But I still had one more thing to do.
Sloane had already shared Carter’s new contact card with me, and with trembling fingers, I opened up a new text thread and composed a message.
Hey, heard you got a new number
A mere minute passed before I got a response.
Carter
Hey sweet girl, where you been?!
Sloane and I figured out that I had a random setting turned on, blocking unknown numbers
Ahh that makes much sense
After the funeral, I was getting too many messages from random people
I forgot I had that setting turned on
Totally get that
People mean well, but it gets to be a lot
Glad I made the cut
I hesitated before admitting the next bit.
I thought after that phone call… that I had pushed you away.
I’m really sorry about that btw I didn’t mean to call you in the middle of a workday and dump all my problems on you
The phone rang immediately, and I reluctantly answered it.
“Sara,” Carter said, scolding and gentle all at once.
“Yes?” I bit back a wince.
“Please tell me you don’t really think that.”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged nervously. “I just—I know it was a lot. I was too emotional, and when I didn’t hear from you—I just thought maybe it was too much for you.”That I was too much for you.
“You’re never too much for me.”
I felt like I could burst into tears from the relief, but I shoved it down rather than repeat our last phone call as I cleared my throat. “So why’d you get a new number, anyway?”
He sighed. “That… is a long story.”
“I have time.” I waited with bated breath, unsure how he would respond.
He hesitated for a long beat. “Someone actually stole my phone.”
“You’re going to have to give me more details than that,Mr. It’s a long story.”
“Yeah, uh.” I could hear the hesitation in his voice. “My place was robbed.”
My pulse spiked. “Carter! What happened? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, no, I’m fine now. I’m just sorry about the timing.” He chuckled, but I wished I could see his face. The feeling that there was something between his words that he wasn’t saying made me anxious. “I wanted to call you that night after work and see if you were okay.” He admitted with a long sigh. “But alas, no phone.”
