Page 231 of Money Reigns
It feels like someone ripped a page out of me and threw it away.
Panic burns through the numbness. They can’t just erase that. Doesn’t anyone understand some things shouldn’t be replaced?
I turn and run, boots slipping on the frost-bitten sidewalk, the cold biting at my lungs as I head straight for the inn.
Logan’s at the front desk when I push through the door. He looks up, startled.
“What room is War in?”
Hefrowns. “No, Liv.”
I roll my eyes, breathless. “Not for that, I need to speak to him.”
Logan hesitates, jaw flexing, then sighs. “Room 10. But he’s not here.”
My chest sinks. “Where is he?”
“Hardware store. With Chase.”
The air rushes out of me.
Too late.
It would have been too late anyway. The swings are already gone.
I nod stiffly, turn away before Logan can say more, and retreat across the street.
Back into the house.
My chest aches as I climb, each step heavier than the last.
By the time I reach my room, tears are already stinging, because it isn’t just about swings. It’s abouteverything.About him, about me, and about what’s gone that I can’t seem get back.
***
“You’re not eating.”
I look down at my plate, Murphy’s famous grilled cheese, the one I begged for every birthday as a kid. Three kinds of cheese, golden crust, fries crisped just right. It should taste like home. It tastes like nothing.
“He had our swing removed,” I murmur.
Ella exhales, leaning back in the booth. “I’m not dead, Liv. We don’t need a rotten piece of wood with our initials to prove it meant something.”
“I know.” My throat tightens. “But it feels like—like it’s gone because of him. Like every time I almost tell myself I want him back, I can’t reach him. He’s always just… out of reach.”
Ella steals a fry from my plate, crunching it slow. “Have you tried calling him?”
The words hit harder than I expect.
“No. Not since the day he showed up here. I figured he blocked me.”
She shrugs. “So check. Worst case? You’re right. Best case? You’re wrong. Either way, you’ll stop torturing yourself.”
I dig through my purse with shaking hands, fingers closing around my phone like it’s a live wire. My heart hammers as I unlock the screen. His number sits there, unchanged, like it’s been waiting.
Ella leans on her elbow, watching. “Gonna call him right now?”
I hover, thumb trembling over his name.
