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“Sweetie?” I could hear my mom echo from the phone speaker, her voice cracking, and she must have heard me sobbing because I couldn’t control it anymore.
“I’m coming. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
I didn’t need to hear anymore. Hanging up, I started throwing my things inside my backpack, rolling up my sleeping bag and tucking away all my belongings.
Ellis found me trying to tie an extra pair of boots to the side of my bag with shaking fingers. She pulled me into a tight hug, whispering soothing things while rubbing my back. I sobbed, releasing all my fears to her in a muttered rush. I was too far away, and I needed to get back to him.
Assuming he even wanted me. I pushed that thought away because it didn’t matter. I loved him, and he needed me. Even if he wasn’t going to love me back, I would be there to support him.
That’s what love did. It made us loyal idiots, ready to jump off a cliff for the people we cared about. I was about ready to board the most expensive flight I could find, just to get back to him, when Ellis turned to me, pocketing her phone.
“I found you a flight. It leaves tonight from Denver. It will get you to Portland; that’s as close as I can get you.”
I nodded, tears falling from my lashes as I processed how Davis must be feeling. I hated that I didn’t know when his brother had passed, and I hated even more that I had blocked him, and now if I opened the door for communication, he’d reject me.
It had to be in person.
“I’ll have someone pick me up and take me the rest of the way. Thank you so much, for everything.” I hugged her close and got inside the Uber I’d called then prayed my flight wouldn’t be delayed.
38
RAE
My father greetedme as I exited the airport. I didn’t bother checking any bags, just abandoning anything that wouldn’t fit on my carry on. I didn’t want to waste a single minute getting back home. This time, I had no issues asking for a ride, knowing my parents wanted me back as soon as possible.
“Dad!” I called, running into his arms.
He clutched me to his chest tight before releasing me and helping me with my backpack.
“Mom’s at home?” I crawled into the passenger seat and buckled. I knew I looked like I had been camping for the past two weeks, but I didn’t care. I hadn’t given a single glance to anyone who turned their nose up at me on the flight. Ellis had not only booked my flight, but she had paid for it, and made sure I was in first class, so at least I wasn’t shoulder to shoulder with anyone during the flight.
I had to call her and tell her I was safely with my dad. A text would have to do, though, because I was going to grill my dad for details.
As he pulled away from the lane and exited the airport, I tried to breathe through my nose and calm my racing heart.
“What happened? How come no one told me?”
I had begun piecing things together, from what Nora had vaguely texted about something happening but it not being a big deal. She had to be talking about this, which made me furious. She had to know that I would want to know…
Although, I had never shared with her Davis’s devastating past. Still, she had to know that this would have been something I needed to be made aware of.
Dad let out a heavy sigh. “His brother passed some time ago, but we just found out.” I was trying to sort through what that meant when he spoke up again. “Shortly after your breakup, Davis came to the house.”
I hadn’t thought he would even try…but I guess he did have his own relationship with them.
“But I—I refused him, and I know what you said, but your mother and I—we were furious with what he’d said to you on the grass that night, so I told him not to come back around.”
The crack in his voice told me he was beating himself up pretty horribly for what he said.
I watched the blackness outside the window and tried to keep the tears at bay, needing in this moment to be strong, if not for me then for the people who loved Davis.
“After that, he found out from Nora that you hadn’t returned, and I think something in him snapped. He was around town more often than normal, checking in with businesses, following up on things you had set up with them. He started doing projects where he replaced the local shop signs, and adding little rustic fixtures here and there. No one from city hall had signed off on anything; it was all in the works, as far as we knew.”
Shaking my head, I confirmed his thoughts. “I hadn’t met with them yet; I was waiting until I had a chance to chat with all of the business owners, or at least until I had a proposal to show them.”
“Davis must have found it. He was carrying around one of your notebooks and started barking orders at people. He found out Nora’s parents were moving, so he bought their shop. They weren’t ready to sell, but he didn’t want to risk competition moving in. I think he was trying to do anything he could to keep your dream alive, and then…”
My throat was tight, my vision blurred with tears as I continued watching the city lights along the interstate.
