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The paper felt rough under her hands. She knew those eyes, but as she unfolded it and saw the image looking back at her, she didn’t want to believe it. Her eyes looked at the announcement and then the small paragraph under it.
He was engaged.
It shouldn’t have bothered her. She was married, but they were best friends. He got engaged and didn’t even tell her. She slammed the paper down a little harder than she meant to.
“What’s wrong?” Gracie looked over. “Oh.”
“I didn’t even know he was seriously seeing someone. I guess we’re not as close as I thought we were.”
“Oh, fudge.” She stood and moved to the counter to grab her phone. “I didn’t even call her.”
“What?” His fiancé didn’t know he was missing?
“I mean, it was sudden. Out of nowhere, he says he’s engaged. We didn’t even know he was seeing someone. Just brought her home and introduced her as his fiancé.”
Tabitha watched as Gracie held the phone to her ear and walked out of the room. “Hey, it’s about Archie.”
She swallowed as she sat back down. Her eyes roamed back over to the paper then pulled it back in front of her. She was pretty, like supermodel-pretty. Tabitha wasn’t surprised. Archie was always with these beautiful girls.
“Where’s Gracie?” Lee walked through the kitchen.
“On the phone with Archie’s fiancé.” She didn’t mean to sound snarky. It just came out that way.
“Oh.” He moved to the coffee maker, poured himself a cup, and walked back out of the room.
Archie’s dad had been in this weird default mode. It was like he was an NPC in a video game and just going through the motions. Repetitive words and grumbles before he’d grab another cup of coffee and then head back to the clubhouse.
Gracie walked back into the kitchen. “She’s on her way over here.”
Tabitha. “Oh, I should get going then.”
Gracie made a face. “No, sweetie. You’re family. You don’t need to leave unless you want to.”
She didn’t want to, but it was probably for the best. She wouldn’t make the best first impression on the new woman in Archie’s life. She would just go stay with her parents for the night and head home tomorrow.
“I should be getting back.” She stood and walked over to her. “Please let me know if you hear anything. If you need anything, I’ll come.”
“I know.” Gracie half-smiled and placed her hand on Tabitha’s cheek. “Thank you.” She pulled her in for a hug. “I love you, sweet girl.”
“Love you too.” The hug tightened. “Have faith.”
She wasn’t sure if she said that last part more for his mom or herself. She needed a lot of it right now.
Once she was back at her parents, she sat in the car for a moment and just leaned back. The silence surrounded her, and she closed her eyes.
“Please come back to me, Arch.”
Present Day
“Please come back to me.I can’t live in this life without you. I don’t know how.”
Did she hear that right? Her body felt heavy as she blinked her eyes open. The quiet beep of the monitor had her looking around the hospital room. How long had she been out? Her hand felt warmer than usual and she looked down to see it being held. The top of Archie’s head was pressed against the edge of the uncomfortable bed.
Her mouth was dry as she opened it. She reached up with her other hand and pulled the oxygen mask off her face. She breathed in deep and coughed.
He lifted his head. “Tabitha.” His lips were quickly pressing on hers softly. “I’m so fucking sorry, baby.”
“Is he?”
