Page 463 of One More Kiss

ETHAN

After I help cleanup the studio, I hug and thank Millie and Mama for all their support in this venture of mine.

“I really like your friend, Ethan,” Mama says with a twinkle in her eye, and it’s the first time she’s really given her approval for a lady since Alana. It makes my smile grow even bigger.

“She’s cute. Perfect for you. Seems real nice,” she adds, smiling. I know she’s being sincere, too.

“She is, but tell me what you think about her once you’ve read her book, the one Aunt Millie made you download.” I laugh, knowing it’s probably full of dirty, vulgar sex scenes, especially if Vada’s words are anything like the Vada I know in bed.

Millie bursts out into evil laughter. After standing for a little while longer, we exchange big hugs then I walk them out to the car, making sure they leave safely.

“We had a record day in sales,” Hilary says excitedly when I walk back in. I round the counter, and she points her finger to the screen, showing me the amount.

“That’s great news. I can’t wait to make the donation to the March of Dimes,” I tell her with a smile. If there’s a premature baby out there that has a fighting chance, I want to do everything I can to save a life and someone else from going through what I did. Jessica, who’s in charge of scheduling and other maintenance, lets out a loud aww, but I try to ignore it. I don’t do it for recognition. I do it to make a difference, as small as it may be.

“Do you need anything else before I head out?” I ask, trying to change the subject.

Several interns speak up all at once saying they’ve got it, and I know they do.

“Fine,” I tell them with a smile and a wave before I leave for the day.

On the drive home, all I can think about is seeing Vada again, kissing Vada, being with Vada. My thoughts are consumed with her. She’s on my mind every moment of the day, and when she’s away, it’s like a part of me is missing. That woman somehow stole a piece of my heart, and I don’t want it back. Hell, she can keep it as long as she’s here in Charleston with me.

I drive across town and replay the last week, and I’m so fucking happy Vada is extending her stay. We’ll have more time to be together and see where this leads. In my heart, I know this is the real deal, but I need to make sure we haven’t rushed into something crazy. Regardless, I’m already falling hard for her, and there’s no rescue mission in place. Truthfully, I don’t want to be saved. Just the thought of her smile, laugh, the way she says my name, or the look on her face when she loses herself with me, makes me feel things I haven’t in a long-ass time.

Before I head home, I stop and pick up a dozen red roses and a bottle of Cabernet, since I know it’s her favorite. There’s a lot of celebrating to be done since my Vada is staying. Eventually, she’ll have to leave, but hopefully only to pack her apartment and return back to me.

Tonight, I want to order in and spend the rest of the night showing her what she truly means to me. At the studio, when she walked in, it was like everything around me had faded to black, except her. Vada makes me feel something I never knew I’d feel again—whole.

When I park the car, my heart lurches forward, and I’m so damn excited to finally be home. It was the longest drive ever. I walk through the house, hurry and feed Wilma, then go through the back door with the roses and wine in hand. The smile on my face almost immediately fades when I see all the lights are off in the cottage and the door is locked. Thinking that she’s probably trying to surprise me, I walk back to the house and immediately climb the stairs to my bedroom. Opening the door, I realize she’s not there either.

“Vada?” I finally call her name.

I wait but don’t hear a reply.

Going back downstairs, I set the flowers and wine down, and that’s when I see a handwritten note on the counter.

Confused, I pick it up and read the scribbled words. With each sentence, I feel like I’m choking.

My heart is torn as I write this, but I’m leaving for Chicago tonight. By the time you get home, I’m sure I’ll already be on the plane. After I left the studio today, I realized how stupid I was being. I can’t be here, Ethan. I won’t be played, and I won’t allow myself to be that girl. It’s better this way.

—Vada

I notice the splashes of ink on the paper and know she was crying as she wrote this, and it tears me apart. Immediately, I pull my phone from my pocket and call her, but it goes straight to voicemail.

My voice cracks when I speak. “Vada, please call me. I don’t know what you’re talking about or what happened since you left the studio. Please talk to me so we can figure this out.”

I know I sound desperate, but the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time just walked away with a half-ass explanation, and I need to know what triggered this. Everything was absolutely perfect when she left the studio. I think about the last words we exchanged, and it was goodbyes, surrounded by smiles. If I would’ve known she’d be leaving for good, I would’ve never let her get in that car earlier. Something happened, and I’m going to lose my mind until I know what.

Halfway hoping this is some sick joke, I walk back to the cottage with the key tightly grasped in my hand and almost lose it when I see all of her belongings are gone. Her suitcase, laptop, everything. It’s as if it was all a dream and she never happened.

“No,” I say, quietly to myself. “This isn’t happening.”

Instead of giving up, I keep calling her, hoping she’ll answer, but she never does. After everything we’ve been through, after I ripped my heart open and poured myself out to her, after she made me forget—she leaves me. Vada saw my true, raw self, and she still left, and the thought of what I’ve lost cripples me.

* * *

It’s beena week since Vada left, and it’s like my whole world has shattered into shards again. She rejects my calls and sends me straight to voicemail. I’m pretty sure I’m blocked at this point because I’ve called and texted so much, begging her to talk to me. Regardless of what I say on those voice messages, she doesn’t return them. I have zero control over this, and while I’m trying to be patient and give her time if that’s what she needs, it’s not in my nature, especially when I’m hurting so badly.

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