Page 67 of Right Place, Right Time (Second Chances)
Chapter Thirty-Four
Kate
“Wow,” Casey says. I’m watching her face, trying to guess what she’s thinking. But I can’t tell by her expression. She’s like a fortress.
“Well?”
“Well what?” she asks.
“Do you think I’m crazy?”
“No, I don’t think you’re crazy. Fate brought the two of you together…not once, not twice, butthreetimes,” she said, holding up three fingers for emphasis. “And you believed in him, there’s nothing wrong with that.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell him.”
“I think it’s pretty cool, Kate. Unconventional, but cool. I mean who meets the love of their life on the side of the road like that? And he saved you! Total damsel in distress situation and he rocked the white knight role.”
I love that she overlooks the fact that he’d been in prison and jumps right for the girly, fairy tale part of the story. But I don’t like that she called him the love of my life. That only reminds me that he’s gone.
“I have to go to him. I can’t let him do this. I have to fight for him.”
Casey smiles. “What are you waiting for?”
***
As I step out of the apartment, I freeze. My bag. The one I’d kept at Jay’s…it’s sitting outside my door.
No.
He isnotdoing this to us. I won’t let him.
I race to Jay’s apartment in San Jose. I don’t see his bike parked near his building, but I don’t let that deter me. I race inside and up the stairs and bang on his door for a good five minutes. Surely if he were in there he would have opened the door just to shut me up by now.
Leroy’s! I bet he went to the shop to work and blow off some steam or something. Guys like to tinker with engines and stuff when they’re upset, right?
I use the map on my phone to locate the garage and drive the couple of blocks over to Leroy’s. There are several bikes in the parking lot, which makes sense since it’s a bike shop. I can’t tell if any of the bikes are his, though. I go into the reception area and an older gentleman, Leroy given the name on his shirt, looks up at me with a sneer.
“Can I help you?” he barks.
“I’m looking for Jay Spencer. Is he here?”
“No, he’s not fucking here.” Well, isn’t Leroy a peach. Jay hadn’t mentioned his boss was an asshole.
“Can you tell me when you’re expecting him in next?” I ask, desperate to have some sort of lifeline to Jay in case I can’t find him myself.
“Try never. He quit.”
My jaw drops. “He quit? He loves his job.”
Leroy laughs mockingly. “Yeah? Well, not enough.”
“When…when did he quit?”
“He called about thirty minutes ago.”
I close my eyes. No. No no no no. I can feel the tears welling up behind my eyes, and I need to get out of here. I need to leave.
I turn and race out the door, crashing into a firm chest. “I’m so sorry,” I say, walking around the person I crashed into.
