Instead, like a coward, I turn the other way and leave her.
Maybe tomorrow.
Two days later
Knock, knock, knock.
“What the hell?” I look at the clock. It’s late. Who the hell is here?
I open the door and Wills is standing there with his arms crossed, ready for battle.
“Sadie is losing her goddamn mind. Why haven’t you called her back?”
I shake my head and can see the second he notices Belle, because his face falls and he looks back at me with concern.
Two days later and we still haven’t talked properly. I tried, I promise, but then my anger started to simmer, so I knew it wasn’t the time.
It wouldn’t have been fair to her, but right before Wills interrupted us tonight, I was planning on taking Sadie’s advice to suggest a movie.
“I think I broke her,” I whisper.
He palms his face and shakes his head. “You didn’t fucking break her, but grief and sorrow can be debilitating, especially when left alone to your own thoughts.” He shoots me a pointed look. “This isn’t why I’m here, and it’s probably not the best time with all this shite going on, but it’s happening.”
“What’s happening?”
“Sadie is meeting with your father… tomorrow.”
I step back, thinking I must be hearing things. “Excuse me? What the fuck are you talking about?”
The thought of Sadie in a room with that guy tears my insides apart. I can’t believe she’s going through with this.
“You’re allowing this?” I hiss.
He inhales a deep breath. “I didn’t like the idea at first, but she needs this, and frankly, so do you.”
“Why the hell are you just telling me now?”
“So that you don’t overthink it.” He pauses, “Ev’s still in New York, so we’re using my old place at noon. Be there for your sister… but also, for yourself.”
23
Jackson
By the timeI wrapped my head around the bomb Wills dropped on me, I’d missed my opportunity to spend time with Belle since she turned off both the lights and television, which was my cue to go to sleep.
Except sleep never came.
I’d been tossing and turning all night, thinking of the woman I love more than anything in the world and how I could have handled this week differently. Something my sister said about how we can’t put a time limit on a person’s healing process has been stuck in my head, and if I were in a better frame of mind, I would have thought more about it days ago.
Instead, I let us both suffer.
What am I waiting for? What if this takes years for me to get over?
What if I never do?
Am I just going to shut Belle out because of it? Instead of getting help and working through it with her?
The last few weeks of our relationship have shown me that communication is key, and if we talk to each other, we can work through anything. The old saying that two brains are better than one rings true in this situation, and I’m disappointed I let it get this far.
