Chapter 25
twenty-five
Charlie
Istare at the word Unknown lighting up my screen and consider not answering.
I changed my number when I started my new life and haven’t handed out my new digits to more than a handful of people.
My palms are slick with sweat at the possibility that Jason has somehow gotten ahold of it, and is now calling to spew new threats.
Curiosity eventually wins out, however, and I pick up with a hesitant, “Hello?”
“Red. It’s Maddox,” the familiar voice of Cole’s best friend sends a flood of relief through me. “Listen, I don’t have much time and the connection is shit, but I just wanted to check in and ask how things are going on your end? Any more trouble?”
“All good here,” I reply, dropping to the sofa to give my weak knees a break, grateful to have avoided my bully of an ex for another day.
It’s been weeks since the bar incident. Blissfully uneventful weeks at that, and I’ve almost managed to convince myself that Cole’s presence in my life has caused Jason to cut his losses. Maybe he’s decided I’m not worth the hassle and has finally moved on. A girl can dream, right?
“Things have been quiet since you left. Nothing out of the ordinary, but Cole could’ve told you as much.
I’m sure he would’ve loved to talk to you.
Not that I’m not happy to hear your voice.
How did you even get this number?” I’m aware I’m rambling, and judging by the low chuckle coming from the other end, Maddox seems to find my word vomit amusing.
“I have my ways,” he shouts over the whirring sound of what I can only assume to be a freaking helicopter.
“Cole isn’t picking up his phone, which is to be expected given the date.
I told myself not to get involved, but that’s actually the other reason I’m calling.
Knowing Cole, he probably hasn’t told you that today would’ve been his and Elena’s fifteenth wedding anniversary.
He’s not great when it comes to sharing his feelings, so I’m guessing he probably made himself scarce. Am I right?”
My heart drops into my stomach when the significance of today’s date truly sinks in.
I thought Cole had been acting a little withdrawn these past couple of days, but when I asked if anything was bothering him, he told me it was nothing I needed to concern myself with.
When I woke up this morning, his side of the bed felt cold to the touch, and he was nowhere to be found.
I figured he may have taken a longer run—he does that sometimes when he needs to clear his head—or maybe he’d gone to pick up a few things from town and would be back soon with coffee and treats. I simply hadn’t been worried until now.
“I haven’t seen him this morning. He was gone when I woke up.”
Maddox gives a low grunt. “Figures. Listen, I know Cole, and he’s going to struggle today.
Last year he got so fucked up I had to scrape his ass off the back alley of a seedy bar.
Found him passed out and bleeding all over the cobblestone.
I made sure he wasn’t seriously injured and dragged him to my truck before I went inside to find out who was responsible for his condition.
The owner of the joint told me Cole had been drinking heavily and started picking a fight with a group of shady-looking guys for no apparent reason.
Kept goading them until they eventually took the bait and followed him out back where they beat the ever-loving shit out of him.
Apparently, Cole hadn’t even put up a fight.
In fact, he seemed to be smiling the entire time.
Dude said it was the strangest thing he had ever witnessed.
Just give me a damn minute,” he suddenly shouts, making me jump about a foot before he follows it up with a mumbled, “Impatient fuck. Sorry about that,” he tells me before hurrying to get the rest of his heartbreaking story out.
“Long story short, when one of them eventually knocked him out, the owner stepped in. Told them he’d call the cops if they didn’t leave.
Once they no longer posed a threat, he noticed Cole’s phone lighting up on the ground beside him.
It must’ve fallen out of his pocket during the altercation.
I’d been calling him on and off all day, trying to find him.
The guy picked up and told me where I could collect my lunatic of a friend.
His words, not mine. He was in pretty rough shape, but didn’t seem at all regretful about the way his night ended.
Went through a bit of a self-destructive phase after that.
” Maddox pauses, and I worry I might crack the screen of my cell phone, I’m gripping the device so hard.
“I’m telling you all this because I know he won’t ask for help.
In fact, he’ll most likely tell you to take a hike.
Maybe he’ll even say something to hurt your feelings in an attempt to push you away.
