“Know what?”
“Nate’s gone. He died in a plane crash six months ago.” Better to get it all out and do it quickly, so I added, “Claire was with him. They both died instantly.”
Rhett made no move. His face was a mask of granite, his eyes unblinking. He stared at me, not saying a word.
We stood like that for what felt like hours, his jaw clenched and his body frozen, our eyes locked. I had no words. When I called his office and they didn’t put me through to him, I thought he didn’t want to talk to me. Not such a farfetched reality after his disappearance. There was also the fact I was suddenly responsible for another human. I had no idea how to take care of a baby, had never even met her before she came to live with me. Between grieving Nate and taking care of all the funeral arrangements, I was overwhelmed. Mom was no help, Oma did as much as she could. So chasing up Rhett was the last thing on my mind.
“Why didn’t you call me?” Rhett’s voice was quiet, strained and didn’t sound like him at all. “I could have been there for you. Helped you. Didn’t you think I would want to know that my friend had died?”
“When I called your office they refused to put me through. I don’t have you cell number. We haven’t talked in eight years. And I wasn’t going to show up if you didn’t want to talk to me.”
How did he act like I had done him wrong when it was him who didn’t return my call? Judging by his expression, he didn’t think he was in the wrong. He looked livid. I was hurt when he didn’t call back and furious when his secretary refused to put my call through.
“I did try to let you know, but you didn’t seem to want to hear from me. I’m sorry. I thought you must have found out some other way.”
“Didn’t you think I would have shown up to his funeral if I’d known?”
“No offense, but I did try and let you know. And you hadn’t spoken to Nate in a while. I just figured you guys weren’t speaking at the time.”
His mouth tightened, and I could detect a tick in his jaw. That was never a good sign and it usually meant get the hell out of there before he unleashed his fury. But I refused to back down. Because I’d done nothing wrong.
When he finally spoke, I blew out a relieved breath. “No offense,” he said, imitating me “but nobody gave me a message. And I would never tell Lexie to block your calls.”
“Well somebody did and I definitely left a message with the girl who answered your phone. Not my fault you’ve got incompetent people working for you.”
“Nobody else answers my phone but Lexie. And I’d remember if she gave me a message that there was a missed call from you.”
“Somebody did answer it, and Lexie doesn’t always answer your phone. But fine. Whatever. I don’t care. It’s done, nothing either one of us can do about it.”
He totally thought I was lying. And that hurt more than him thinking I hadn’t called when Nate died. I was just the stupid idiot who’d thought about him every day for the last eight years. Silly me, should have just moved on. He clearly had.
“I’m sorry I had to tell you like this.” And I really was. He deserved better. If his face was anything to go by, he was in shock. But I couldn’t stand there any longer. I had to get out. “I have to go.”
And before he had a chance to react, I had locked myself in my car and drove off, leaving a motionless Rhett standing in the parking lot. There was no way I was going to stop the tears from escaping, and I cried for what I’d lost eight years ago but also for the pain I saw in Rhett. A pain that I knew all too well, the pain that had been my constant companion since Nate died.
