Azurdee was startled. “Taking pictures. What does it look like I’m doing?”
“You’re lucky it’s cool out today. You can’t be walking around in stuff like this. What if a snake bit you?” Lark said.
Azurdee rolled her eyes. “Why would you care?”
She bumped into his shoulder on her way to the Jeep, and we followed. She hopped in, and Lark climbed into the back. That Jeep ride back to my house was one of the longest rides in my life. As soon as I parked, they both jumped out and headed into the house. No one had said a word since we left the stable.
I walked into the kitchen and noticed the dishes had not been cleaned yet. Jessie was nowhere around. I walked into our room, and she wasn’t in there either.
Where in the hell is she?
I headed out onto the front porch and noticed her car was gone. I instantly began panicking. She left again. Where did she go? I quickly grabbed my cell phone out of my pocket and hit her number.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Where are you?” I asked, trying to stay calm.
“Um…don’t be angry. Promise you won’t be angry.”
I took a deep breath and slowly blew it out. “Okay. I promise, I won’t get angry.”
She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “I got a call from Trey. I didn’t know what to do. He was so upset, and he started talking crazy. He hasn’t gone back to Dallas yet, and he kept saying all this stuff about how he had nowhere to go, he couldn’t go home, he was all al
one, and he was going to do something to himself.”
I instantly balled up my fists. That motherfucker. “Okay,” I whispered.
“Well, he was just so upset, Scott, and I felt so bad. He told me he’d spent the holidays alone.”
“And that’s your problem, how, Jessie?” I snapped.
“Scott, he’s still a friend,” Jessie said.
“What are you going to do, Jessie? Comfort him?”
I regretted the words the moment they had come out of my mouth and even more when I heard her suck in a breath of air.
“Scott, he started saying all this crazy stuff about how he didn’t want to live anymore and how he missed me. I just thought if I talked to him, he would—”
“He would, what? Feel better? He wants you, Jessie! He wants you to leave me and go with him. He told me himself that he wasn’t going to give up on you. He is doing this to get you to go to him, to leave me again.”
“I would never leave you again, Scott. Ever. You know this! We’re getting married and having a baby. I’m just trying to be a friend to him.”
I let out a breath and shook my head. “I don’t have a good feeling about this guy, Jessie. Please just come back home. Please,” I practically begged.
“Scott, you know I love you. I love you so much, but I have to make sure he is okay. Trey is a good guy, Scott. I got to really know him.”
I let out a gruff laugh. “Yeah, I know you really got to know him, Jessie. He got to know you really good, too.”
Silence.
“That’s not fair, Scott,” Jessie whispered.
“No, Jessie, what’s not fair is that some fucker can call you on the phone, give you some sob story, and make you run to him without you even bothering to tell me where you are going. You didn’t even give me a chance to offer to go with you. I would have gone with you if you were that worried about him. You didn’t even give me the chance!”
I heard her crying.
“I…I guess I just panicked when he said he was wishing he wasn’t even alive.”