Page 5 of Sunflower

“Goodbye, mo lus na gréine. Until we meet again.”

I felt the slightest pressure on my forehead, enough for me to wake up. I looked around my darkened room, still lit only by the TV that I’d left running when I’d fallen asleep, but everything seemed normal. Nothing at all seemed out of place.

But there had been that pressure.

And those words said with the hint of an Irish accent…

I raised the tips of my fingers to the middle of my brow and grazed the spot where I’d felt the pressure. Letting out an amused huff of air, I shook my head at the absurdity of it all. I must have been dreaming it all or imagining it or something.

Looking at my bedside clock, I smacked my lips and realized how thirsty I was. It was almost midnight, and I’d been asleep for maybe three hours. The glass I kept on my bedside table was bone dry, so I grabbed it and headed downstairs for a refill.

The house was quiet, but the light in the lounge was still on. I looked down the corridor to see a shadow moving back and forth across the wall opposite the open door. A muffled voice sounded down the hallway, but I couldn’t tell who it was.

Silently, I plodded as close as I dared to find out what was going on.

“At least for now.” The sound of Callum’s voice made me stop. He sounded so upset.

There was a pause, then, “Are you sure?” That was Dad.

Another pause. “I can’t stay.” Callum again, this time sounding distraught. “Not while he’s here. Not one more night. It’d be a disaster if I stayed.”

Taking a sharp breath in, I recoiled before quickly and silently tracing my way back towards the kitchen. There was no way they were talking about anyone other than me, seeing as Dad was in there with Callum. What the hell had I done to him for Callum to react this way? What had he heard in my head to make him feellike this? Did he truly dislike me that much that he’d escape in the middle of the night two days before Christmas?

Misery settled around me like a shroud once more as I filled my glass and made my way back up the stairs to my room. He was such a beautiful man, but he hated me so much after a single afternoon that he decided he couldn’t be around me anymore. I didn’t understand.

After drinking what I needed to and settling my glass where it normally lived, I crawled back into bed and pulled the blankets around me until I was wrapped up tight. I angrily wiped tears from my eyes at the injustice of it all. Was this the way it was always going to go? What would happen if Dad and Erin got married? Would Callum avoid us all because of whatever he’d heard in my head?

I let the tears flow. Why the hell was I letting all of this get to me so badly?

Eventually I must have cried myself to sleep, because the next thing I knew sunlight was streaming through the sheer curtains and making its slow journey across my bed. I stared up at the ceiling and stretched, my jaw cracking as I let out an extended yawn. It took me a moment to remember why my eyes felt so puffy, but when it all came back to me, my mood took a nosedive. Maybe I had dreamed it all? Maybe if I got up and checked the spare room, I’d see Callum still in bed asleep.

A tiny well of hope sprung deep within my chest at my thoughts. Yes. Callum would still be here and that would prove that what I thought I’d overheard last night was just some twisted dream my brain was tricking me with.

Flinging the blankets off me, I darted out of my room and made my way to the spare bedroom. I held my ear to the closed door to see if I could hear any snoring or movement, but there was nothing. As quietly as I could, I turned the handle and cracked the door open just a fraction, certain that I’d either seeCallum still in bed or the blankets in disarray because he hadn’t made the bed yet.

I took a deep breath in and peeked inside.

The bed was made, and there was no sign of Callum in the room at all. In fact, it looked like the bed hadn’t been slept in.

I opened the door wider. Maybe he was one of those weird people who made their bed as soon as they got up, and he was downstairs getting breakfast. My eyes roamed the room, looking for any evidence that Callum was still here.

There. Hanging on the back of the chair was his leather jacket. I let out the breath that I hadn’t realized I’d been holding in relief. He was still here. Good. I had today to talk to him, see what had gone wrong between us yesterday, and try to resolve it before the madness tomorrow would undoubtedly bring.

I lingered in the doorway, letting my eyes drift around the room one last time before I went downstairs to corner him during breakfast. It was only then that I realized that other than the leather jacket, there was nothing else in the room to suggest he was here. No bag on the floor, no phone on the bedside table, nothing.

Frowning, I stumbled to the wardrobe and warily opened the door.

The hangers were empty.

My heart clenched at the thought of what I’d overheard last night and the realization that it wasn’t a dream.

Callum had really left in the middle of the night, because something he’d heard me say in my head had scared or angered him enough to leave immediately, taking everything with him except his leather jacket.

I brought my hand to my chest and rubbed at the ache spreading through me.

Was this what heartbreak felt like? I’d never felt this sort of pain before, and I decided then and there it wasn’t something I enjoyed feeling at all.

I walked over to the leather jacket and picked it up, bringing it to my nose to inhale whatever scent Callum had left behind.

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