The Life You Stole (Life Duet 2)

“We saw the Golden Bridge. It was not gold,” Franz huffed.

“No? Well, that’s too bad. Why name it the Golden Gate Bridge?”

“I don’t know. I’m hungry. Bye, Daddy.”

“Hey! Wait, buddy.”

Franz grabbed my phone as Anya again poked her head into view. “What, Daddy?”

Ronin swallowed hard. “I love you guys. Okay. Don’t ever forget that.”

I quickly wiped the rebel tears from my cheeks.

“Okay. We won’t.” Franz handed me the phone and ran out of the room with Anya running to catch him.

Before I held the camera to my face again, I used my sleeve to completely dry my cheeks. Finding my long-lost friend, that mask I wore for so many years to hide all the pain and fear, I slipped it on and raised the camera to my face. “Wow. That was a heavy goodbye.”

Biting his lips together, he averted his gaze to the side, maybe watching Mrs. Humphrey, and nodded. “Yeah. Life feels pretty heavy right now.”

“Why?” I whispered.

He shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. Everything will be fine.”

I didn’t feel like everything would be fine. It felt like my world was ending and he just couldn’t say the actual words. Before my mom died, she told my dad everything would be fine.

He wasn’t fine.

I wasn’t fine.

Nothing had been fine since she took her last breath.

“Do you have plans for today? Did Graham and Lila invite you to Thanksgiving dinner? Noah and Tami?”

“Work. Noah is covering for me. I didn’t want to miss your call. But I’ll be working the rest of the day.”

“Well, I won’t keep you, then.”

I love you.

I almost said it. I felt like he needed it. But I refused to believe we were there. So I swallowed and smiled. “Be safe up there.”

“Yeah.” Just before he ended the call, he looked at the camera, reddened eyes fresh with tears.

I tried FaceTiming him back.

He didn’t answer.

I tried calling him.

He didn’t answer.

Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

Lila hadn’t answered my calls or messages in over a week. So I called Tami. She was closer anyway.

“Hey. Happy Thanksgiving.”

“Tami, I need a favor. I know it’s Thanksgiving, and I would never ask this if it weren’t an emergency, but I need you to check on Ronin. I just talked with him, but he’s not answering now, and I know something is wrong. I feel it in my gut. Please.”

“Sure. Take it easy. Just don’t panic. I’ll go right now and call you as soon as I get there.”

I wiped more tears. “Thank you.”

“Evie, breakfast—hey, what’s wrong?” Katie rushed to me, sitting on the bed and pulling me in for a hug. “Did something happen?”

“No. Yes. I have to go home.” I pulled away and wiped my tears.

“You’re scaring me. Did something happen to Ronin?”

“I can’t explain it. Something’s not right. He wasn’t right. He … he …”

“Shh …” She pulled me back in for a hug. “Okay. Whatever you need. We’ve got the kids. Do you want me to call Lila and Graham?”

I shook my head. “N-no.”

“Want me to see if I can get you a flight?”

“Yes.” I pulled away again and wiped my face.

“What do you want me to tell Franz and Anya?”

“I … I don’t know.”

“What if I say Ronin has a really bad cold and you need to take care of him? Too scary?”

“It’s … it’s fine. Yes.”

“I’ll let them know and see what flights are available. You pack.”

I already had flight information brought up on my phone. “There’s a flight out in two hours. I’m not packing. Just take me there.”

With a quick goodbye to the kids and a promise of giving their sick daddy hugs, kisses, and chicken noodle soup, Dad drove me to the airport while Katie and Tanner fed the kids.

“Is everything okay with your marriage?” Dad, a man of few words, finally asked less than five minutes from the terminal.

“I don’t know,” I whispered, temporarily out of tears as a general numbness settled over me. It wasn’t a lie. I had no idea where my marriage stood.

“Want me to come with you.”

“I … have to do this alone.”

“Call me as soon as you get there? The weather’s not great. I’m not sure you’ll be able to get to Aspen.”

“I’ll get there. Eventually.”

He hugged me goodbye. I ran to catch my flight only to have it delayed due to weather in Denver.

Two more hours. That brought a second round of tears.

Just as I finished drying my face again, Tami called.

“Tami!”

“Sorry it took me so long. He wasn’t home. And when I called Noah, he wasn’t there yet either. I called a few other people and even drove around town a bit, but Noah finally called me back and said he’s at work. He said he seemed a little quiet, maybe a bit under the weather, but he’s fine.”

He wasn’t fine.

“Thank you so much.”