Page 151 of Could Have Been Us
Probably with the phone.
“Stella?” I hear what sounds like Jack calling my name outside. I sit up quickly, which is totally a mistake because the room tilts a little to the left.
“Oof!” I yell as I roll from the couch to the floor. I rub my backside and then call out to him. “I’m here, Jack! In the cabin in the woods!”
The door jingles a little. “Baby! Come open the door.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” I laugh, remembering the commercial. “I should get a button,” I say to myself.
“A what?”
“Nothing. I’m coming,” I say as I roll over and then get on all fours. He’s home early, I muse to myself. He said he was going to be gone for four days, not two. Maybe someone got eaten by a bear.
“No one got eaten by a bear,” I hear him say.
Huh. I said that aloud.
“Yes, you did. Are you okay?” Jack asks with concern in his tone.
“I’m wine, Jack. I am so wine that I don’t even care.”
“Oh, Jesus.”
I climb the door, at least that’s what I think I’m doing because now I’m upright and clutching the metal doorknob to steady myself. I wrench the door open and blink a few times. Because behind him, there are people.
I step back, eyes wide as my hand covers my lips because it’s not just people. No, it’s so much more than that.
It’s Kinsley.
And I’m going to kill him.
Not only did I not know that he was coming home—with her—but also I’m drunk in front of her father, who is battling addiction.
I use every single ounce of self-control I have left to sober up enough that I’m not being a fall-down drunk. Tears fill my eyes, and Jack steps forward, steadying me.
He whispers in my ear, “While this isn’t what I planned when I told Winnie to come here to check on you, I think you still comprehend why I needed to lie to you about my location.”
“You didn’t go to the woods?” I ask.
“No, baby, I didn’t.”
When Kinsley steps forward, her smile is warm, and I have to remember that I can’t fall apart. I can’t pull her into my arms and never let her go.
“Hey,” she says.
“Hey.”
“I know I said I’d call, but . . .”
“This is better,” I say as Jack’s arm tightens. “This is so much better.”
Chapter 46
Stella
