Page 39 of About Time

I go into our bedroom, I guess it’s just his bedroom now, and throw some things in a duffle bag I had in the closet. Hefting both bags on opposite shoulders, I make my way to the door.

Charlie tries to take one of them, but I shove him away.

“I needed you for the last week, and you left me here alone. Don’t you dare try to step in now. You want us to be done, so congratulations you get your wish. I don’t ever want to see you again.” I don’t turn around to look back at him when I walk out the door.

My eyes sting all the way down the driveway to my car, but I don’t shed a tear. At least not until I pull away from the curb and head back to my one-room apartment. I haven’t been there since the night of the fair, and it’s just as depressing as it was when I left.

A hysterical laugh pushes out of me. I can feel everything inside of me crack and shatter. In one week I lost almost everything important to me.

“I never should have come back,” I say to my empty apartment.

The tears I’ve been waiting a week for finally start to fall. I don’t fight them, instead I crawl into my cold bed and let them take me over. “These will be the last tears I shed for Charlie Storm.”

A plan starts to form, and I figure out how to survive when it feels like my heart has been ripped from my chest.

The next morning I go back to Charlie’s house, I’ll never think of it as my home again, and pack up my few possessions.With that chore taken care of, I pack up my apartment too. I follow my advisor’s advice and fill out the withdrawal papers for all of my classes. However, I will not be re-enrolling. Not next semester, not ever. I was right the night I came back to my studio, I never should have come back home.

My next stop is to a divorce lawyer while I’m still in Centralia. There’s a firm that can get the papers drafted while I’m gone, and I can keep the gossip mill of Harriston still. I’m not particularly eager to be a twenty-year-old divorcée, but I’d rather that than remain tied to the person who has hurt me worse than anyone ever has.

There are no assets to divide, and I never changed my name which leaves very little to do other than inform the government that Charlie and I are no longer a couple. I guess it’s a blessing that he never wanted to tell anyone about us. Now I don’t have to tell anyone that we’re over. It’ll be like it never happened.

I wonder if in time I’ll forget all about this chapter of my life. Somehow I fear the scars left by Charlie Storm will last far longer than my love for him did.

I have a few loose ends to clear up, and then my new life begins.

I paste a smile on my face when I go over to my sister’s house. She immediately knows something is off when she opens the door to let me in.

“Hattie, what’s going on? Shouldn’t you be in school?” Elisa asks me.

I’ve been thinking over the last few days about how to handle this. If I tell her I’m withdrawing from my classes she is going to go ballistic on me, but she needs to be told something.

“I came down with the flu for over a week. I missed so much school that they are offering to let me withdraw this semester and start over next semester rather than let my GPA suffer. It’s actually lucky because I was approached by the clinic in Florida, and they would like me to come back and do another internship. They’re wanting me to attend classes at the University of Florida. It’s a good opportunity.”

I hold my breath and wait for Elisa’s reaction. She looks at me sadly, but I can see pride in her expression too. “As much as I want you to stay, I think it’s best that you don’t. This town works for me. Marrying Martin and having a family is the only thing I’ve ever wanted. I know that sounds rather old-fashioned, but I love my life as it is. But what works for me won’t for you. You’ll never be satisfied with a quiet life in a small town.”

I want to tell her that she’s wrong, but that would risk confessing about my failed relationship with her husband’s friend. There is no point in letting her know about that now. It’s bad enough that Donovan knows. He and I haven’t spoken much since Charlie and I got married. He made it clear he didn’t think being with Charlie was a good idea. I just don’t have it in me to tell him he was right.

“You’re not upset with me?” I refocus my attention back on my sister.

Elisa shakes her head. “I’d never be upset with you going after your dreams. I’m proud of you, but I will miss you. That’s not a reason for you to stay here though. We’ll make do with phone calls and visits. Now there’s a reason for Martin to take us to Florida, so there’s a silver lining.”

I smile and reach for her hand. “You’re the best big sister ever, you know that?”

She nods at me like she does, in fact, know that. “Are you okay though? I could be far off, but you seem a little sad.”

I should remember for the future that Elisa never misses anything. She’s got a supernatural radar for people’s emotions. I try to smile, but it probably looks more like a grimace. “I’m just a bit homesick already. As excited as I am to get a fresh start, I am scared to leave everything behind here.”

“We’ll all be here for you if you ever choose to come home, and if not we’ll just have to come to you,” she promises.

If only it were that easy.

“I’m supposed to be there in a week, so I thought it best to leave tomorrow,” I say and wince while I await her response.

Three, two, one. “Harriet Jean Parker! That doesn’t give me any time to throw together a goodbye party.”

“Exactly,” I reply. “Now you’ve uncovered my evil plan.” This lighter banter helps me smile for real.

“Martin is going to be so sad. You know how much he loves an excuse to throw a barbecue.”

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