Page 46 of Snowbound

I take the woman’s details, add them to my calendar, and feel sick as I do.

The idea of getting back to my normal life shouldn’t make me feel like this. I should be excited. It’s everything I’ve wanted for weeks, to be able to leave this sleepy town.

I am going to miss Ruth and John. I’m going to miss Gabe.

But we’re not in a relationship. He’s made that clear over and over again. Maybe I’m stupid to be waiting on him.

“See you in three days,” says the woman.

“Yep. I’ll be there.”

The woman hangs up, and for a second I think I hear creaky floorboards outside my room. I didn’t think Gabe was in. He told me he had to work today.

Has he overheard this?

My heart racing, I pad over to the door and open it, the hinges creaking. “Gabe, is that you?” I call. Silence. “Gabe? Is someone there?”

As if answering my question, I hear clattering in the kitchen. Gabe must be in after all.

A rush of relief hits me that I don’t have to deal with a home intrusion on top of everything else.

Three more days.

Now that it’s set, it seems so final.

I know I have to make the most of every single second with Gabe because soon, this is all going to be a distant memory.

CHAPTER25

GABE

When I get up, Carly is on the phone in her room.

I was supposed to be at work this morning, but Phoebe texted and asked if we could swap shifts. Normally, I’d tell her that I’d work both, but with Carly here, the thought of an uninterrupted morning together seems like bliss.

I’m not trying to listen as I go past her door, but I do catch snippets of her conversation. Sounds like she’s talking to a new client. I should be happy for her that she’s getting work, but the only thought that goes through my head is, if she’s got more work, that means she’s leaving.

She’ll be furious if she catches me listening at the door, but my curiosity wins out. The client is on speaker, and it’s not long before I hear a sentence that makes me feel sick to my stomach.

“What’s the issue?” the woman says. “Do you have some reason to stay?”

Carly hesitates for only the briefest of seconds before she answers. “No,” she says. “I don’t.”

My blood freezes at the words. She doesn’t have a reason to stay. I’ve really meant that little to her?

The rest of the conversation does nothing to stop my racing heart. She’s going to New York the second Ruth and John’s wedding is done. She’s not even going to stop for the after-party or to say goodbye.

We really are just a small town of small people to her. We were never going to be permanent.

“Yep. I’ll be there,” she tells the client, and I realize she’s probably about to hang up.

Panicking, I scramble away from the door and make my way downstairs. I must not have been as sneaky as I thought because Carly sticks her head out of her room and calls for me. “Gabe?”

I don’t answer. Instead, I dart into the kitchen and loudly start putting plates away from the dishwasher, both a cover for why I didn’t hear her calling for me and a signal to her that she’s not alone in the house.

I hope she goes back into her room and continues to do whatever it is she’s doing — planning to get out of here — but she doesn’t. She comes down the stairs and wanders over to me, smiling. Is it a real smile, or is it just something she’s putting on to appease me?

Is any of this real to her at all?

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