Page 58 of You Were Invited
To: Annie Turner
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: I’ll come get my stuff
Was hoping to help u pack and talk, but I guess I miss you because i have a thing this weekend starting Friday night. I’m back Sunday night Lock up the best u can and leave keys on the counter.
Annie sighed. It was Thursday morning. For several minutes, she debated whether she should pack up now or on Friday. Then, her phone rang from the bedroom. She hesitated, but went to pick it up.
Oh God, is it Chris? Wasn’t an email enough?She read Molly’s name on the caller I.D. Relief filled her before dread set in again.It’s so early. She never calls this early.Annie froze, her heart pounding, anticipating the worst.
“Sorry for waking you, hun,”Molly said.“I couldn’t sleep.”
“No, I’m awake. And me neither.” Annie was relieved that nothing bad had happened, but she knew something was the matter before Molly breathed a word about it.
“I don’t think I’m handling the miscarriage well.”Molly’s voice rarely sounded so fragile.
“Oh, Molly...”
“Everything is okay. I’m just… I think I’m… the last couple days haven’t been so good. I thought for sure this would be the month…”
Annie’s throat tightened. Yes, it was time to go home. “I’ll be there around noon, okay?”
“You don’t haveta do that... aren’t you enjoying yourself?”
Annie’s mouth went into a thin line. “Christopher wants me to come get my stuff. I already told him I would this weekend. I won’t be able to concentrate on work anyways while I know I need to come home. You’ll have my undivided attention today. Anything you need, I will get you.”
Molly sniffled.“You’re sure?”
“Yes. Yes, of course.”
“Thank you.”
“Think about what show you want to marathon when I get there, okay?”
“Okay, I’ll try. See you soon. I’ll tell Peter you’re coming home.”
Annie hung up and walked out of the bedroom. Just then, she looked out the front window and across the way to Julian’s cabin. Smoke wisped up from the chimney against the orange and pastel pink glow of the dawn sky.
Within two hours, she had showered and packed her bags into her car. She grabbed what she had left in the fridge. After a quick inspection to make sure she’d left nothing behind, she turned off the lights and water and locked up.
Annie’s jaw tightened. The responsible thing to do was to tell Julian that she was leaving. Not to mention that she had been so distressed the night before that she’d forgotten to tell him about Peter’s wood payment.
If she hadn’t learned Julian’s truth, the conversation ahead of her would've been entirely different. And that truth hurt.I owe him closure. He was honest with me,shethought, steeling herself against the instant gut punch of loss.I owe myself that much, too.She had little control over anything in that moment, but she had that.
I think I can be neighborly for five minutes. It’s just five minutes.
She drove to Julian’s cabin. Part of her wished he wouldn’t come to the door, but before she even got out, he was already standing outside, waiting.
“Didn’t expect to see you so soon,” he said. He was smiling, but there was a guardedness in his eyes as he eyed her car. He crossed his arms over his chest. He had only a thin layer of bandages on his palm now. “Going into Nothgold?”
“No... I came to say goodbye,” she said, standing next to her car. “I’m going home.”
He maintained his smile for a good ten seconds before it twisted into a grimace. “Right now?”
“Yeah.”
The skin between his brows puckered. “Is that why you asked me to come over to talk yesterday?” He walked down onto the gravel in front of his cabin.
