Right Number, Wrong Girl

The next thing was that Henry and Cait were sitting on the doorstep with faces like thunder.

I got out of the car, and they both looked up at me. Cait slowly got to her feet, and her throat bobbed with a swallow, and I knew.

She’d gone.

Sophie was on her way back to London.

“We tried,” Henry said sadly. “She thought it was for the best.”

“Shit!” I hit the roof of my car and leant against it, resting my forehead on my arms. “I fucking knew I should have gone right after her.”

“I think she needs to be alone.” Cait’s voice was soft, and when I looked at her, she wrapped her arms around her waist. “We told her you’d come, but she really wanted to leave.”

“When did she go? How long?”

They glanced at each other.

“Ten minutes ago,” Henry replied.

I pushed off the car. “I’m going after her.”

“To do what?” Cait asked, walking through the front garden to me. “Drive to London? Do you even know where she lives? What are you going to do when you get there?”

I stilled.

“Time isn’t a bad thing.” Her voice was soft, and she reached out for me. “She’s really hurting right now. She’s done a lot for everyone and when it came down to it and she needed everyone else, nobody did it for her.”

“I tried. I wanted to. I just—”

“None of us stood up to Mum.” Henry finally joined us. He looked mad, but not at me—at himself. “When she was speaking to her like shit, we didn’t step up and defend her. Sophie has every right to feel the way she does.”

I looked away.

He was right.

When it came down to it, the only person who’d tried to stand up for her was Helena.

I hadn’t done anything until it was too late.

I’d let my mother speak to her like she was worthless.

I’d gone after her, but it wasn’t enough. Even if I’d told Dad to let me go and I’d gotten here right now, it probably wouldn’t have been enough.

I leant back against the car, and all my resolve drained out of me. I was exhausted. I was physically and emotionally spent. I’d never felt such a wide range of emotion in my life, and I’d definitely never felt anything that hurt this badly.

Sophie was gone.

Maybe if I’d realised how completely I was falling in love with her before now, I might have been able to change that.

I might have stood up for her.

I might have told her.

Would that have been enough? Or would she have always left?

I promised her I’d let her go if she went, but now I knew that was a lie. She wasn’t supposed to leave like this, and I don’t know if I could ever let her.

Maybe Dad was right.