A smile curls my lips.
“Let me get something to eat and unpack the rest of my stuff, and then I’ll be ready to video. Is Drew up for it?”
“For you, sweetheart. Always.”
After we hang up, I puff my cheeks out and blow out a breath, feeling better and more clear-headed. Okay, Ryder, I think to myself, the next time we meet, I’m not going to run.
Chapter 3
Ryder
“What the hell happened?”
I’m standing in the front door of our condo watching Elijah sweep up broken glass from the floor while Julien places packing tape over what looks like a huge hole in the drywall. Julien swings around when he hears my voice and rushes over to grab me in a fierce hug. My arms go around him, knowing he needs me just like I need him right now. We’ve both endured so much together this past year. He and Jay are the only ones that understand my pain because they both share in it.
“Was it really her?”
“Yeah. It was her.”
“How is she? How did she look? Is she okay?”
I pull away from Julien and collapse wearily on the living room sofa, my body feeling so very tired but also amped up at the same time. Julien joins me. What I wouldn’t give for something strong to drink right now, but after Jay’s heavy drinking days, we don’t keep alcohol here. Being underage has never stopped us from drinking. We did in high school at parties, and access to alcohol here on campus is easy to come by no matter what your age is.
In the kitchen, Elijah empties the dustpan full of shattered glass fragments into the trash, the sound it creates reminding me of Elizabeth’s tinkling laughter. Rubbing my hands over my face to wipe off some of the emotional exhaustion weighing me down, I somehow conjure the words to answer Julien’s questions.
“She looks the same but different. God, I can’t even describe it.” I try to recount for him what happened even though I’m also trying to wrap my head around everything as well. “While I was at the student center, I heard laughter and I just knew. Iknewit was her. I had just been thinking about her. Like my brain magically materialized her right in front of my eyes. She was with this guy I know, Preston. When I called her name, she turned and looked right at me.” I rake my hands once more across my face and look around the room. “Where’s Jay?”
“We’ll get to him in a minute. Finish first. I need to hear it all.”
“Jules, she didn’t recognize me. She had no fucking clue who I was.” Tears that I had beaten down come flooding back. “She didn’t know who I was, Julien, and she ran away. From me. What happened to her? I...why...I don’t...” And then I lose it. A year’s worth of fucked up, crazy emotions come rampaging out, ripped from me in a torrent of anguish.
Julien embraces me and we both cry. Our shared tears and pain and loss, fifteen months of desperately missing Elizabeth, come hurdling out into our cramped living room. Elijah comes to Julien and wraps his arms around him, silently giving his support but knowing that Julien and I need this moment for ourselves.
“Fallon was there. She didn’t remember him either. What the fuck is going on Julien?” My words are barely articulate because my voice is raw and husky.
“The PI called Jay. That’s why we were trying to get in touch with you. He told us she’s registered here as a freshman. I convinced Jay that we needed to let you know first before we did anything. We have her address and everything, Ry. We know how to find her again.”
My head snaps up. “Julien, where’s Jayson?”
“When you told us she was gone, he lost it.” Obviously, I conclude, looking at the destroyed state of our home. Broken glass, hole in the wall. I notice some overturned stools, picture frames on the floor.
“I think he left to find her,” he finishes.
The look I give him has his eyes widening.“You let him walk out of here in the state he was in? Jesus Christ, Julien. What the hell’s wrong with you? Give me the address the PI found. Now.”
“Jayson wrote it down and took it with him when he left. I tried to call him, but he’s not answering his phone.”
“Call the PI back. Get the address.” Fuck it. I’ve got his number in my contacts. It rings and a voicemail comes on. Jules tries with his phone. Same result. We both leave messages for the PI to call us back immediately.
Elijah speaks up, “Don’t you guys have location sharing on your phones? You can track him that way.”
I point to Elijah, letting him know he’s a fucking genius. At least one of us in the room has the ability to think clearly right now. I completely forgot we had that on our phones.
“Found him. Let’s go.”
Elizabeth
The pounding on my apartment door causes me to drop my guitar pick. I had taken my acoustic guitar out of its case and was practicing chords to warm up my fingers. Wasting time instead of unpacking, thinking about today, thinking about that guy, Ryder, and my memory of him.
