His mother furrowed her brow, and I’d never seen such disappointment in her eyes. I glanced down at myself, suddenly wondering if she thought my dress was super inappropriate, but it covered everything, it was just a little snug.
“He’s not here, honey,” she said, and her voice…there was something about the tone in the way she said honey. It sounded a whole lot more like an insult than a term of endearment, and coming from my mother’s best friend, that was sure as hell not good.
“Oh,” I said, my confusion likely showing on my face. She crossed her arms over her chest, and I tilted my head at the angry energy I felt rolling off of her in waves. “Um, do you know when he’ll be back?”
She sighed. “I hope the next off-season.”
My lips parted open. “He left?” I shook my head. “Like, he went back to Charleston?”
“Hopped a plane this afternoon.”
I swallowed hard, my chest suddenly feeling like it was cracking open. “He didn’t say goodbye.” I thought I’d earned that, hadn’t I? Or had I misread all our time together? Ohmigod, had I been so naïve thinking he felt something for me like I felt for him? Had I just been a convenience as he passed through town?
Fuck, I was going to vomit right on her well-kept daisies.
“Why would he, Ryleigh?” she asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“What?” I asked, flabbergasted. “I thought, I mean we were…we’d grown close.”
“I thought that too,” she said. “But, honey, when he saw you making up with Chuck earlier today, he couldn’t stick around another second. It’s not like him to put himself out there only to get stomped—”
“I didn’t get back together with Chuck!” I said, probably a bit too sharply if the way she jolted was any indication.
“You didn’t?” she asked, skeptical. “Ryleigh we both saw you outside his mama’s café. You two were grinning at each other like fools and then he held you like he’d never let you go.”
“Ohmigod, that is so not what happened.” Don’t stomp your foot, don’t you dare do that in front of Caspian’s mother. I chanted this to myself a few times before I took a deep breath. “We said goodbye today,” I explained. “I had just gotten the contract from the lenders and we both needed to sign to terminate it and get our deposits back. We had a conversation, got closure. God, it was healthy, and the hug was us saying goodbye.” My stomach bottomed out as I saw it all through Caspian’s eyes, how wrong it must’ve looked, but if he would’ve just talked to me…
Or maybe if I would’ve just told him the truth days ago, that I was completely in love with him, then he wouldn’t have doubted me so much. So, okay, maybe this was my fault too.
“You’re telling me you didn’t get back together with Chuck?” She asked.
“No, I didn’t. I don’t want to. I…” I couldn’t tell her I loved her son. Not when I hadn’t told him myself. “I care deeply about Caspian. I thought he understood that.”
She sucked in a sharp breath. “I’ve never seen him act like he did today, Ryleigh,” she said, and I was beyond grateful she wasn’t calling me honey anymore. “He was hurt. I’ve never seen him let a girl close enough to hurt him before.”
“I didn’t mean to,” I said. “I came over here to surprise him, to take him out and talk to him about…things.”
“It’s funny how stubborn both of you are,” she said, her eyes downright cheerful now. Her arms hung loose at her sides and she even laughed. “I told him to just walk over there and talk to you about it but he wouldn’t.”
“I’ll call him,” I said, already backing away, ready to jump in my car and clear this whole thing up. “Thank you for letting me know what happened. I hope you have a great night,” I called over my shoulder.
She waved me off as I slid into my car, hurrying home. I dialed him as soon as I got inside, kicking off the stupid pumps as I did.
He didn’t answer.
I tried again an hour later.
He didn’t answer.
I tried again two hours later.
Nothing.
And after a night of waiting and agonizing over what happened and what to do and getting really freaking angry his stubborn sexy ass wouldn’t hear me out, I finally decided if he didn’t want to pick up the damn phone, then maybe I could get him to answer the damn door.
Two days later—thanks to me not being able to afford same-day flights like one Caspian Foster—I had total déjà vu as I walked up to the address Caspian’s mom had so graciously given me, though, this time I wasn’t dressed to the nines.
No, today I was straight off the plane in yoga pants and a soft cotton T-shirt which was currently plastered to my back because of the Charleston heat. The little town of Sweet Water housed what Caspian had told me the team dubbed “Reaper Village” and it was an adorable little neighborhood. But I couldn’t really stop to appreciate the views when I was practically shaking with nerves. He hadn’t answered any of my calls or my texts in the last two days, and while I might’ve maybe should’ve taken that as a hint he didn’t want to talk to me, I figured I’d earned enough of his respect for him to hear me out.