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I sped into the parking lot of the shop and whipped to the back, only to find the spot where she normally parked her Jeep empty. I pulled to a stop and glanced up at the darkened doorway and windows.
She was gone.
The finality of that hit me like a freight train, sucking the breath from my lungs in a painful whoosh.
Not that she’d left. That, I had expected.
What annihilated me was that she was in pain and chose to run away from me.
I jumped from my bike to pace the dark lot. “Fuck!” I screamed to the starlit sky, feeling the bitter burn of frustration. Where was she? What should I do? What could I do? I couldn’t just leave her to suffer alone.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I nearly fumbled it as I rushed to grab it.
Mateo:CJ in custody and everyone else at the party is fine. Just thought you should know.
Mateo:Faith isn’t answering her phone. Have you found her?
Me:Working on it.
I’d have to thank Mateo later. Right now, all I could focus on was Faith.
My heart.
I spun and raked a restless hand over my head. Where would she go? My blood boiled, remembering the fractured look on her face as she realized what CJ had done...
Renewed fire surged through me, eating me up from the inside out.
My pacing grew frantic as my fury needed an outlet—an escape now that my home was gone with Faith lost to me. I’d lost so much in my life, but Cyrus and CJ had managed to take my everything. I had nothing left to lose. My gaze drifted north, in the direction of the jail, even though I could only see a billboard and bakery from my vantage point.
Faith was my world. No point in denying that any longer.
If she wouldn’t have me, I might as well be back in prison, or dead. But if I was going down, one of those motherfuckers was going with me.
Decision made, I felt like I could take a breath again as I hopped back on my motorcycle and headed toward town, the balmy breeze doing nothing to cool my ire.
Yet, as the turnoff for Bayou Road came into view, I suddenly felt as if I was on autopilot, and Faith’s words dropped into my mind like downloads from Heaven.
You weren’t alone under that bridge six years ago... I was there, too, or did you forget?
The bridge, Adam? Really?
Or more importantly, my words to her...
I should have told you that day at the bridge that I loved you.
My heart began to pound restlessly in my chest, but not with anger. With renewed hope. She’d gone to the bridge. I knew she had. I knew it in my bones.
I exited and headed that way, my body buzzing like a live wire.
I slowed the bike to a crawl as I rounded a curve, and the bridge came into view.
I couldn’t see her Jeep in the dark and my stomach sank till I got closer. Then, there it was. Parked at an angle behind some weeds.
A rush of emotion I couldn’t name soared from my soul as I parked next to her and killed the engine. I shot Mateo a quick text to let the family know, then silenced my phone and faced the task ahead of me. I knew the situation was still delicate, that she was probably still pissed at me, but of every place in the universe, she’d come here. To our place. To me. She hadn’t run away. Or, at least, not far. She may not realize it, but she’d run directly to my arms, and I wasn’t about to let her go. Not ever again.
I scoured the area before finally spotting her. She was sitting in the moonlight near a small tree next to the bridge piling with her head resting on her bent knees, a light blanket over her shoulders.
I approached slowly, and though I wanted nothing more than to collect her in my arms, I held back. I had no idea what she was feeling.
