“Once we got home, do you remember what she said?”
“No.”
“She told you that she was scared. And that when people are scared, they don’t always say what they should have in the moment. And what she should have said was that sometimes, bad things just happen. And it’s no one’s fault. It’s just…really crappy.”
He did remember that. “You sound just like her. But why are you telling me this?”
“Because I suspect that she would say something very similar right now.”
“This isn’t a broken arm, Ny.”
“You’re right. It’s something really big and really crappy that happened. And still, something that’s no one’s fault.”
He shook his head. “I should have been there for her.”
“You’d just found out Winnie and two women had been killed. You were scared.”
“I was terrified, but that doesn’t make it okay.” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Every day, we live a million little moments. So many of them aren’t even worth remembering, yet one moment, one damn decision, changed everything for me.”
“So go,” Nylah whispered. “Talk to her.”
“I tried. Aspen won’t let me in. She wouldn’t even open the door.” He’d gone straight there from the party last night, then again this morning. He didn’t even get a glimpse of Callie.
“Well, I may have heard that she’s not with Aspen this morning. She’s at her dad’s.”
Lock looked at his sister. “Who’d you hear that from?”
“Her dad’s neighbor told Mrs. Burns at the grocery store, who just happened to be in front of Cody at the checkout.” She lifted a shoulder. “Naturally, he called and told me to come talk to you. I, of course, was already on my way.”
If the situation wasn’t what it was, he’d laugh at that sequence of events. Like the universe needed him to know exactly where Callie was.
She nudged his shoulder. “Go to her. All you can do is try.” She stood, and he rose with her, but before going to the car, she turned back to him and pulled him into a hug and whispered, “I’m sorry.”
He closed his eyes and hugged her back, really hugged her, letting the weight of everything he’d lost two years ago bear down on him.
Emotion welled to the surface, and instead of pushing it down, he let it sit there. He let himself feel all of it. And it was as awful as he thought it would be.
When she pulled away, it was too soon. But the second she was gone, he climbed into his truck and drove as fast as it would take him to her father’s house. He’d only been there a couple of times while they’d dated, but he remembered the way like he’d stopped by yesterday.
It wasn’t until he was standing in front of the door, the wood staring at him, mocking him, that he remembered exactly when the last time was…the day he’d gotten back from that crucial Ghost Ops mission. Malone had been eliminated, and he was finally ready to tell Callie everything and get her back…only she hadn’t been here.
He pounded the door with his fist, and when it opened, Jude Ward stood there. Callie’s father looked older, with more lines around his eyes. More grays in his hair. But the same stern expression on his face.
The older man stared him down. “You’ve got some balls showing up here, son.”
“Is she here?”
“Why would I tell you that?”
The muscles in his biceps flexed. “Because I love her. And I need to fix this.” The words sounded hollow even to his own ears. Fix this? It wasn’t something thatcouldbe fixed. It was trauma, a scar that would forever live within both of them.
“Haven’t you hurt her enough?”
“I’ve hurt her too damn much. I’m not gonna lie and say I haven’t. I own my actions. I thought I had a good reason for what I did, but now…”
“Now what?”
“Now, I would give anything to be able to do things differently. If I had that time again, Iwoulddo things differently. Please. Let me see her.”
