“Of course not. I was dropping something off.”
We head down the hall and open the door to the studio.
“What kind of something?” he asks.
“Flowers,” I answer, and we both stop.
“You mean…those flowers?”
They’re still there. The giant bouquet is still there. But it’s not sitting on the desk where I left it. Instead, it’s shoved into the small trashcan next to the desk. The desk that is now void of all her things.
“She’s gone,” I say the obvious, picking up a purple rose petal off the ground. “She just…left.”
“You’ve got to talk to her, brother,” Noah says, and I whip my attention over to him.
“Don’t you think I’ve been trying? She doesn’t want to have anything to do with me. Obviously.”
“No offence, but how bad did you fuck up? For her to leave like this, I mean.”
My jaw tightens and my mouth goes slack. “I accused her of cheating on me, pretty much.”
“You told her you think the baby isn’t yours?!”
“Pretty much.”
“Jesus fucking Christ, Callum! Who’s baby do you think it is then? She only has eyes for you.”
“It was stupid, I know,” I say, pulling the flowers out of the can. “But you have to understand. Everything hit me all at once. I panicked. I was a coward.”
“You have to fix it.”
I glare at my best friend and motion at the roses.
“Nah, man. Flowers aren’t going to patch this up. I mean hard core fix this shit.”
I know he’s right. Everyone is right. The problem is fixing it is easier said than done when she won’t even look at me. Won’t talk to me. I don’t even know where she is, and that scared the shit out of me.
“I haven't talked to her.”
Kate’s voice is dry on the other end of the phone. In the background I can hear the shuffle of chatter and blow dryers. A salon most likely.
“At all?” I ask.
“Not since she told me you two got married. By the way, your timing is shit.”
I bite my tongue and rearrange the words in my mouth before going on. “If it makes you feel any better, none of this was planned.”
“Why would that make me feel better, Colin?”
“Callum,” I correct her.
“Whatever. The fact that I have been in love and planning my dream wedding for years now only to be bulldozed by my sister and taking all the attention off me makes your little shotgun wedding even more mortifying.”
“So, you haven’t talked to her?” I ask with the same amount of venom in my tone that she is shooting at me.
“No. I haven’t. I’m too busy planning a wedding without a maid of honor.”
“Well, if you happen to take a break from forcing the planets to revolve around your head for five minutes, will you let her know I am looking for her please?”
