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Lowering the phone, he stared at it. Had she sent his call to voicemail? Or was her phone off?
“Gareth?”
He looked up to find Janessa removing a piece of paper from under a magnet on the fridge. She turned to face him, her dark eyes wide and a worried look on his face.
Getting to his feet, he rounded the counter to where she stood. “What’s wrong?”
She shoved the paper at him and headed out of the kitchen. Gareth watched her for a moment before turning his attention to the paper.
I had to leave. I’m so sorry. Thank you for everything. You’ll never know how much it all meant to me. Aria
The air was sucked out of Gareth’s lungs as he read the message. She was gone? His heart pounded hard within his chest for several beats before it shattered at the realization that Aria had left them. Left him.
The paper slipped from his fingers as he turned to follow Janessa out of the kitchen. She had already disappeared by the time he reached the top of the stairs. He knew which room had been Aria’s, and he headed toward it.
Janessa stood just inside the doorway, staring at the room. Theemptyroom.
As he stepped around his sister, he took in the full scope of the emptiness. There was nothing on any of the surfaces, and the bed was neatly made. It looked just like it had when he’d seen it before Aria had moved in. Though he hadn’t seen it after she’d settled in, he knew that the starkness he saw right then was in direct contrast to how it had been when she’d called it home.
“What happened?” Janessa asked. “Why would she leave? I don’t understand.”
Gareth rubbed his fist against his chest, trying to ease the pain that pulsed inside him. “I don’t understand either. Was she actually sick?”
“She looked sick. Pale. Tired. I just assumed…”
“Something happened,” Gareth said. “Something happened that made her leave. We just have to figure out what that was.”
“It might not be something here,” Janessa said. “She had a life before she came to Serenity. Maybe something happened from that.”
“We’ll never know if we can’t get her to talk to us.” Gareth pulled his phone out again. His pain demanded that he try to figure out what was going on.
He couldn’t believe that he’d held Aria for the last time. That he’d never again kiss her. It was inconceivable. Being with her had brought with it the hope of so much more. The hope of forever.
What happened? Please talk to me. I need to understand. If you’re in trouble, we can help.
Gareth knew he sounded desperate, but that’s because he was. He’d never felt for anyone else the way he felt for her. Words of love might not have been spoken between them, but the feelings had been there. For him, at least. Now he had to wonder if she’d felt anything for him.
“Can you try calling her?” Gareth asked. “My call went right to voicemail, and she’s still not answering my texts.”
“I already did. It went straight to voicemail, too.” Janessa covered her mouth with her fingers, her brows drawn tightly over her worried gaze. “I just don’t get it. She didn’t say anything to me. I thought she was happy here.”
“What’s going on?” Charli asked from the doorway.
“Aria left.”
Charli frowned as she came further into the room and looked around. “Why?”
“We don’t know,” Janessa said. “She just left a note that said she had to leave.”
“And she’s not answering our calls or texts.”
Charli turned to him, her gaze sympathetic. “Ah, Gare. I’m so sorry.”
He wanted to reject her sympathy, because that meant everything was truly over. But until he knew more, he refused to accept that. “We need to find out what happened.”
“How can we do that?” Janessa demanded, frustration edging her tone. “She won’t talk to us. She’s gone. What are we supposed to do?”
Gareth had no answers for her. Helplessness filled him, bringing with it a frustration that mirrored Janessa’s.
