Page 114 of Girl in the Water
She rolled her eyes. But she had a smile on her face.
“I miss you,” he said next.
“I miss you too.”
She had chickened out of telling him about her past before he’d left. But she was determined to do it right away when he returned. She’d cook for him. They’d have a good talk. Then they would go to bed and see where they could take their relationship.
“So, a cop, a lawyer, and a judge walk into a bar,” Bobby began.
She settled in and let him tell her silly jokes for almost an hour, and enjoyed the company.
After they said their good-byes and hung up, she felt restless. She wasn’t ready to go to sleep.
She thought about the legal dictionaries and college notes she’d left behind at Ian’s apartment and decided to drive over and get them. She wanted to check on his apartment for him anyway. He’d been away for over six months. She had a key. She went over every couple of weeks to make sure he didn’t have a leaky pipe or an ant infestation, or…okay, because she missed the place.
She glanced at the clock on the microwave as she headed out. Past nine p.m. Good. At least, she wouldn’t have to fight traffic.
She was there in thirty minutes, let herself in, walked around, checked out every corner. Everything looked fine. She cracked a window open to let some fresh air in, since the apartment smelled stale.
Then she went back to her old room—everything still as she’d left it—and browsed through her bookshelf, pulling out the books she wanted.
She ended up with a bigger pile on her bed than she’d anticipated. She went to look for a cardboard box. She didn’t find any.
She did find Ian’s gym bag. He wouldn’t mind if she borrowed that. She’d bring it back. They’d probably meet up anyway when he finally returned.
She packed the bag full of books and set it by the door. Then she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. Of course, since the fridge was unplugged, the water was warm. She didn’t care.
She walked into Ian’s bedroom and regarded his empty bed.
Old emotions, needs, dreams bubbled up. She fought them back, but she did walk over and sit on the rumpled cover. She put the water bottle on the nightstand. Lay down. She turned her head and inhaled. Even after months, his pillow still smelled like Ian.
Longing washed over her, so strongly that it stole her breath.Stupid, stupid, stupid.She shouldn’t have come here.
But she didn’t leave. She curled up in Ian’s bed and fell asleep.
