Page 53 of Come Back to Me

I sent nothing else after that, mostly because I don’t know what to say. He’s never turned off notifications before.

“Are you going to be okay tonight, Annie?” Ben asks, breaking the silence as he pulls up to my house.

“Sure, I’ll be fine. I’m just going to walk Bean around the block, then go to bed.”

“I’ll walk with you. It’s late,” he answers.

Gosh, what is it with these men thinking a woman can’t walk her dog alone?

“I’m sure I’ll be fine. It’s just around the block,” I answer. I’m not really wanting the company.

“Still, if my mom found out I let you walk alone at night, she’d?—”

“Let me guess? She’d box your ears? You Donley men and your chivalry.” I give in, not having the energy to fight him on it.

When we’ve walked about a quarter of the way around the block, Ben speaks again.

“I need you to know Jack leaving without you tonight is totally out of character for him. I think he just needs a little time,” he says quietly.

“I don’t know if I did something to upset him. He’s never done anything like this. Heck, we’ve barely even had a real argument,” I say, hating the sadness I hear in my voice.

“He’s not mad at you. Jack is, by nature, nothing if not… noble… heroic. He can’t be otherwise. It’s part of his charm, but it’s also a bit of a curse for him. And he’s been like that our whole lives. When we were seven, he broke his arm trying to rescue our five-year-old neighbor’s cat from a tree,” he says. “It’s in his blood to rescue, to save, to help. That’s why none of us were surprised when he became a firefighter. Thething is, no one in his life has needed his help more than Teddy has over the last fifteen years. Jack has always felt a sense of responsibility for Teddy, and this is going to hit him very hard. He’s going to blame himself. I only hope that Teddy freed him from living with guilt by whatever he wrote in his letter to Jack,” Ben explains.

We walk in silence the rest of the way back to my house, except for a little small talk. When we arrive back home, I thank Ben for walking with us and say goodbye to him at the door.

I get ready for bed and check my phone one more time to be sure I haven’t missed a text from Jack before trying to go to sleep.

I haven’t.

JACK

I wake up with a killer headache—I assume courtesy of the whiskey I had at Dad’s and then again when I went to O’Riley’s after I left my parents’ house.

It’ll be my first day back at the station since… Teddy. The C shift captain graciously offered to clean out Teddy’s locker and store his turnout gear, so neither Trina nor I had to.

I’m not sure I could have faced that today.

It’s been two days since Ben delivered me the letter Teddy left for me in the motel room we found him in. I’ve carried it around in my pocket but still can’t bring myself to open it. I’m sure it’s going to confirm what I already know… if I had been there for Teddy like a friend should have, he would still be here.

I read Annie’s text from last night again and feel like the dick that I am. Though I saw it when she sent it, I ignored it.

She reminded me she loved me, and I left her hanging.Just like I left her hanging when I deserted her at Mom and Dad’s. She did nothing to deserve that.

I know that and, knowing her, she’d forgive me if I could just explain my headspace to her.

Despite that, I just can’t bring myself to see her today. Not when I can’t stop thinking that if I hadn’t been so wrapped up in her, I would have noticed what was going on with Teddy.

I pull into the station and when I get inside, I ask Reynolds to ride squad with Fitz today on the medical calls. I’ll stay back at the station. I justify it with my headache, but I’m avoiding Annie until I can process what I’m feeling.

Pulling out my phone, I text Annie an apology.

Me: Hey, sorry about last night. I’m ok. I won’t see you today. I have a terrible headache, so won’t be on medical calls.

Annie: Oh, okay. Hope you feel better.

Annie: Will I see you tomorrow night?

Me: Let’s play it by ear. I’m helping Emily at the house and not sure what time we’ll be done.

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