Page 30 of When I Come Back
On paper, she’s a great match for me: brutally honest, fiercely kind, funny as all hell, so smart, and independent enough to tolerate me when I retreat into my head. The only problem is that she’s just not…Thea.
Knowing she’s been up for hours already, I hit dial onThat Girl From That Barand sit on the edge of the bed.
“Care Bear. How did it go last night? I was hoping you’d call and tell me all about it when you got back,” she says, her voice holding just a tinge of hurt. I’ve noticed she’s been gradually getting more and more annoyed with me and my lack of communication. We’ve exchanged calls here and there as well as a few texts, but I know my silence must be killing her. She’s a fixer by nature, and I know she’s just itching to patch my life back together.
“Uh, yeah. Sorry about that. We finished up a lot later than I thought, and I just crashed when I got back.” There’s a long pause; she’s waiting for me to continue, but words escape me.
“What’s going on? I’ve been trying really hard to be supportive, but you have to give me a little more. I’m getting the feeling you’re not telling me something. Did something happen with your brother?” she asks, her tone taking on an edge.
“Brooks is just… Brooks,” I say with a scoff. “Listen, Arizona… there’s just been some stuff going on here and… I–I don’t think I’m making the right choices. Or maybe I’mfinallymaking the right choice?” The last bit comes out as a question, and I’m not entirely sure what I’m talking about anymore. I stand and start pacing from one end of the room to the other, feeling restless
“I’m sorry, Care. I’m not following. Are you talking about your parents’ restaurant? Are you planning on selling it to the manager you mentioned? What was her name? Thelma?”
“Thea,” I rasp out and stop in my tracks. Her name feels like poison on my lips. How do I fucking unravel this mess? I have somehow managed to avoid all talk of Thea in the six years we’ve been together. I managed to skip over her when we recounted our dating histories to each other. And after I gave Seth a black eye for his comments, he hasn’t dared speak of her. This is going to blindside her. We’re committed—we’re supposed to be happy. I can’t do this to her over the phone. “I’m still not sure what I’m going to do. I don’t think I’m ready to let everything here go,” I say while rubbing the bridge of my nose.
“Okaaayy… so what do you need to make a decision? Do you want to get the business appraised? Have an accountant look at the books?”
“I honestly don’t know,” I say, running my fingers over my forehead and through my hair, tugging just to feel the burn in my scalp.
“When are you coming back?” It’s the first time she’s asked me this point blank, and by her cool tone, I know her patience is at an end. She’s been letting me lead in terms of the time I need, but I know she wants me back on the west coast. Back to our life.
“I have my flight booked for the day after Thanksgiving. A few people at RED want to have a memorial for my parentsonThanksgiving, so I have to stay for that,” I say.
“Of course. That sounds important,” she agrees, her tone softer than before. And then after another silence, “I hope the answers come to you soon.”
With a sigh and quick goodbye, I hang up. I don’t stick around for the now obligatoryI love yous. My skin itches from the lies of omission, but she deserves more than to have our relationship end over the phone.
Feeling on-edge and as though I might crawl out of my skin, I throw on some sneakers, gray joggers, and a t-shirt and head out the door. I don’t have a destination in mind when I exit thehotel, all I know is I have to work some of this restlessness off. I take a right and head toward the center of town at a fast walk. Waving and nodding to some of the familiar faces, but I don’t stop to chat.
Even after over a week here, everything still seems just shy of being recognizable. Some of the same businesses are still operational, but they’ve had facelifts. Alongside them stand several new spots, like the café I met Thea at a few days ago and a home goods store specializing in lakefront-themed decor.
From what I’ve heard around town, most of the town’s revitalization has happened over the last few years. With RED quickly becoming one of the most sought-after small-batch bourbons on the market, it has drawn a lot of new tourists—spirits aficionados, collectors, and influencers who just come to take photos for the likes. The influx of tourists outside of the traditional summer lake season has brought much-needed new income. Indigo Hill is becoming a destination spot all year round, and the town is growing and updating to keep up with demand.
As I leave the town square, the asphalt road slowly transitions to gravel the closer I get to the water. I decide to head out to the walking trails that span much of the lake’s coastline. As kids, Thea and I would spend hours every day exploring and playing along the trails, sometimes veering off and finding spots that lead down to the water that haven’t been touched by tourists.
At the trailhead, I catch sight of a familiar silhouette bending over to stretch. It seems I’ve caught Thea at the start of her run. My eyes can’t help but linger on the curve of her ass covered in fitted, blue running shorts. She’s wearing only a black sports bra on top, and my mouth waters as I picture her last night, splayed out for me on the table. I can almost hear the small sounds she let escape when I sucked on her nipple through her dress. Mycock twitches in my pants, and I remember I didn’t get a chance to take care of myself with the stress from the last twelve hours.
“Hey,” I say, walking up to her. She jumps at my words and spins around with a hand to her chest.
“Holy fuck, Grant! You can’t sneak up on a woman like that,” she says, chest heaving from the scare.
“Sorry, I thought you heard me coming. Going for a run?” Her brown eyes quickly look me up and down, and she nods. “Can I join you?”
When her eyes meet mine she blushes, and I imagine she’s thinking about what we did last night. Suddenly her face shifts, and a smirk tilts the corner of her mouth. “Are you stalking me now?” My mood lightens seeing as she hasn’t slammed her walls up again. Flirty Thea has come out to play.
“Can it really be called stalking if the town is so small there is literally nothing else to do on a Sunday afternoon?”
She rolls her eyes but smiles warmly. “Stretch. Last thing you need is a pulled muscle.”
We stretch in silence, our eyes meeting every once in a while and quickly glancing away. My stomach flutters, and I feel like a teenager with a massive crush again. I catch her gaze raking over me out of the corner of my eye as I fold over to stretch my hamstrings, and it lights every nerve ending in my body.
We start running at a quick speed, keeping stride with one another. We don’t speak, and the only sounds I hear are our breaths, our feet hitting the ground rhythmically, and birds in the trees. The day is unseasonably warm, and I’m thankful for the shade.
After a while, I find my mind wandering again to last night. Seeing Thea’s breasts bounce as she runs does not help keep the memories at bay.Fuck. Running with a hard on is not a good look, and I can’t exactly hide it in these pants.
Suddenly, I recognize this part of the trail and gently grab Thea’s forearm to slow her down.
“What’s going on?” She looks around to see what made me stop.
