Page 156 of Tied to You
I walk to the phone and pick it up, not bothering to say hello.
“Mollie, is he there?”
I retract my hand, looking at the screen. Dean. “No,” I say.
Numb.
“Well, where is he?”
Gone.“I don’t know.”
He takes an audible breath. “What happened?”
I stare into the darkness outside the window. “What do you want, Dean?”
He sighs. “He’s supposed to be meeting me. We have a drop off.”
“That’s not until,” I look at the clock. Shit. It’s today. It’s now. I’ve laid onthe sofa ignoring everyone for two days, completely out of it. Caught in a reality where I lost the only man who saw me.
“Mols?”
Warmness coats my cheek. I’m crying again. “Yeah.” My throat scratches as I try to talk.
“You okay?”
No.“Fine.” I swallow the lump now caught, choking me.
“Can you try him? He can’t blow this for us.”
I take a steadying breath.We broke up. He hasn’t been home. He hasn’t answered my calls or any of my messages.“Sure,” I say, wiping my face with the back of my sleeve.
“He has it, the gear I mean.”
My head naturally swivels, looking around the house. “Where?”
“I don’t know. He said he was going by the house to grab it when I last spoke to him, but I don’t know if he did because for whatever reason, he isn’t answering anyone’s calls.”
Right. He hasn’t been by because he doesn’t want to see me. “I’ll look for it.”
“Thanks. Let me know if you hear from him, yeah?”
I won’t hear from him.“Okay.” I hang up and give up my spot on the sofa. Why haven’t I heard from him? Why hasn’t Dean? I want to panic and fear the worst, but there’s no point. He’s made up his mind. He doesn’t want this baby. He doesn’t want me.
I move slowly, making my way around each room until I come up short, not finding anything. I ring Travis, but it rings off, so I send him a text.
Me: Where are you?
I wait for what feels like an age for him to not reply.Ishe alive?
Walking around the house, I look through drawers and boxes, not finding anything. He never keeps any gear here long-term. Whatever’s here should have left when he… I search the bedroom, lifting his clothes that are still on the floor and placing them on the bed.
When I dip to pick up his jumper, I see the corner of a box hidden under the bed. Curious, I pull it out and check inside, finding what I’m looking for.
Along with a small, black box.
Sadness emanates from deep within. A cold chill travels down my spine. He bought a ring? I know that’s what’s inside without even having to open it. Our engagement. I no longer know if it still stands. It’s screaming at me from the box I can’t look away from. Will things go back to normal? In such a relatively short amount of time, everything I thought I knew has been flipped on its head. One thing’s for sure, Travis isn’t a man who changes his mind easily. He isn’t a man who goes back on his word. He left. Said he’d make it easy for me.
He’s proving that he isn’t coming back.
