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I break out of Easton’s hold and sit up. “No. The blizzard. It’s why we’ve been stuck at the cabin. Easton said we had to wait until. . .” I turn back and look at Easton. There’s a sudden pinch in my gut. “You said everything was shut down. That we didn’t have access to anything. . .”
He doesn’t say anything. Why the hell isn’t he saying anything? “Easton?”
“Not sure what you’re talkin’ about. I talked to Easton a few days ago, and he said everything was good.” My head whips to Sammy’s, guilt washing over his features. My lips part, and I feel as if someone punched me in the stomach.
“Wait.” I slide off Easton.
“Callie, wait—”
“There’s been no outage?”
Sammy shakes his head. “Not that I know of.”
Slowly, I turn to face Easton. “You. . . lied to me?”
“Callie, I can explain—”
“You lied to me.”
“I didn’t want you to leave. I panicked. I did what I thought was right to get you to stay. You showed up on my doorstep out of nowhere. What the hell was I supposed to do?”
“Not lie to me,” I say with a calmness and conviction that I barely recognize.
“Callie, don’t. We said no more—”
“Lies. Yeah. And that whole trust thing. I fell for it, and it happened again.”
“I couldn’t let you walk out of my life a second time.”
“Well, this time, you candefinitelyblame yourself. Excuse me.” I walk out of the room. Easton yells for me, but I don’t stop. I can’t. I need a moment to process this. He lied to me. Deceived me. He made me believe I was stuck there without a choice in the matter. Would I have left if there wasn’t a blizzard? Yes. In a heartbeat. And he took that choice away from me.
I hold my chest, my heart slamming against my ribcage.
“He’s a good man.” My head whips to my left, where Sammy is standing. “He’s told me a lot about you. It’s been a hard road for him. If he lied to you, it was out of love. That man loves you somethin’ fierce. Remember that when you go running off.”
“I—”
“Before you leave, I’d appreciate it if you helped me get him home and settled.”
I nod. “I’ll help you get him home. But once he’s settled, I’m leaving.”
He stares at me for a beat, then nods. “You do what you need to do.” He turns to walk back into Easton’s room.
I call for him. “Thank you for being there for him.”
“You don’t need to thank me. Like I said, he’s a good man.” Then he disappears into the room.
***
“Callie, can you help me get Easton up the stairs?”
“Of course.” I grab Easton’s arm, but he shrugs me off.
“I don’t need help from either one of you. I got it.” He wobbles and grabs the arm rail.
“Stop being so stubborn, son.”
The stubbornness comes from the fact that I don’t think he wants me to be the one helping him. He knows what’s coming.
