Page 59 of Elijah's Hope
I never asked her why she needed to leave home. What she was escaping from. Instead, I told her I couldn’t even look at her.
No wonder she left.
I made my way down the long row of pressure pumps to the exit. Cal’s office was not too far from the actual drilling operations. I knocked on his door before opening it.
“Sit,” he barked at me. He was already sitting behind his desk.
I sat. When I did, I could see the picture he kept on the shelves situated behind his desk. Him, his wife and his baby girl. I thought now, it made sense to keep it behind him, instead of on his desk. This way he wouldn’t have to look at it every second because it had to hurt. Having so much. Losing it all.
I had Shelby in my life for only two fucking weeks and what I felt every day since she left was…pain. A physical ache in my chest that wouldn’t let go and I had no clue how to fix that.
“Son, you need to get over this woman real quick, or go fucking do something about it.”
My jaw clenched. I hated it when he called mesonand he knew it, too. Never had a father, never needed a father. Didn’t need one now.
“I’m getting over it,” I lied.
“Clearly, you’re not. Look, I’ll admit it. I was not a fan of this whole idea, and when you talked about leaving with her after only a week, it had me worried you were pussy crazed—”
I bared my teeth at him. He didn’t get to talk about Shelby’s pussy. No one did.
“But obviously she meant something to you,” Cal said, backing off. “If that’s the case, then call her or send her an email. But stop chewing the head off of everyone on your team because you can’t get over her.”
“Did Jackson say anything?” I asked. I was curious if he had. At least with Cal and Ark.
“Yeah. He told me she lied about everything on her profile and it pissed you off, so you stormed out. She took that as a clue and left.”
“That it?”
Had they sat around Jackson’s laptop and watched the video together? It made me want to rip each one of their heads from their bodies.
Shelby was mine. Only mine to see. Only mine to touch.
Except she wasn’t. Because she left, and I hadn’t done anything to stop her.
“There’s more?” he asked, his eyebrow arched.
I shook my head. As pissed as I was at Jackson for his involvement, I knew him enough to know he wouldn’t have done that. Wouldn’t have disrespected me like that. For that matter, he wouldn’t have disrespected Shelby like that.
“Then deal with the fact that she lied to you. You’re better off without that in your life. Or forgive her and find out why she lied. Either way, this splinter-in-the-bear’s-claw routine stops now. This is a small, tight-knit group of men who have to spend a fuckload of time together. I don’t need everyone pissed off at everyone else all the time. It’s not good for your team. It’s not good for the operation in general. Am I understood?”
“Yes.” I stood, then, because I couldn’t help myself, I pointed to the picture behind his desk. “What was it like? I mean, when it was good. When it was you and her and your baby. Was it like a I think?”
“No,” Cal said, not looking at me and instead, shuffling some papers around that I knew he wasn’t reading. “It was better.”
I left the office and made my way to where I needed to be supervising my team. Cal’s thoughts running through my head.
Was I better off without Shelby in my life? No, I wasn’t.
Could I forgive her for lying to me? No. I didn’t think I could.
So where did that leave us?
Nowhere.
* * *
Bud’s
