Page 62 of Loving the CEO

"He was excellent at it," I said. "Can we get to the car first?"

"Bestie, I'mdyinghere. Give me some hints. Where did you meet him?"

"Funny enough, I live with him."

Watching Debbie put two and two together was priceless. Her jaw dropped open, and then she put her hands together as if about to pray, looking up at the sky theatrically.

"Thank you, God, for granting this request. I'm going to pay an extra visit to the church this year."

That’s when I realized we were both praying for the same thing.

Chapter Fifteen

Tory

Being back in New Orleans was bittersweet. Even though I’d only been gone for a few weeks, it felt as if I left a lifetime ago. I asked Debbie to drop me off directly at the house. I toyed with the idea of telling Mom I was here, but I didn’t have the energy to hear her berate me. I only had two goals for this visit: pack all my clothes and cancel the lease.

"You're sure he's not here?" I asked.

"Yes. He said he's going to be gone the whole weekend."

"With her?"

"I honestly don't know," she replied calmly. "Does it matter?"

"Not really."

Astonishingly, I wasn’t even hurting. Something had healed inside me during these weeks while I was gone. If anything, I was feeling more grateful that the wedding didn’t happen. What a mess that would have been.

"I’ll come with you. Between the two of us, we'll be much faster," Debbie said when we reached the house.

I looked up at it with a sigh. "I honestly won't need that long. I want to take my clothes and that's it."

"If you’re sure you’re okay. But tell me if you change your mind, okay? I'll come back.”

"Debbie, I'm fine, really. Thank you for everything."

"No problem."

"I don't think I can ever repay you for dealing with all the wedding stuff."

She shook her head. "Let's not start that conversation. You're moving on from that shit show. Let's keep it that way."

"You’re right. See you later," I said as I got out of the car.

I wobbled a bit on my feet as I walked toward the house. It felt strange even though I'd lived in it for almost a year. When I entered, I took a deep breath and then immediately realized I wasn't alone. There was the sound of pots being moved around in the kitchen.

My entire body shut down. I was perplexed. Was he home?

I made to turn around and open the front door, but Walter's voice filtered out from the kitchen.

"You're here. Good."

He walked over as I stood rooted to my spot.

"I thought you weren't home," I said.

"Only way I could get Debbie off my back was to lie to her."

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