Page 68 of When I Come Back
“I mean… I looked through both remaining boxes and no plates. Not a plate in sight.”
His face scrunches into confusion. “But those are the only two kitchen boxes left.”
I nod. “Mhm, they are.”
He squints his eyes at me. “You’re being way too calm about this.”
“Oh, I’m freaking out, I’m just trying to keep it in so I don’t scream.” That makes him laugh. “Nothing about this is funny, Cary,” I say with a pout.
He turns off the burners then steps toward me. “You’re cute when you’re frustrated,” he says as he wraps his arms around me.
“Why is nothing going right?” I whine into his neck, my voice slightly muffled. “This was supposed to be our perfect new start.”
“Because life is like that sometimes, but it’s okay. Want to know why?” I nod my head in response. “Because we have each other, and that’s all I really need to be okay.”
I chuckle then pull away from him to look him in the eyes. “‘All you really need?’” I parrot back at him.
“Well, yeah. You and delicious food. My two favorite things,” he says resolutely.
“Even if there are no plates to eat the delicious food off of?”
He shrugs. “Eh. We have paper plates, it’s fine.”
I move my hands up to his neck, cupping his nape as I play with the hair there. “So we’re going to eat the gourmet meal you just cooked on paper plates with our hands while… sitting on the floor?”
He leans in but stops as his lips hover right over mine. “Will it make you feel better if I eat my dessert splayed out on the living room floor as well?”
My cheeks heat at the insinuation as he closes the small distance between us, his tongue immediately dancing with my own. The kiss ends as quickly as it began, but he presses a peck to my nose before pulling away completely, his arms still wrapped tight around me. “I want to do everything with you in this apartment, Thea. All the big things and all the small things. I want to fuck you in every single room. I want to put a ring on your finger one day. I want to drink coffee with you on Sundaymornings in front of that window. I want to watch you grow our children in that beautiful body of yours. I want to do all the mundane things in between. I want everything. Plates and furniture mean nothing as long as I have you and this life we’re building.”
The tears welling behind my eyes threaten to fall at his words. He always knows what to say to calm me down or put things into perspective. “You want to marry me?” My voice comes out as almost a whisper.
“Does that surprise you?”
I shrug and turn my face away, but he grabs my chin and pulls my gaze back to his own.
“Everything, Thea. I wanteverythingwith you. Please don’t ever forget that.”
Present
I had forgotten. I’d let that moment slip from me, and I’d gotten too caught up in all of life’s problems. I don’t want to make the same mistake twice, but I’m scared I’ve missed my second chance. I pull my phone from my pocket, deciding to text him. If I open the line of communication, he’ll know I’m not giving up on us. As I find his name in my messaging app, Travis knocks on my open office door.
“Hey, sorry to interrupt,” he says.
“No, no, it’s fine. Come in,” I reply as I place my phone screen down on my desk in front of me. My office is small, but there’s one chair on the opposite side. It’s mainly used for Ripley to annoy me while I’m supposed to be working or for interview purposes. Travis sits down, and I can already tell he’s nervous, maybe even shaken, which in turn makes me nervous. “What’s up? You seem… not yourself.”
A half-huff, half-chuckle escapes him. “Yeah, I… uh, well, I need to talk to you.”
The tone in his voice makes my back stiffen, alarms going off in my head. “Okay…”
It takes him another moment to start speaking again, his eyes avert to his hands, and every second only heightens my onset of panic.
“I think I have to leave Indigo Hill.” He finally looks up and meets my gaze. I can’t help whatever shocked expression is surely written all over my face. I’m not sure what I expected him to say, but it wasn’t that.
“Wh—what? Why?” The questions leave my mouth before I even really process what’s happening.
He shakes his head then looks back down to his hands in his lap. “I… fuck. I didn’t expect this to be so hard.” He opens his phone and scrolls through until he finds what he’s looking for then sets it in front of me. It’s a picture of a car parked across a residential street. “This is a picture one of my sitters took. They said the car sat there all day, and they felt like they were being watched, so they took a picture of it.” He pulls the phone back, closing out of the photo. “Turns out, it was Maureen.” An audible gasp slips through my lips.
Travis has only told me minimal details about his ex, Maureen. I know she had issues with drug use, and they divorced soon after Melody was born. She signed away her parental rights shortly after. That was eight years ago now. I never asked too many questions for fear of being too nosy.
