Leaving.
Don’t follow me.
I stared at her response until the screen saver locked the screen, then I re-opened my phone and stared at the message again.
What the ever-loving fuck?
I rushed back to the guest room. I’d go out and find her. But it wasn’t until I entered the room that I remembered my car was gone. Then, I realized all of her luggage was gone, too. Even those goddamned snack bags!
“Flint?” Mama’s voice caused me to jump out of my skin. “I know I’m not that quiet! What’s going on, son?”
My heart roared in my ears. “She left me.”
“What? No. That can’t be right.”
“She left me, Mama,” I pointed to the room. “Look around! Her suitcases and her travel bags of snacks are gone. And she sent me this.”
I handed her my phone.
Mama looked at the message and frowned. “That doesn’t seem right.”
I shook my head. “None of this seems right. We were good! We had a great day yesterday, even though a tornado tried to kill me. I took her to my secret spot…”
“That everyone knows about,” Mama added helpfully.
I scowled. “They know about -now.”
She shrugged.
“We had a good talk about us and the future,” I trailed off. “I don’t understand. You talked to her this afternoon, right?”
Something flashed on Mama’s face.
“What did you tell her?”
She wouldn’t meet my eye.
“Mama.” It wasn’t a question.
The look on her face was apologetic and full of pain, all at the same time. “I’m so sorry. I might have told her about Celeste.”
Ice formed in my stomach. “What about her?”
Mama looked at her shoes.
“Mama?”
“I told her about Celeste and the baby,” Mama whispered.
I shut my eyes.
No. No. No. No. No.
Mama reached for my arm, and I yanked it away. “Don’t.”
I pushed past her and into the hallway. She followed me as I headed toward the kitchen for Jocko’s keys, turned on a dime, then headed for the garage.
“Flint, please stop.”
I did stop in my tracks, frowning at her. “I cannot talk to you right now. If I do, I’m going to say something I’ll regret. So, stop following me.”
She quit following me at the door between the garage and the house.
It wasn’t until I was on the county road headed into town that I let out the roar of pain that had built up in my heart.
I didn’t stop screaming until I reached the only place I knew the regret would take a back seat.
