He sighs, but it’s one of those resigned ones because he knows I’m right. “I know. I will.”
“What happened to Elijah?” I ask, referring to the guy he couldn’t stop talking about when he was here visiting last month just before the Christmas break. “I thought things were going well with him.”
“Eh. We fizzled,” he says. I want to comment on that, but I keep my words to myself. I have no business giving out love advice right now anyway. “Text me later?”
“Yeah. Later, bro.”
We disconnect the call, and I clutch my phone in my hand as I sit perched on the edge of the tub, the one I’ve never used, even though it was the sole reason I got this place.
It wasn’t for me. It was for Chloe. Just in case.
Even while she’s been gone, I’ve kept her in the back of my mind during every decision I’ve ever made. I wish I could say it’s because I never doubted she’d come back to me, but that’s not true. I did it because Ihopedshe would. Always, even when I was at my darkest. But now that she’s here, I have no damn idea how to react to it, no idea what to do.
The one thing I do know? I’m never going to figure it out if I don’t try. I swipe through my phone again, this time looking for a different name. When I stop on it, I take a deep breath, my thumbs hovering over the screen.
Then, I text my wife.
CHAPTER 6
CHLOE
“I talked to him.”
“What? Hello? Chlo?”
“I talked to him,” I repeat, louder this time.
Talia sighs, and I hear what sounds like a car door closing and a bunch of rustling. Then finally, she says, “Sorry. I was trying to get my life together and get in the car. Give me a second. Let me connect you to my Bluetooth.”
There’s more shuffling and many curse words. I grin. My best friend has always been a little chaotic, and it’s comforting knowing even though she’s over two thousand miles away, she’s still just Talia.
“All right. I’m here. Are you there?”
“Yes. Where are you going? Shouldn’t you be at work?”
“Ugh, yes.” She groans. “And I have so much shit to do today that Ineedto get done or my dad is going to murder me. But noooo.” She lets out an irritated growl. “I am on the way to pick upyournephew from school early. He allegedly threw up, but I’m like ninety-nine percent sure he’s just trying to get out of taking his science quiz this afternoon.”
I snicker, proud of the kid who isn’t actually my nephew, but close enough that he’s called me Auntie Chloe since he could talk. “Smart kid. Science is so boring.”
“Says the girl who used to work in a lab.”
“Exactly. I was a technician who hated my job with a passion because science bored me and made my eyes glaze over.”
She laughs. “I remember when you got the job, and you cried because you wanted to do quite literally anything else with your life. Now look at you, traveling the world and writing, just like you always wanted to do.”
Her words aren’t entirely true. While writing was always a passion of mine and secretly what I wanted to do for a living, this wasn’t how I wanted it to happen. I thought I’d maybe write a book, possibly two. Or write articles for a big, fancy paper. I had no idea I’d be traveling and freelancing my way through life, never knowing when I’d be getting paid or where my next assignment might come from. While I love it most of the time, I’m still not so sure it’s everything I ever wanted, mostly because there’s only one thing I’ve ever been absolutely certain about, and I don’t even have that anymore.
“So, what’s up? Why’d you call?”
A wave of unease passes through me at the mention of what happened just an hour ago. “Seattle is…okay.”
“Just okay?” I can picture her wrinkling her perfectly shaped brows. “Because your voice sounds all weird. Did something happen?”
For a moment, I rethink the entire call and debate whether I should tell her I saw my husband at all. The problem is that Talia knows me better than just about anyone else, and she’ll figure it out soon enough anyway. Besides, I need someone to talk to about this. I’m having far too much anxiety about it as it is. Maybe she can help make sense of what I’m feeling.
“I saw Callum.”
Aside from the pounding in my ears, there’s silence.
