“You think I would tell you first? Of course I told her.”
“You did good, son,” Dad says. “She’s a nice girl.”
Nice? She’s fucking incredible. “She’s everything,” I tell them.
“Well, I can’t wait to see what y’all came up with.”
I smile at my parents. We talk a little more about what the process is for the house while I eat. Once I’m done, I rinse off my plate, put it in the dishwasher, and head outside to the porch to call Whit. Her voice mail picks up immediately, and now I’m worried. This isn’t like her. Scrolling through my contacts, I find Olivia’s number and hit the call button.
“Aaron,” she greets me after what seems like a million rings.
“Is Whitney there?” I ask.
“No.”
Shit. “Where is she? Do you know? Is she okay?” I fire off questions.
“Chicago, yes.”
“Chicago? Is Kathy okay? I would have gone with her. Did she drive by herself? Dammit, she should have called me,” I rattle on.
“No. I mean, I’m not sure. I think Kathy is fine. Whit called earlier and said she just needed some time. She was going back to Chicago for a few days.”
“Where?”
“She asked me not to tell you.”
“Olivia,” I growl.
“Look, Aaron, she made me promise. I have no idea what’s going on with her, but I do know that if I break her trust, I might not ever find out. You’re just going to have to be patient, like me. Give her the time and space she needs.”
“Fuck! I was afraid it was too much too soon. Now I’ve scared her off.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Today, we met with a contractor to start on my house. I wanted her there. I wanted to make sure that she was okay with the plans. I love her, Olivia. I want to build a life with her. I wanted her to be a part of it, but it was too soon. I pushed her and now she’s gone. Please. . . .” I swallow back the lump in my throat. “You have to tell me where she is,” I plead.
“Aaron, I’m sure she just needs a day or two. She’s been through a lot—”
“I know that. She’s my girlfriend. I’ve held her while she cried. We talked until all hours of the morning. I know what she went through.”
“Look, she promised to call soon. As soon as I hear from her, I’ll call you. That’s the best I can do right now.”
“So what? I just sit around worrying about her. How do we know she made it okay? Is she safe? Fuck!”
“I’m sorry, but yes. If your suspicion is correct, you are just going to push her further, confuse her more. You need to give her the time she needs.”
I can literally feel my heart cracking open. Laying my hand over my chest, I try to rub out the pain. It won’t work, nothing will work. Nothing but having Whitney back in my arms. “So help me, Olivia, you better call me.”
“I will. But, Aaron, I will only tell you as much as she says I can. I won’t betray her trust like that.”
I don’t bother to reply to that. “As soon as you hear from her,” I say, then end the call. The quiet of the night surrounds me. Nothing but the crickets. I need her. Fuck! Why did I push her? I have no idea what to do. Do I look for her? Should I fly to Chicago? I pull up her contact and hit Dial. Her voice mail picks up. “Baby, Whitney, it’s me. Please call me. If you need space or time or whatever, I can give you that, but please, I need to know you’re okay. I don’t know what happened, but whatever it is, if it’s me, if today was too soon, we can hit pause, but I just. . . . I need you, Whit. Please call me back.”
Resting my elbows on my knees, I dig my hands into my hair. I’m at a loss. I’ve never been in love; I don’t know what to do. I need—My phone rings, causing me to jump and drop it. By the time I get it, I’ve missed the call. “Fuck!” I grab it and see a missed call from Evan. He’s been there, with my sister; he’ll know what to do. I rush off the porch and run to my truck. I grip my phone the entire time, not taking a chance of missing another call.
I don’t bother knocking. Instead, I just walk right in like I own the place. “Evan!” I yell.
“In here,” he calls back. I follow his voice to the living room. “Hey, man, I just tried to call you.”
“Yeah, I missed your call.” I raise my hand that is still gripping my cell phone.
“Aaron,” McKinley says hesitantly. “You okay?”
“No—”
“Unca Awon!” Lexi cheers, rushing into the room and straight into my arms. I catch her.
“Hey, Lexi girl.” I kiss her cheek.
“My wuv you,” she says, wrapping her little arms around my neck and hugging me with all her might.
I choke back a sob. “Me too, kiddo,” I manage to reply.
“Lex, I have a great idea. Why don’t you go color Uncle Aaron a picture with your new markers? I think he could use one right now.”
“Yay!” She wiggles and I set her back on her feet. As soon as they hit the carpet, she is off running to her room.
“Aaron?” Evan asks.
I hang my head to try and get myself together. “She’s gone,” I say around the lump that is sitting there in the back of my throat. The one that appeared the minute I found out she was gone.
“Who’s gone? Aaron, come sit down. You’re scaring me,” McKinley says.
I take the few steps to the couch and crumple onto it. “Whitney, she’s gone. I fucked up or something. Hell, I don’t even know. I don’t know if she made it, if she’s safe, where she is.” Throwing my arms over my eyes, I lean my head back against the couch. I’m seconds from losing my shit.
“Babe, why don’t you go check on Lex?” Evan says to my sister.
“Evan—”
“Kinley, just let me talk to him, okay?”
I feel her rise from the couch, her hand squeezing my knee. “I love you, big brother. Whatever it is, we’ll get through it.” I listen as her footsteps carry her out of the room.
“Talk,” Evan commands.
So I do. I spill the events of the afternoon. “You called and I didn’t think, I just came over. I’m a dick for just barging in on you all like this.”