Don’t let him. I know he cares for you, but the guilt over being with you will eat at him more than usual today, and I’d feel better if he had someone looking out for him. ”
My heart aches for what this beautiful, kind, and protective man has gone through, and I promise Maddox I’ll make sure his friend won’t be alone with his dark thoughts.
“How’s Dee?” he asks once he knows he’s done all he can for his buddy from wherever he’s calling from.
His tone is casual, but there’s an underlying vulnerability that makes me hopeful on behalf of my friend.
Dee has been unusually glum since her night with the enigmatic soldier, and I don’t like seeing her that way.
“She’s okay. Keeping busy with the café. The summer months are always hectic for her. Doesn’t have much time to dwell on anything.”
A loud explosion has me ripping the phone away from my ear, but I press it back to the side of my face just in time to catch Maddox’s colorful curse. “Shit. Gotta go, Red. Tell Dee I said hi and take care of my boy, alright?”
“What’s happening? Are you in danger? Maddox?
” I shout in a voice laced with panic, but the connection has already been severed.
I sit on my couch in a daze, clutching my phone in my lap while I will the screen to light up again, even though, logically, I already know it won’t.
Inhaling a deep breath and trusting that Maddox can take care of himself, I decide to locate the man I can actually do something for.
It takes me a while, but I eventually find him, and I take a moment to observe him in what I have come to think of as his designated spot.
He’s sitting on the beach with his legs drawn to his chest, chin resting on his knees as he stares out over the calm water with unseeing eyes.
He doesn’t turn when I approach, but tenses enough to let me know he’s well aware of my presence.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Tink,” he says in a flat tone when I lower myself to the ground beside him. “I’m not really in a talkative mood right now.”
“I know. I’m not expecting you to talk. I just want you to know you’re not alone.”
“What if I want to be alone?” I try not to take his snappy answer to heart. With Maddox’s words still ringing fresh in my ear, I know he’s most likely lashing out because he’s in pain.
“I don’t think Elena would want you to be alone.”
Cole’s dark chuckle is an ugly sound between us. “No? You think she’d want me to remember her by finding comfort in the arms of the woman I’m fucking?”
I can’t help but flinch at his cruel choice of words and decide not to warrant it with a reply. After a long moment of suffocating silence, Cole heaves a sigh and turns his face toward mine.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. It’s just, today’s a hard day for me, and I’m really not good company right now. Honestly, I don’t have the energy to worry about anyone else’s feelings, and I don’t want to say anything that might hurt you, so maybe it’s best if we just stay clear of each other.”
“Maddox told me you’d try to push me away.”
“Of course he did. That meddling fuck,” he mutters, but there’s a hint of affection that contradicts his harsh tone.
I don’t tell him that his friend uttered the words only seconds before our call was cut short by a deafening boom.
He doesn’t need anything else to worry about, and I’m sure Maddox and his team know how to handle what’s happening.
“You know, the day my baby girl was supposed to be born, I didn’t get out of bed once,” I say and immediately notice the flash of sympathy in his amber irises.
“No food, no water, didn’t even open the curtains.
I just laid there, in the dark, crying for hours.
Then Dee barged in and yanked the covers off me.
I was pissed at first, but she wasn’t having it.
Said I needed to move. That wallowing in my grief and shutting the world out wouldn’t help.
She all but shoved me into the shower, made me get dressed, then dragged me on this hike to this gorgeous waterfall.
We didn’t talk about Jamie… that’s what I named her,” I tell him with a watery smile.
“Jamie Rose Delaney. And we just sat there, listening to the water rush over the rocks. I leaned my head on her shoulder, and somehow, by the time we left, I felt lighter. Like… just knowing I didn’t have to carry it all alone?
That I wasn’t the only one who’d lost someone?
It didn’t fix everything, but it helped.
Dee somehow knew exactly what I needed, even when I didn’t. ”
“Dee’s lost someone as well?” he asks, with a hint of curiosity.
“It’s not my story to tell, but let’s just say she knows a thing or two about healing. And she seems to have dealt with her pain in a much healthier way than I did. She went to therapy for years, for starters.”
Cole scoffs. “Therapy is overrated. My boss had me go for a while following the incident. Didn’t do shit for me.”