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“I bet you could use a drink after that,” Beth joked, leading me to the bar. “Two Fireballs, please!”
I looked over my shoulder at the door, guilt weighing heavy on my shoulders. I was the source of her pain and anger, the cause of the mortifying scene and the eyes I could feel staring at me.
“Here,” Beth said, regaining my attention. She handed me the shot and held hers up. I clinked her glass with mine, then tapped it on the bar before shooting back the amber liquid.
I grimaced as the liquor burned down my throat. I glanced back over my shoulder at the door, expecting Lincoln to come back in any minute.
Several minutes passed and still no Lincoln. The rest of our friends had rejoined Beth and me at the bar and were joking and laughing, but worry began to eat at my insides since Lincoln hadn’t come back in yet.
I squeezed my way between people to get to the exit. I went outside into the warm, summer night air, searching for Lincoln in the parking lot.
I heard them before I saw them, their voices carrying from the side of the pub.
Amber’s tone was desperate and sad as she slurred, “I miss you, Linc. Don’t you miss me? Miss us?”
My heart pounded in my chest as I approached. I had a bad feeling and hated confrontation, but I pushed forward anyway, peering around the corner. And what I saw was like a knife to the heart.
The love of my life was kissing his ex-girlfriend.
My stomach dropped, my vision clouding as my eyes burned. I whipped around, unable to watch as hot tears started streaming down my cheeks.
I wanted to throw up. I’d been planning to tell Lincoln that I’d decided to stay. I was going to put in my two weeks’ notice and search for a new job and apartment in Beaufort.
Better to find out now than after uprooting my life.
My hotel was only a couple of blocks away, so I rushed there to pack up all my things. I knew Lincoln would come looking for me once he realized I was gone, and I couldn’t bear to speak with him after what I just witnessed.
I should’ve known it was too good to be true.
I felt like I was in a horrible nightmare that I couldn’t wake up from. My life had completely fallen apart once again, and I was left to sort out the pieces alone.
You’ve done this before—you can do it again. You don’t need Lincoln. Just go back to the original plan. You have a good job, a nice home, and were getting along just fine without him.
My thoughts turned to Piper, and my heart ached even more. I was going to have to leave her because of Lincoln, and I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to miss any more of my baby girl’s life.
I’ll just have to reach out to Tim and Emily and explain what happened. Maybe I can still arrange to be in Piper’s life on my own. I could fly down on the weekends or something.
My phone rang as I stuffed my belongings into my suitcases. A picture of Lincoln and me popped up on the screen.
I frowned, ignoring the call. I packed faster, guessing that Lincoln would show up at my hotel soon looking for me.
He called twice more before I finished packing. I knew I was running short on time, so once I had everything packed, I quickly left my hotel room and headed for the lobby to check out.
After that was taken care of, I loaded my stuff in my rental car and decided to find a hotel in Morehead City. I figured that once Lincoln found out I wasn’t at the hotel, he’d check at my parents’ house, so I couldn’t go there. And if he was stubborn enough, he might check the other hotels in Beaufort before giving up.
I thought about going straight to the airport, but I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to Piper. She deserved better than me abandoning her again.
Tomorrow, I’ll say goodbye to Piper and make arrangements to visit. Then I’ll be on my way home and resume my normal life.
I told myself everything was going to be okay, but I felt the farthest thing from it.
The next morning, I called Emily and explained the situation, leaving out most of the personal, embarrassing details. She agreed to let me see Piper before I left so I checked out of my hotel and headed straight to meet them.
I had several texts and voicemails from Lincoln, and it took everything in me not to read or listen to them. I wanted things to work out with Lincoln and was devastated that everything fell apart right when it seemed like all the pieces were coming together.
But I couldn’t dwell on that. We should’ve left the past in the past instead of trying to make our relationship work when it hadn’t worked out the first time. I needed to focus on making my relationship with Piper work long distance because she was the only one who mattered.
We decided to meet for breakfast at the same diner Lincoln and I had met them the first time. Piper, Emily, and Tim were already seated when I walked in. Piper saw me first and bounded out of the booth to come to greet me.
