AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hi. Where are you?”
His sigh was audible. “I’m at the house packing up the rest of my stuff.”
“What do you mean? It’s your house.”
“You can have it.”
“I don’t want it. I want you.”
He was silent.
“Can you stay there until I arrive? I just want to talk.”
“No. This is over, Addy. I’m sorry.”
“Just like that? You won’t even see me or talk about it?”
“There’s nothing to talk about. I need to go.”
Although I left the office minutes after hanging up the call with Leo, he was gone by the time I arrived at the house. I dialed his number again, but this time it went straight to voicemail. The text I sent didn’t show it was delivered indicating he must have turned off his phone.
What in the hell? What did I do now?
ChapterForty-Six
ADDISON
Two days passed after Leo left. I woke in the mornings, went into the office, came home, ate graham crackers with frosting, and fell into bed. All the while I wondered how and what I could’ve done differently. That was the worst form of torture. Not knowing what the hell had really happened and being left with the would have, could have, should haves.
Should I have told him I loved him? Would it have made a difference?
Was I the only wife to be ghosted by her husband? Flipping on the kitchen light on Wednesday evening, I sighed when the bulb overhead flickered, popped, and went out. Just my luck.
Funny how I’d gotten out of the habit of thinking such things over the last few weeks. Now I was suffering a relapse into self-deprecation.
In the laundry room, I opened cabinets until I found the bulbs. Then I hauled in a ladder I found in the garage and placed it under the light fixture. I took one step on the ladder when a ding came from my phone. Curious, I stopped to checked the screen and was surprised to see Leo’s name. But the words of his text were even more shocking.
“I’ll change the light bulb tomorrow. Do not climb the ladder.”
What the actual fuck? My eyes swung up to one of the interior cameras. The little red light was on. He was watching me? I was both thrilled and annoyed. Suddenly, defying him held all sorts of appeal.
Stomping up the steps of the ladder, I took great pleasure in the sound of the phone ringing. But as much as part of me wanted to ignore it for spite, I was too desperate to talk to him. So I stepped back down and answered.
“Do not climb that fucking ladder. I will change the light tomorrow morning.”
Which meant he remained in town? “I will stay off the ladder if you answer a question for me.”
I took his silence for a big fat maybe.
“Do you have these nightmares often?”
The only indication he remained on the line was the sound of his sigh. And then he answered. “Yes. Now will you leave the ladder alone?”
I had a dozen more questions but figured the one answer was a win. Also the fact he hadn’t completely abandoned me and couldn’t stay away—even if his version of togetherness was stalking me. “Yes.”
“Good.”
“I miss you,” I whispered, needing him to believe it.
