Chapter 29
Levi
It’s been roughly seventeenhours since I last saw Tate and I’m unraveling.It doesn’t help that I’m in a mansion alone, 2000 miles away from home.
I pick my hat up to run my fingers through my hair before tucking it back on.I did my workout, showered, ate, organized my bag, and now I’m walking the property because, all of a sudden, I don’t know how to be alone.She was fine last night before bed, right?I mean she kissed me...which is good?It was good.I mean I thought it was good.But then something clicks in my memory, a puzzle piece sliding into its space—her eyes.They were open.
I stop short on the path, my shoes disturbing the ground enough that it releases a cloud of dust.I look at our texts, or rather, my text to her, before running back to the house.I barrel up the path, past the studio, then the pool, and impatiently throw open the kitchen slider.I take three steps at a time, breath heaving out till I make it to her door.I rest my head on the cool, white-painted wood, trying to catch my breath.If I am wrong and she is in there, I don’t want to scare her by coming in like a maniac.Once my breath is 80 percent under control, I pull down the L-shaped handle and let myself into the pink room.The lights are all off with the exception of a small bedside lamp.The beds are made, and nothing seems out of place.
“Tate?”My voice betrays my fear.I walk more into the room, standing at my full height.I walk through the en suite, which is much like the room—spotless.The closet door is wide open, and I know going in there is going to confirm a suspicion growing at the base of my belly.I walk across the threshold and see it.Her side is empty.What once held a myriad of colors and patterns is completely vacant.
I lost her.I can’t believe I lost her.The weight of everything feels too heavy.I lower myself down onto the floor, letting my back lean against the wall.I open our text thread again, and I’m not sure why I’m allowing myself to stoop to this level, but I send one more text.
Levi: You left?
I’m not sure what I want from it.It’s obvious she did leave.I stare at my phone, willing her to respond, but nothing.Against my better judgment, I shoot off one more.
Levi: Call me please.
As I’m about to turn the phone off, there’s an incoming call.Jan.Kill me.I empty and refill my lungs a couple times before answering, but it does nothing to temper my anger.This is her fault.
“What?”
“Is that any way to talk to the fairy godmother trying to make your dreams come true?”
“She’s gone and it’s all because of you!”
Jan cackles into the phone.“No, she left because she’s weak.In this business, my boy, you have to be able to stand tall and take whatever punch is thrown your way, but you already know that, don’t you?When you filled out your questionnaire you said you had a landscape company...”
“That’s right.”
“Pretty unique for someone still in high school to be running a business, isn’t it?”
“That’s none of your business,” I snap.
“That’s where you’re wrong.It’s all my business, and I need you to do now what you did then, which is to buckle up and do what has to be done.”
“I hate you.”
“So does my husband, but he’s still here because he likes to golf on Wednesdays.Don’t be dumb.”
I bite my fist till I have deep imprints of my teeth circling my first knuckle.
