Silence fills the line.
“I did live there. I only just moved out.”
“So why did you make me go there?”
“Look…” A single tear spills free, trickling down my cheek. “Things haven’t been going my way recently, and I needed to…downsize for a bit.”
“Okay, so where are you now?”
“You’re not going to want to drive that truck here.”
“Bea,” he warns.
“It’s only temporary. I just need to get my finances sorted, and then I’ll get a better place. I’m not going to bring our baby up here, it’s not?—”
“Where the fuck are you?” His voice is shorter this time, angrier, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hit me in a particular kind of way.
With little choice, I pull my cell from my ear, find our message thread, and send him my new address.
Shame burns through me as I see it delivered and then read.
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
“It’s at least a thirty-minute dri?—”
“I’ll be there in twenty,” he repeats as the rumble of his giant engine fills the line.
My lips part to speak, but I quickly discover that he’s hung up on me.
“The fuck?” I mutter, staring at my cell in disbelief.
I check the clock, and despite my tender feet, I begin pacing. I can’t go very far; my new apartment is barely bigger than a shoebox, but I can’t stay still.
Each minute feels like an hour, but when fifteen of them pass, I dart toward my front door.
There is no way I’m risking him being early and wanting to come up here.
After double-checking I’ve locked my front door, I dart down the hallway and run down the dark, dirty stairwell without looking back. There is no one there; it’s empty and silent, but it doesn’t stop me from running like my life depends on it.
I don’t suck in a breath until I’ve burst through the main entrance and into the fresh air.
The sun warms my skin, and I take a few seconds to embrace it. It’s early, but it’s still incredibly hot. But then, I already knew that, because not only is my apartment noisy, but the air conditioning is also broken.
I check my cell. Seventeen minutes.
Glancing around, I find an empty bench, and I make my way over.
But I don’t even get a chance to sit down, because the familiar rumble of an engine hits my ears, and when I look over, Everett’s blue truck is pulling toward me.
My stomach turns over as I lift my hand and give him a little wave.
What the fuck are you doing, Beatrice?
I’m the only person out here, and from the way my skin is tingling, I’d say he’s glaring right at me.
I make my way over, trying to prepare myself for hauling my tired ass up into his cab, but just before I get to the hood, his door opens and he hops out.
His eyes drill into mine, but he doesn’t say a word as he pulls the passenger door open and helps me up.
