Page 44 of When You're Gone
She shrugged. “It might be kinda fun to jump down, run for the car, and try to make an escape, don’t you think?” She let her head roll to the side, looking out past the farm toward the old train tracks that ran through town.
In the light of day, she would be mortified if Lia’s parents caught them up here or if they had a run-in with law enforcement. But she wasn’t interested in holding space for her worries right now.
Fielding pinched her forearm through her coat to get her attention. She turned her head and locked eyes with him as he gave her a hazy smile.
“You’re wild when you want to be.”
Her breath caught in her chest. She didn’t shy away from his assessment or break eye contact as she basked in the warmth of his gaze. She had been under a microscope in Virginia, trapped beneath the thumb of expectation, held captive by the lens of a dozen cameras. All eyes had been on her. Yet this was the first time she had felt seen all week.
“I’m only wild when I’m free,” she finally replied. Tears welled in her eyes as she began to cry. “And lately, I only feel free when I’m with you.”
Fielding reached out across the empty space between them, encircling her wrist in his hand. He squeezed once, then moved to hook his pinky with hers.
“You’re okay,” he offered, concern and an edge of protectiveness coating his words.
“I’m not. Not really. And no one seems to see it but you.”
“You’ll be okay,” he amended.
“I hope you’re right,” she replied as she struggled to hold back a sob.
“Hope is not a strategy, Victoria Thompson. I’m making you a promise. You will be okay,” he vowed. His tone was so serious, so confident: she had no choice but to accept his words as her truth.
She hated relying on other people. She hated putting stock in anyone but herself. But in that moment, she yearned to believe in something and find solace in another soul.
With her free hand, she scrubbed the tears away, then turned her head again as the cold metal of the pole barn roof pressed against her damp cheek. She met his eyes and let herself feel everything he was trying to communicate in his solemn expression before whispering a secret she hadn’t even dared to admit to herself.
“I’m okay when I’m with you.”
Chapter sixteen
Tori
“Hey,beautiful,”Rhettgreetedher through the phone. She put him on speakerphone as she shifted the car into park.
“Hey, you. I’m surprised to hear from you right now.” She glanced over at the clock on her dashboard—it was just a few minutes before two—the middle of the workday. If he was calling her in the middle of the day… “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, no, everything’s fine. I’m okay, my mom is hanging in there, and granddad is the same. I’m just heading back from a lunch thing and thought I’d give you a call. How are you?”
She answered honestly, or as honestly as she could, given the physical distance and time constraints that seemed to cast a shadow over them lately. They had talked every day since she’d come back home to Hampton, but they had been shallow, surface-level conversations. Now that she was feeling a bit more settled, she felt like she could be more candid.
“I’m… okay. Better, I think. I feel like I have a better grasp on things, and everything is starting to come together for the gala. The invitations are out, and all the vendors are locked in. Work has been good, too. Busy—which I love. It feels good to be busy.”
She didn’t mention that she’d had a blowup fight with her dad about the house, this one inspired by his desire to take her mom’s entire Pyrex collection with him to Tricia’s. It was petty, but she just couldn’t stand the idea of someone else using the dishes her mom had used on a daily basis.
“I’m really glad to hear that. I was worried when you left Norfolk on Friday, honestly.”
“Why’s that?” she asked, turning off the car and unclipping her seat belt.
Rhett sighed, then paused. She didn’t fill in the blanks for him. If he had something to say, he could say it.
“I could feel you pulling away, V. I get it—we left for Virginia so suddenly, and it feels like all this is happeningtous instead offorus. Now that you’ve got things sorted with your fundraiser, we should figure out a schedule for when you can get back here. There’s an event next week I was really hoping you could attend. It’s a charity luncheon for—”
“Rhett,” she cut him off. “Just because I feel better doesn’t mean I don’t have a ton more to do. I’m not anywhere near done with fundraiser plans. I’m about to walk into another planning meeting right now.”
Disappointment dipped in anger was palpable through the phone. He was silent for so long she tapped the screen to confirm they were still connected.
“Are you still there?” she finally asked.
