Page 49 of Hearts on Ice
Even as the phone rang Archie’s number, her mother tried to call back. When Archie didn’t answer, Colby clicked over to contacts again and blocked her mother’s number.
Only temporary, she told herself. Just for peace of mind.
“Why don’t you drop me out front, and I can leave out the back,” she said. “You can park a block over and I’ll come to you. I’ll let you know when I’m on my way.”
He grimaced but nodded. “I guess that could work. I just don’t like you facing the reporters by yourself.”
“I can handle it.”
He glanced over at her. “I guess your mother thinks so, anyway.”
“Deck.”
“We’ll talk about it later. But we are going to talk about it.”
She slipped out of the truck before he could say anything else. Maybe by the time she got through with her task, he would have forgotten about it.
Probably not, though.
She managed to get into the house without too much effort, because the reporters couldn’t be on the property. She didn’t care if they took pictures of her entering because she wasn’t coming back here.
She wished she hadn’t scattered her things all over the house, though, because packing took longer than she expected, and her phone in her pocket was constantly buzzing with notifications. She was using every ounce of willpower not to check.
Why had she answered the phone when her mother called? Especially in front of Declan? What must he be thinking?
Well, she knew what he was probably thinking, that she had manipulated all of this to get back into the public eye. She hadn’t though. She hadn’t even thought about reuniting with him when she’d come back. She’d just wanted to manage working with him, to get back into the ice skating world. She hadn’t wanted to bring this circus down on his head, especially after what she’d done to him seven years ago.
He didn’t deserve it.
So yes, they’d have to talk. But the stress of being in the public eye would make that challenging, for now.
When she pulled out her phone, she saw missed calls from her mother and from Archie, and two from Declan himself. She tapped the screen to call him back.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“I had to park two blocks over. Are you going to be able to get all your stuff in one trip?”
She looked at her bags, the duffel and the three suitcases, all her belongings. Not much if one considered all the money she’d run through, all the things she’d bought. She’d sold some things, given away others, since she didn’t have a permanent home now. “I’ll bring the essentials. I can come back after everything has died down.” Besides, he might not want her staying with him after they had their talk. She didn’t know how much trust he had in her. She didn’t blame him if he didn’t have any.
“I can come meet you.”
“No. No, I can do this.” She could carry the duffel and pull the suitcases behind her. Well, two of them. The other was just going to have to wait.
“Colby. You don’t have to do this on your own.”
“No, no. I know. I’m going to—rearrange some things, then I’ll call when I’m walking out.”
“Okay.”
She hauled all the suitcases on the bed, opened them and stared at her belongings. What did she need? What could she leave behind?
Where was she going to put her things in Declan’s small apartment? Did she really want to stay with him, get back to that level of intimacy? Sleeping with him was one thing, but living with him was completely different.
It would be like going back to their marriage, and God knew that had been a mistake.
Okay, maybe the marriage hadn’t been a mistake. She had loved him like crazy. But they hadn’t been able to make each other happy, and shouldn’t they have been able to? Shouldn’t that have been their main purpose in life? To make each other happy? At the very least, to not make each other miserable?
Okay, so he hadn’t made her miserable. She had done that to herself. She had made both of them miserable. And since she still hadn’t found what she wanted out of life, she was destined to do that again.
