Page 89 of The Moment You Know

“You were still kind of hung up on her, so I didn’t know what you might do. I just thought it was safer to not let that door be opened at all.”

“Is that when you blocked her?”

“Yes. I was worried she might keep calling all night, or worse, call some other time when I wasn’t around. So, that’s when I blocked her number.”

Hearing her talking about blocking Paige’s number in such a cavalier way almost made him lose his shit. “The irony is that Paige wasn’t calling that night to try and get me back. She was actually calling because she was at the emergency vet clinic with our cat, Spook, who had to be euthanized, which is why she was ‘crying and sounded sort of upset’. She was trying to get in touch with me because she thought I might want to be there when it happened,” he said, his expression glacial. “She was right.”

“I didn’t know that.” Ashley’s expression flattened a little. “I’m sorry.”

“Even if I could believe that, it still wouldn’t mean jack shit to me. God damn, I loved that cat. I really did. And I know you probably think I’m overreacting right now, but it fucking sucks to find out Spook died four years ago and I missed the chance to say goodbye to him. And all because you stepped in and took decisions away from me—which you had no right to do.”

He stopped to take a deep breath, hoping to calm himself, but when it didn’t really work he continued to forge ahead. “But I’m not the only one you fucked with, Ash. You fucked with Paige, too. She was going through something really shitty and because of your selfishness, she thought I was ignoring her and being an uncaring asshole. And I don’t like that she thought I was being an uncaring asshole. Because I wasn’t. Had I known what was going on, I’d have been there.”

“I’m sorry! I am. You can believe that. And you’re right. I made a really bad decision, but I was afraid and I didn’t want to lose you. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.” Ashley dropped her feet to the floor and leaned forward so she could reach for him across the table. “I’ll make it up to you, baby, I promise.”

He pulled back, not wanting to feel her touch and her expression soured at the rejection. For a second, he remembered Hale warning her at Bender’s not to give him her ‘resting bitch face’ and David almost recycled it for his own use; it was totally applicable. Who did she think she was, being pissed at him?

“You can’t make it up to me,” he told her flatly.

She shook her head in disbelief. “You don’t mean that.”

“The hell I don’t. It’s not like you can give me back what I lost. And I don’t mean just what I lost with Paige. I’ve also lost my trust in you.”

“David—”

“This was a gross violation, Ash, and will be a huge problem going forward. Do you understand that?”

“Yes, and I’m sorry. I really am.”

He pinned her with hard eyes. “Did you do anything else with my phone?”

“No,” she quickly denied.

Ashley sounded and looked sincere enough to be believable, but even if she was lying to him, there was nothing he could do about it now, except take solace in knowing that she wouldn’t be getting into his phone again.

He pushed away from the table and got to his feet. “I’m going to the studio,” he announced, feeling exhausted, even though it wasn’t even 9 a.m. yet. “Alone. I don’t want you there today because I don’t want to see you for a while.”

She looked like she was going to argue with him, but then she backed down. “Fine. I’ll stay home.”

He left without another word.

Fifteen minutes later, as he was opening the back door to his studio, his phone alerted him to a text message. He almost didn’t even look, thinking it was probably from Ashley, but he did, just in case it was someone else, like his mom. To his surprise the text was from Paige and he quickly opened it as he made his way to his office.

PAIGE: Here are some pictures of Spook for you.

There were three of them, the first two of Spook looking as David remembered him, happy and healthy. The last one was a selfie of Paige holding Spook, obviously taken at the emergency vet’s office, with Paige looking devastated and Spook looking like he’d checked out, his green eyes dull with pain.

PAIGE: And this.

‘This’ turned out to be a thirty second video of Spook chasing a laser light with Paige talking to him in the background. David sat at his desk and watched it three times, not knowing if it was because of Spook, or because of Paige talking smack (“You’ve got to really want it, Spook!”), before deciding it was both. With a smile, he saved everything to his Photos app and then changed his home screen wallpaper to a close-up of Spook’s face.

When he was done, he texted her back.

DAVID: Thank you for the pictures of Spook.

PAIGE: You’re welcome.

DAVID: The video was great, too.

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