Page 97 of Resisting You
Rosa
I ran.
Past the elevators that blurred by. Past a startled housekeeper who gaped at me in shock. Down the seemingly endless stretch of hotel hallway that felt miles long.
I clutched the note in my hand that Hazel had delivered to me when I woke up. In Noah’s handwriting, a few simple words scribbled on a Post-It, taped to the signed annulment papers.
If this is what you truly want, I won’t hold you back. But it’s only official if we file it and I’m not going to be the one to do that. That’s up to you…
It’s not what I wanted. Kristen was wrong; I didn’t want to give up on us. I wanted Noah. I wanted him as my husband. Now and always. His name hammered in my skull like a relentless drumbeat, matching the furious cadence of my footsteps.
Please still be there. Please still be there. Please don’t let me be too late.
I skidded to a stop outside our door—his door—my heart clawing at my ribs. There was no time to knock, no room for hesitation. With fingers shaking uncontrollably, I fumbled for the key that was still in my purse and flung the door open, holding my breath like it was the last desperate plea I could muster.
But the room was empty.
Clean. Quiet. Soulless.
The bed was made. The closet was bare. The small table by the window didn’t hold his sunglasses or keys or half-finished coffee. It was as if he’d never been there at all.
I stood frozen in the little kitchenette, my stomach dropping so fast it felt like I was in free fall. For a second, all I could do was stare. Like if I looked long enough, he might appear in front of me out of thin air. Like this might be some stupid cosmic test and I’d passed just by wanting him badly enough.
But nothing happened.
I stepped deeper inside the room on trembling legs, the silence pressing in like grief. My legs gave out, and I sank onto the end of the bed like my strings had been cut.
Was I too late? Had he already left to go back to New York?
I grabbed the hotel phone and stabbed at the front desk button with shaking fingers.
“Maple Grove Inn & Suites, how may I help you?”
“Hi—” My voice cracked. I swallowed hard and tried again. “Hi, I’m wondering… did Noah Tripp check out this morning?”
A pause. The kind that always comes before bad news.
“Yes, Dr. Tripp.” My heart ached at the sound of that.Dr. Tripp.“It appears he checked out a few hours ago.”
No. He gave up on me.
I was too late. Again. I’d made my big decision. I’d been ready to fight, to stay, to choose him—and I was still too late.
Of course I was.
No… no, this was ridiculous. I wasn’t too late. His note implied that. I could find him in New York just as easily. I wouldn’t give up.
“Okay,” I managed. “Thank you.”
But before I could hang up, the woman added, “Actually… Dr. Tripp, he left something for you. Here at the front desk.”
I blinked. “What?”
“If you come down, we’ll give it to you.”
She said it like it was a scarf or a forgotten phone charger. I didn’t wait for her to explain more. I left the empty room and rushed for the elevator, stabbing the button like it owed me something and stepped inside the second the doors slid open. The moment they closed behind me, I finally exhaled.
He left me something? What did that mean?
