“She did. Thank you for paying for the taxi and sending her to me.” She paused. “Thank you for bailing her out, too.”
“No problem. They set it low. It was the least I could do.” He cleared his throat. “I had a car tail her. I wanted to show I trusted her but to be honest, I didn’t completely. Don’t tell her though.”
“I won’t. I understand why you did it.”
“Did she tell you what happened?”
“Kind of. I didn’t push. We’ll talk more later.” Janelle clutched the phone tighter, watching the steam rise around the tea kettle as the water heated up.
His voice lowered. “I didn’t tell her about us, Janelle. I wanted to leave that up to you.”
“Thank you.” Had he been hiding it on purpose, or was he being sincere? She didn’t know what to believe.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner. It’s been—crazy here.” He sounded tired.
“That’s okay. I understand.” She did. Sort of.
“I know your sister is with you tonight.” He paused and she heard him sigh. “Can I come over tomorrow, after you get off work?”
She hesitated. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea, Nate. Ginger’s going to stay with me for the next few days now that she’s out on bail. And I’m not sure if she’d be comfortable here with you.”
Another ragged sigh. “Yeah. No, I get it. How about you come over to my place then?”
“I—I don’t think so. Not this week. I can’t leave her alone.” She couldn’t trust Ginger alone. She might leave again.
And she needed this distance from Nate. Needed to get her head on straight, figure out what she was going to do next.
“Of course, you’re right. I understand.” He paused and she swallowed past the sob that had risen to her throat. This was it, their time together was over. He was going to end it. “Will you call me in the next couple of days?”
His request surprised her. “Um, okay.” Should she?
This so-called relationship was a lost cause. Now that Nate had everything he wanted, he didn’t need her anymore.
And it hurt. A lot.
“Janelle.” His voice was a harsh whisper and she closed her eyes, fighting off the tears. “I miss you.”
“I miss you, too. I’ll talk to you later.” She hung up with the press of a button, tossing the phone onto the countertop as if it burned her.
Warm tears coursed down her cheeks and silent sobs wracked her body. Covering her face with her hands, she cried. Cried for her sister, cried for herself and she cried for Nate.
More than anything, she cried for Nate.
* * * *
“She won’t fucking see me.” Nate sipped from his third beer, already feeling the buzz. He wasn’t a big drinker and he hadn’t gone to a bar in forever.
When Greg made the suggestion, it was as if his partner read Nate’s mind. It was exactly what he needed to drown his pansy ass sorrows.
A week had gone by since he’d seen Janelle. How he hated every minute that had ticked by without her close. His heart ached for her, as well as his body. He didn’t understand how she could turn him away so easily, forget that he even existed.
Ginger was living with her and he got that, really he did. At least, he was trying to understand. Janelle was helping Ginger and that couldn’t be easy. She’d gone to rehab within a few days of getting bailed out of jail, as per the judge’s instructions. Once Ginger finished, she’d report to the courts. Hopefully, her jail sentence would be short.
So now Janelle was alone. No Ginger to take care of, no figuring out the court system and making arrangements. Her life was back to normal.
And still she didn’t call. No texts. No email, for the love of God—not a damn thing.
He refused to go to her. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew when he’d been rebuffed and this time around, he’d been kicked straight in the nuts.