Page 38 of It's Not Home Without You

“What do you mean Max had just gotten to a good place?” I was shaking a bitas I asked.

“He completelylost it after you left. He got a DUI, and his parents had to keep throwing out money for him not to end up in jail. Then he left for college and his playboy ways reached the ears of all of us here.” Hearing Jana explain the fruit of my labor made me feel cold inside; it numbed me. I turned Max into something he never was. It made me sick to think he used sex to forget about what we shared.

“I didn’t know,” I whispered.

“Is it hard now thatyou’re back?”

“He said what we shared wasn’t anything special, that we were children back then.” There was such heartbreak in that sentence, and I didn’t care to look pathetic in front of Jana.

“It will get better, Freya,” Jana said, and I hoped she was right.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Mornings were notthe time to be making wise decisions. I was groggy but feeling brave because things went more than okay with Jana, and I figured, if I could deal with her, it would be a piece of cake to deal with Ashton. When the phone rang and I saw it was a call from San Francisco, I didn’t ignore it like I usually did.

“What do you want, asshole? It’s been days of me pressing ignore and not returning your texts. Most people would take the hint.” Just because I answered it didn’t mean I had to be polite; he didn’t deserve it.

“I had hoped that you would’ve cooled off by now, Freya.” Ashton was trying to make me feel childish, but it would not work. I wouldn’t succumb to feeling like this was my fault.

“And I had hoped you would have stopped annoying me by now, but hey, we don’t always get what we want,” Isnapped back, regretting my decision in answering his phone call.

“Freya, I think it’s time you came home, preferably by Thursday. But as long as you’re here before Friday, you’ll have time to get ready for the gala on Saturday. I’ll have my driver pick you up from the airport—”

Removing the phone from my ear, I looked at it with disbelief then pressed the end button.What world was that moron living in?Did my leaving, the little fit I threw in the garage, and the absence of all my things mean anything to him?

Ashton: Stop being childish, Freya, and come home.

Me: Fuck off.

Aston: I have been more than patient with you. All the things I’ve gotten you through the years. Let’s not forget, I could have pressed charges, but I haven’t.

I flung off my bedcovers, put on my slippers, and went outside. Grandpa wasn’t here; he told me last night he was going fishing with Rusty’s grandfather. This was a plus and a con for me. My grandpa could have talked me out of what I was about to do. I went back to my shed where all the boxes where perfectly stashed. It took me hours to go through all of them. Lucky for me the company Victor had hired did anexcellent job of packing my stuff. As I opened each box, I knew what I would need from each. The only breaks I took where to send a message to Emma, letting her know I would not make it to work, restroom breaks, and to make myself a sandwich.

There wasn’t a need for coffee this morning because anger fueled me. I couldn’t believe Ashton threw in my face the stuff he bought me. Not only was it tacky, but it made him more of a dick. When I finally finished, I laughed hysterically. In front of me in a pile were five dresses, three pairs of shoes, and two little boxes containing earrings. I wasn’t trying to be a bitch, but we were together for a long time, and that’s all he ever gave me when I had a shed dedicated to clothes thatIbought for myself, and the stupid bastard tried to make it seemed like he owned me. Grabbing the dresses and the shoes, I picked them up, surprised to see that the sun was setting. Great, my day wasted all because I was feeling brave and answered a phone call when I should have pressed ignore. I went to the far end of the yard and threw the dresses and the shoes on the ground before going back into the house to grab lighter fluid and matches. Then I set it on fire. Feeling like having a moment, I even went to the back of the trailer where Grandpa had wood and threw it in. It was childish of me to snap a picture and send it Ashton, but I didn’t care.

Me: There’s all the stuff you gave me. Now it’s gone, and so are you. Don’t bother me again.

As I watched the flames burn, I finally felt like I got rid of Ashton, the fire burning our time together away. Thatwas until I saw cop lights right in front of me. Squinting, I smiled when I saw it was Dex driving.He was probably being funny. I figured he read mine and Rusty’s file.

I should have known better.

“Hey, Dex, if I knew you were coming, I would have told you to bring stuff to make smores.”

Dex didn’t smile back at me. Instead, he stared at the pieces of fabric that had yet to burn and the shoes, which hadn’t entirely melted, and then again at me. “What are you doing, Freya?”

“I’m burning the clothes that my ex-boyfriend tried to throw in my face that he bought me,” I said it like it was an everyday thing for me.

Dex sighed, put his hand on his hip, and said, “I wished you would have found another way to purge.”

“Why?”

“Because it violates the rules set by your landlord.”

I swear I didn’t mean to laugh, but now I knew Dex was joking with me. “My grandfather owns this property. I doubt he called the cops on me. Besides, he isn’t even here.”

Dex shifted a little before looking over to where you could barely make out the other trailers. Grandpa liked his space, so when he bought his land, he picked somewhere more secluded. “Your grandfather sold a while ago. The person who bought the property also owns all the five acres surrounding you. I came up here not because of the fire, butbecause someone made a complaint about the shed you built on property that isn’t yours.”

“You’re serious, aren’t you?”

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