Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
The second he left my apartment, I called Emily. I needed intel.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Em.”
“Beth,” I could hear the smile in her voice, “How are you?”
“Good. What are you doing today?”
“Jackson is getting ready to ship out. He leaves tomorrow.”
I paused. I knew that Porter was part of Jackson’s unit, which meant he’d be gone, too. It felt weird knowing that Porter would be leaving soon. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
“Porter didn’t tell me that he’s leaving.”
She hesitated. “Porter is on a leave of absence.”
“Oh.”
Emily cleared her throat. “So, how’s it going there?”
“Porter went for a run.”
“And?”
“And he told me what the favor is.”
“What is it?”
“We’re going to pick up some boxes this afternoon. ”
She sucked in her breath. “Oh.”
“Emily, you want to tell me what’s going on?”
“I…you know.”
“Please, Em.” I wasn’t above begging. “Porter was a rock star yesterday with my mom. He went way beyond the call of duty. Can you give me some hint of what’s going on?”
I knew Emily. She wanted to tell me. She just needed more convincing.
I tried again. “Give me something to go on. So I can help him.”
“It’s his girlfriend.”
My entire body ran cold. “He has a girlfriend?”
“He did. His ex. Her name’s Felicia.”
“And?”
“She moved with him to Virginia when he joined the team, and they seemed great.”
I took a seat on the couch. My heart was pounding, and I didn’t trust my legs to hold me up. “What happened?”
“When he came home from a deployment, she was gone.”
“What do you mean, ‘gone’?”
“She packed up their apartment and left.”
“What?!”
“All the furniture. The dishes. Everything was gone when he got back. Jackson said that there wasn’t a single thing left in that apartment. It was completely cleared out, except for his clothes. He said it was the loneliest thing he had ever seen.”
I hated her.
Whoever she was, I. Hated. Her.
Empathy and emotion saturated Emily’s voice. “He found out that she was in New York a couple days before Theo’s christening.”
Wow.
I shut my eyes, remembering how silent and emotionless he had been. He’d looked like a wild man with his beard and messy hair. And those eyes. Those silver eyes, just watching me .
I pressed my forehead against my palm, regret making its way through my body. “I thought he was an asshole.”
“He wasn’t himself that weekend. He hasn’t been himself for months.”
No kidding.
Emily continued, “She didn’t leave a note or a message. She changed her phone number, too. But when he found out that she moved to New York, he applied for his leave of absence.”
My mind raced. “She’s here. Living in New York.”
“Yeah.”
“And today we’re going to pick up some boxes.”
“She took things that didn’t belong to her. His medals of honor and his grandfather’s watch. That kind of stuff.”
“Why would she do that?”
“I think she wanted him to find her.”
My mouth dropped open. “That’s so mean.”
“Porter asked for an L.O.A. to deal with his personal stuff. The second they got back from a turnaround, he headed to New York.”
“When was that?”
“The night you got arrested.”
I was the worst. It was official.
Emily kept talking, “I’m really surprised that he wants you to go with him.”
No kidding.
I made a noise in my throat.
“What?”
I shook my head. “I’m an asshole. It’s been all about me from the moment I met him.”
“Beth, you’ve been great.”
I sat there, thinking. “Has he seen her since then?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Have they talked?”
Emily let out a long breath. “I don’t think so. Jackson said that Porter mentioned a text. But I don’t think they’ve actually talked. ”
I thought about him lying on the couch, looking at a photo on his phone. Had he been looking at a picture of her? Thinking about her? Did he still love her?
“How long were they together?”
“Awhile.”
“Which is how long?”
“I think maybe three or four years?”
“That’s so long.”
“I’m so glad you’re there for him. Jackson’s really worried about him. This is actually working out a lot better than we expected.”
“How so?”
“We know where he is, for one.”
I chewed on my lip. “Okay. Thanks. I understand why you didn’t want to tell me that, but it’s going to help me from making this worse.”
“We really appreciate what you're doing.”
I snorted. “I’m not ‘doing’ anything. Porter has been taking care of me more than I have of him.”
“You’d be surprised.”
“He’s lucky to have you guys.”
“How did last night go anyways?”
I laid back, resting my head on his folded bedding. I could smell him. Clean and masculine. “My mom didn’t know how to deal, but Porter was a total gentleman. Really patient and sane.”
“He’s a good guy.”
We both pondered that statement for a moment until I finally broke the silence. “Why did she do it? Why did she leave him?”
“We don’t know. Porter said they were good right up until she left.”
“What a mind fuck.”
“Tell me about it. Text me and tell me how it went.”
“I will.”
“And Beth? ”
“Yeah?”
“If you get a chance, teach that bitch a lesson.”
I couldn’t hold back my laugh. Maybe I would.