She passes me more tissues. “I think you should stay here tonight. I don’t want you going through this alone.”
I nod because I’m not sure I could drive home in my state. “The thing is, I just don’t understand why he wouldn’t at least listen to what I had to say. All I wanted was for him to look at it all. It would have been so easy if he’d just done that.”
“Nothing’s that easy in life, babe. If things were that clear cut, world peace would exist. My guess is that the only way Luke has been able to get through this whole situation has been to shut himself off to Jolene. You brought her back into his life in a big and really unexpected way. I truly think he’ll calm down and come around. I mean, look back at what he was like before you two got together—you guys used to go at each other a lot, but you always moved past it.”
“I hope you’re right.” I can’t help but think she isn’t. I really think Luke meant what he said. And as much as I want to choose him, I could never live with myself if Jolene spent years in prison when she should have been free. My decision affects Sean, too.
“So, where are you with the investigation? Maybe if you can speed that along, you can get back to being happy with Luke.”
I slump against the couch. “I’m stuck. There’s something dodgy about the motel. When you check in there, you have to sign in. I’ve gone over and over the photocopies I have of the sign-in sheets from the book and I realised the staff member who was on shift the day of the murder used a slightly different signature throughout that day.”
“What do you mean?”
“So the staff have to sign next to where each guest signs. I went back through all the pages Marion had photocopied out of the book and I worked out there’s a discrepancy. Louise was the staff member on that day, but if I match all her signatures up to the rest of hers throughout that book, they don’t quite match. It’s barely recognisable, but there’s a definite difference if you look close enough.”
She frowns. “How do you think this helps?”
“I spoke to Louise and she was cagey. Really didn’t want anything to do with helping me, which is odd. Don’t you think? And then I met her husband and he was just plain scary. She’s scared of him. So, because she wasn’t giving me anything, I spent time tracking down some of the other guests who signed in that day and asked them if it was Louise they spoke to. I showed them her photo on the staff page of the motel’s website. Not one of them said it was her.”
“Yes, but I still don’t get where you’re going with this. So what? I mean, you don’t think Louise or the staff have something to do with the murder, do you?”
“I don’t know, but what I’m thinking is if I can get Louise to tell me the truth about who was working that day, I could speak to them and see if they might be able to shed any new light on who checked in. The police interviewed Louise, but if she didn’t work that day, anything she told them is useless.”
Avery’s eyes light up. “Ah, okay, I see where you’re going with this. Good thinking. Have you spoken to Louise again?”
“Not yet, but I’ll get on that tomorrow.” Sadness hits me. “I mean, it’s not like I’ve got somewhere to be tomorrow night after work, is it?”
“You can’t just give up on him, Callie. If he’s who you want to be with. You have to fight.”
“I know, but I think I might give him a day or so to calm down before I go to battle.”
“Probably not a bad idea knowing Luke. He’s not working nights again until Thursday, just in case you didn’t know, so he’ll be at home a bit next week.”
“Thanks for that info. I hadn’t checked his shifts yet.”
She stands. “Right, I think we need some tea. You want one?”
I smile. “I love you, Avery. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You’d be fucked,” she says with a wink. But she’s right. I totally would be.
* * *
Monday passes by in a blur of sadness and defeat. I don’t hear from Luke and I stick to my plan of giving him some time to calm down. I’m so disappointed not to hear from him, but at the same time, I didn’t expect to. Being a dreamer, though, I tend to always have this buried hope when I desperately want something to happen, regardless of the fact I’ve worked hard to convince myself it won’t happen. It’s a fucked-up way of dealing with life, but it’s how I’ve always coped.
I visit the motel on my way home from work. Louise isn’t working today, though. The woman who’s on informs me Louise is away for a few days, which just puts me further into the funk I’m already in.
I end up spending the night in front of the TV, half watching and half writing. I’ve been working on a new book for the last few months and it’s been coming together really well, but tonight my words have all dried up.
Just after ten, I decide I’ve had enough of myself. I drag my sorry ass to bed and cry myself to sleep. I’ve never experienced extreme sadness like this before. Not even in my one long-term relationship. If Luke decides he doesn’t want me in his life anymore, I might just die of a broken heart.
33
Luke
“I can stay home tonight if you need me to,” Paris says over a late dinner on Tuesday. Sean had his earlier.
I eye her over my glass as I take a drink. “I’ve got nowhere to be. You go out.”