23. The Long Trip Home
CHAPTER 23
THE LONG TRIP HOME
A ddison spent the rest of the day crying in the residence, unable to function. I can’t even think straight enough to figure out how to go home early.
She couldn’t stand to look at, much less lie in, the master bed they had shared, so she wept in one of the guest bedrooms. Her eyes were nearly swollen shut when the sun dipped below the mountain, leaving her in complete darkness.
I have to get home. I have to fix this.
She roused herself enough to take a long shower, where tears continued streaming down her face, mingling with the scalding water. She tried changing her ticket on her own but gave up, her mind too jumbled with what-ifs and memories of her time with Tim.
I’ll buy tickets for the early morning flight now and figure out refunds and cancellations later.
She turned off the lights and went to bed, utterly exhausted.
When her alarm went off at 6:00 a.m., Addison felt drained, both emotionally and physically. She was still foggy from crying all day before, but at least she could function enough to pack and change her return ticket online.
Though she was usually particular about her appearance, Addison couldn’t bring herself to make any effort. She showered, threw on the first clothes she found, and left her face makeup-free for her ride to the airport.
“Hey, are you okay?” the shuttle driver asked, noticing her forlorn expression as she gazed out of the SUV window.
“Yep,” she muttered. Please don’t ask me anything else. Fortunately, the driver took the hint and turned up the radio for the rest of the ride.
At the airport, Addison forced herself to eat a small packet of trail mix while waiting for her flight to Denver. She could feel people’s eyes on her, noting her disheveled appearance. Yeah, yeah. I look like hell. Move on.
She spent the brief flight to Denver crying quietly behind her sunglasses, hoping to be left alone. Unfortunately, her seatmate was a curious child who wasn’t used to silence.
“Why are you crying? No one should cry when there’s snow,” the little girl said.
“I’m just sad,” Addison whispered.
“Why? Were you not allowed to ski? Did your mom make you stay inside? I got in trouble once because I wanted to wear my ski outfit to dinner. It was pink with rainbows! I wanted everyone to see it. It was so cool. Did you get in trouble?”
“Kind of,” Addison said thoughtfully.
The little girl’s eyes widened. “Wow. What did you do?”
“I told a lie.”
“I did that once and got in big trouble. I wasn’t allowed to play with my toys for a whole day,” the girl said earnestly.
“I got in big trouble too. My boyfriend is really mad now. I have to figure out how to explain why I lied and how to make it up to him.” Addison paused, feeling slightly silly for sharing with a child.
“My parents get mad at me all the time, but they always forgive me.” The girl patted Addison’s hand with her tiny one. “Oh! You could draw him a picture to show you’re sorry.”
Addison smiled weakly. I wish it were that simple.
The little girl quickly became engrossed in a cartoon on her tablet, leaving Addison alone with her thoughts. How am I going to fix this? I have to tell Lexi about Tim. She was prepared to face the consequences, even if that meant losing both Lexi and Tim for good. She needed to tear everything down before she could rebuild her relationships. Addison spent the 45-minute flight between Aspen and Denver mentally working through what she would say to Lexi, feeling a bit better by the time they landed.
At least I’ll get some relief during the flight back to D.C. Addison found a shop that sold Benadryl and downed a dose. Time for dreamland—hopefully not starring Tim and all my mistakes.