Page 131 of The One
I picked up my phone and stared at Mom’s message.
Something had been in the back of my mind for the last several months. Something that had been weighing on me. Nagging at me.
Because, goddamn it, I was tired of running.
Me
Miss you too, Mom. You know, I’ve been thinking … it might be time for me to come home.
FORTY-TWO
Lainey
Present Day
My phone buzzed on the counter in my kitchen as I was washing the collection of glasses in my sink. Just glasses—no plates, no silverware. The last few days, I’d been drinking my dinner and skipping lunch.
That was something that needed to come to an end—and it would. But there were times in my life that were just about survival.
I knew those periods well.
I was in the middle of one.
I wiped my hands on my jeans and lifted my phone.
Unknown
So … how about date two? Are you game?
I had absolutely no idea who this text was from.
Unless it was Rhett.
But how would he have gotten my number? And would he have considered our meetup at the high school a date?
Me
Who is this?
Unknown
Are you going out with that many people that you don’t know who I am?
Me
No.
Unknown
This also tells me you didn’t save my number or our previous text exchange.
It’s Charlie. From the gym. You know, the guy you had dinner with last week.
Oh.
Him.
A date I’d almost canceled because I didn’t want to go. That dinner had proven we had zero chemistry; the evening had been dull, the conversation as uneventful as a trip to an empty mailbox.
