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You okay?
I erased the message I’d just pecked out. I’d been on for almost twelve hours, and Beau had been on my mind the entire time. Not that that was anything new, but when she’d been far away, I could push thoughts of her away. Manage them.
But I kept replaying the past few days in my head. How something was going on, and she trusted me enough on some level to help her escape that, but not enough to tell me the truth.
I wanted to push, to make her spill it all . . . starting with the name of the woman beater. If he wanted a punching bag, he was going to get one of his own size.
Screw it.
She hardly ever answered my texts anyway.
I punched the call button on her contact and sank on the back bumper of my truck.
It rang six times.
She’s not going to answer.
I pulled the phone away from my ear.
“Cal?”
I quickly pressed it back. “Hey.”
I was supposed to be the one there for her in any way she wanted me, but hearing her voice eased something in me I hadn’t realized was wound tight.
“Can you hang on a sec?”
A rustling came through the line before I had a chance to answer. It was almost six. I hadn’t thought about her schedule when I called. I pictured she didn’t have set hours, but she might be trying to wrap things up for the day.
Something sounded like it clicked and then rubbed. Then the relative quiet turned to city noise.
“Are you still there?”
“Still here.” And I wasn’t just talking about this phone call. But she didn’t need to know that.
Judging by the long pause, maybe she did.
Then I realized there was none of the bite to her voice I’d grown used to. Like maybe she didn’t totally hate me anymore.
“Did you want something?”
Okay, so maybe it was still there.And yeah, baby sister. I want something I’ll never have.
I dug my foot into the worn pavement. “How’s your—”
“It would be a lot better if you stopped reminding me,” she snapped.
“Excuse me for being concerned.”
“You don’t get to be concerned.” Her tone was low and lethal. A reminder of exactly why she thought I didn’t have the right.
“See if you can stop me.” I curled my fingers around the chrome bumper so tightly I was sure my fingerprints would be left in the metal.
“It took you long enough to realize you made a mistake, but it’s a decade—”
“Too late. I know.”
Ever since I walked out of her life, questions had burned through me. Wanting to know if I’d done the right thing. Needing confirmation that she’d reached every goal she’d wanted to go after. That she’d been better off without me. And right now, it felt as though time was running out for some reason. Something was changing, but I didn’t know what it was. And the questions lingered. Tore at me.
