It was killing her too. “Okay.” The single word slipped into the air, quiet but powerful.
“Okay?”
“Yeah. I want you to take me home.”
Relief washed over his face, then he whispered, “Thank God.”
CHAPTER 27
“So he’s staying with you tonight?”
Clara tugged at a thread on her bedsheet as she pressed the phone to her ear, Indie on the other end. “Yeah, he’s staying with me tonight. He made me dinner, refused to let me help him clean up after, and now he’s doing a perimeter check.”
“Will he stay tomorrow night as well?”
“I don’t know. He’ll probably want to stay until we figure out all this hospital stuff.” Not probably—definitely.
“Clara…can I give you some advice?”
“Always.” Even when she didn’t like her cousin’s advice, she usually needed it.
“You love him. So love him.”
She hung her head. Her mother had said something similar.
“I know he hurt you when he ended things after the hospital trip,” Indie continued. “But I think he wants to be better. And maybe this little break with you has scared him enough that he’ll do better next time.”
“Idolove him,” she whispered.
“I know. And take it from someone who never felt like she got enough time with the man she loved—if he’s there and he loves you, don’t waste another second.”
She frowned. “Indie, maybe you should just call Colt and talk to him. You had that fight a year ago and have barely spoken since.”
There was a small pause. “Because it hurts to talk to him.”
“Sometimes you have to hurt before you can feel better again.”
“I think there’s just too much that’s happened.” She sighed. “Idoneed to speak to him though. He didn’t sign the papers.”
Clara straightened. “What?”
“He sent them back blank. Actually, not blank. He wrote a note in black pen saying, ‘You’re dreaming if you think I’ll ever sign this, Cricket.’”
Cricket…it was the nickname Colt used for Indie. “What are you going to do?”
“He doesn’t have to sign them for me to get a divorce. I can let the courts handle it if I have to.”
There was something in Indie’s voice…some regret, but also uncertainty. Was she having second thoughts about the divorce? “If you need anything from me, you know I’m here.”
“Idoknow. Thanks, Clara.”
The click of the front door opening sounded from the hall, and Clara sighed. “I’ve got to go. Holden’s back.”
“Remember what I said.”
Clara smiled as she said goodbye and hung up. She needed a shower, then maybe if she felt brave, she’d go out and see Holden in the living room.
She stepped into the bathroom and her gaze went straight to her neck. The bruising from the break-in was just about gone, but sometimes she swore she could feel that arm around her neck.
