“No, maybe if you’d take calls and check your texts, you’d know this already.”
“Even I got a message from Raven, begging me to have you call her,” Max tells me.
I exhale loudly and pull out my phone, turning it on. Besides looking at the pictures at night, it’s purposely been off, and pretty much for this reason.
“While I wait for this to load, you want to tell me what you know?”
“Tripp says she looks like a walking zombie.”
“Shit!” I scream. “Twenty-eight text messages and twenty voicemails.” I groan. They date back to the day I left, starting out fairly simple.
Raven: How are you?
Mom: Have you spoken to Ember?
Tripp: Hope your trip is good. Haven’t seen Ember in a few days.
As the date stamps progress, the messages become more urgent.
Panic seizes my heart at the last message sent this morning.
Cruz: You’re a real asshole. Complete and fucking dickhead. I understood why you were upset. Hell, we were all upset. Two weeks without even checking on her? If you loved her, you should have made sure she was taken care of. There is no more shining light.
“Fuck.”
“Told you, man.” Finn shakes his head. “What exactly happened between you two?”
I tell them about the days leading up to our departure and our conversation in the living room. I leave out the part about when she finally fell asleep, and how I watched her all night, thanking God she was okay.
“Complete jerk move.” Max frowns. “You really know how to screw up.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You basically told her to be gone when you got home.”
“That’s not what I said at all.”
“You gave her silence.”
Fuck. I dial Tripp’s number.
“You coming home soon?” he greets me.
“On our way now. Can you tell me if Ember’s car is in the parking lot?”
“Nope,” he answers immediately. “Hasn’t been here since the day after you left.”
“Dammit!” I hang up, and immediately, my phone starts ringing.
“Dad,” I answer. “This isn’t a good time.”
“I tried to respect your space, but you’ve left devastation. What the hell were you thinking?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I understand you needed to take this trip for closure, but the timing was terrible. You have no idea what you’ve done to Ember. I get that you’re mad, but if you love someone, you work through it. You don’t haul ass for two fucking weeks and leave that person hurting!”
“Dad, this is none of your business.”