AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Austin smiled. “Well, congrats, dude! You’re going to make one awesome dad.” He squeezed his brother’s shoulder and banged his knee into his.
Josh widened his eyes and blew out a breath. “God, I hope so,” he answered before jamming his hand back into his pocket for his phone. Holding up one finger, he stood and stepped away from the picnic table, lifting the device to his ear.
A baby.
Austin stared at the ocean, gazing into the sinking sun in the late afternoon sky, the hazy orange glow over the water captivating his tired brain. The waves crashed onto the shore as a gentle breeze blew through his hair, tickling his skin. Leaning back into the tabletop again, he cupped his hands behind his neck and closed his eyes.
“Yep, I’ll be there in ten minutes.” Josh’s voice drifted back through the breeze. “I’ve got to run to the hospital,” he said, stuffing his phone back into his pocket.
Austin opened his eyes and nodded. “Do what you gotta do, Doctor Dad.”
Josh smirked and kicked sand on his twin’s shoes. “Before I go, I need to tell you one more thing.”
“That makes four, but shoot,” Austin muttered, shaking the sand from his feet.
“Casey’s graduating next week. Thought you might like to know.” His words caught in the wind as he jogged back across the beach to his Jeep.
A bubble of excitement grew in his chest, the swell of momentary happiness squeezing his heart. “You did it, Casey girl,” he whispered. His head dropped back to his chest as his eyes closed. “I just wish...”
It didn’t come at such a high price.
––––––––
Austin’s eyes widenedas Bernice dumped another stack of folders on his desk.
“Really, Bernice?” He wrinkled his nose and dropped his forehead to his hands. “You’ve already given me like five new clients today.”
“Sorry, boss,” she muttered, backing out of his office. “Just following orders.” The door snapped shut, and Austin stood, tightening the blinds closed on the windows.
I’m dying here.
Raking his hands through his hair, he blew out a breath and looked back at his desk, stacked high with folders and littered with to-do lists and multi-colored post-it notes. Austin groaned and walked to the window, gazing out at the thirteenth-story view of L.A. An outrageous lime-green Ferrari traveled down the street beneath him as Casey’s voice echoed in his mind, the wordpretentiousringing in his ear.
He dropped his forehead against the glass and allowed Casey to reappear in his brain. She tripped into his memory with a wide smile, cheering for the Chicago Cubs with a pitcher of Old Style in her hands.
His heart clenched, squeezing his soul where their two halves had been ripped in two by his words of betrayal. The scent of lilacs filled the space around him, but where once they brought him peace, the memory of the smell poured into an empty void in his heart.
“I miss you, Casey girl,” he whispered as a horn honked thirteen floors beneath him. With a moan, he shut his eyes, blocking out the office, blocking out the last five months of his life without her—forcing his brain to return to the last moment in time where happiness reigned. His memory swirled, traveling back to the day of the wedding rehearsal. “Before this fucking job changed everything.”
What if it was all a huge mistake?
His feet pounded against the floor as he crossed the room, an idea spawning from his heart and blossoming in his brain. Austin snagged his laptop and tapped in the wordsHarold Washington Community College winter commencement. The page loaded as December 17th flashed across the screen. He scrolled, a smile tugging at his lips as Casey’s name appeared, midway through the Associate of Arts degree candidates.
Each letter in her name called to him, standing out among the hundreds of others on the page. He stared, his eyes focusing on the bold, black print. Spontaneity gripped his soul as he stood, the back of his knees sending his chair rolling across the office. “Why am I doing this to myself?” he whispered to the quiet space. His eyes scanned the room at everything he’d worked toward—his goal since childhood, culminated in the place he stood. “None of this makes any sense!”
Pressing his palms to his eyes, the memory of her erupted before him again. “Casey girl,” he murmured, picturing her bright blonde curls bouncing as laughter fell from her lips. “You’re all that really matters here. I’m fucking miserable without you.”
All I wanted was for you to persist, to chase your dream. But in the end, you showed me what really matters, didn’t you? You showed meourdream—together.
“I’m fucking done with this.”
The realization gripped his heart as another email pinged in his inbox. Austin smiled, eyeing the latest email from Rodger as he slapped the device closed. Bolting from his office, he jogged down the hallway to conference room B, fire fueling each step.
This job tore us apart. But it’s me who’s going to put us back together.
“Templeton?” Steven dropped his pen to the floor as Austin’s head popped into the room unannounced. He pushed his way in, gripping the back of the chair nearest to the door.
“Steven. Rodger.” His heart hammered in his chest as a sheen of sweat coated his forehead, adrenaline flooding his veins.
