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By this point, I was at my wits’ end and called August. I wish I’d thought it through or waited—it was six in the morning after all. But that never crossed my mind. Nope. I was only grateful that August and I had exchanged numbers at the restaurant the other night. Even if, at the time, I never imagined using it.
My call woke up August from a deep sleep. While polite in his half-comatose state, he refused to talk to me right then. He’d only just come in from the office and was beyond exhausted. We agreed to talk at his place that he shares with Tom in the late afternoon.
Beside myself for waking August and also not knowing how I would pass the hours, I decided to focus on my future and called Everly. She was over-the-moon excited when I told her I was accepting her job offer.
Our call lasted hours before she then connected me with someone in human resources. That was an hour-long conversation, and I now am the director of development and partnerships with the Raven Mission.
Even with my future clearer and more mine than ever before, my desperation is at an all-time high. All of this will lose some of its shine if I’ve lost Tom. I stare down at all my unread texts to him, and a sob forms in my throat at my last message. Three little words and truer than ever.
I miss you.
Tears loom at the back of my eyes, on the verge of breaking free. I’ve never felt like this before. Nothing has ever hurt like this, not even my father’s inventive ways of ignoring and abandoning me. It’s like my heart was crudely carved out of my chest, still beating, bloody, and bruised.
Tom is unlike any man I’ve ever known. He’s so kind and caring. No man has ever truly listened to me, cared about what I had to say. Not like Tom. He was so attentive and genuinely invested when I told him about the emergency landing, how I wanted to work for Everly, and my secret social media account.
I have to talk to him, and with that thought, I ring the doorbell of his home.
Despite inviting me over, August frowns and rakes a hand through his already disheveled brown hair when he catches sight of me on his doorstep.
“You’ve got my boy in knots. Never seen him like this. Usually nothing fazes him… But you.” He points at me like I need help in understanding he’s referring to me and then backs up into his house to make room for me to come in.
“I…” At a loss for words—I wasn’t expecting that kind of greeting given our conversation earlier was brief and discombobulated—I’m uncertain how to proceed. “Hi, August. Thanks for seeing me.”
Shaking his head, he leads the way into the living room. “Leighton, in such a short period of time, you’ve really done a number on Tom.”
“You already said that.” My tone sounds grim and a little edgy. I already feel like shit, and had I known August was going to pile on, I’m not so sure I’d have come. Maybe I should have tried Eden.
He whirls around to face me. “Shit, he’s thinking about going back to Africa.”
My steps falter and stomach clenches. “What? Are you serious?”
Nodding, he plunks down into an armchair, his frown now a full-on scowl, and crosses his arms but says nothing.
Mind reeling, panic seeps into my bones, cold and spiky with the news that Tom might leave. Has he already left? “I’ve made a mess of things. I need to talk to him. That’s why I called you.”
“When you called earlier, you said something about calling him. No luck?”
“I’ve called him several times, but he doesn’t answer, and all my texts are unread.”
“Didn’t you see him at TIFF last night? When I last saw him that’s where he was headed.”
“He never showed. Do you know where he is or how I can reach him?”
August leans forward to rest his elbows on his thighs and steeples his fingers in front of his face. He sits like that as if thinking something over, trying to decide whether he should…what? Talk to me? Tell me to leave?
My jaw clenches in my struggle to keep my mouth shut. Let August think. I can only fix this if he decides to help me.
“I don’t know why he didn’t respond to your texts or calls last night, but I know where he is today. Well—”
“Where?”
“Well, not exactly where, onlywhohe’s with and why.”
“And?”
“He’s at Matt’s bachelor party. I was supposed to go but couldn’t with the Brent mess.”
“How can I get ahold of him?”
