CHAPTER 56
OLIVIA
I make it all the way to my bedroom before my emotions get the best of me. With my earlier anger quickly dissipating, the weight of the last twenty-minutes comes crashing down on me and I fight to catch my breath as soul-wrenching sobs tear from my throat.
I close the door behind me and sink to the floor as my heart breaks into a thousand pieces in my chest.
I can’t wrap my head around what just happened.
What the fuck is he doing here?
Why would he fly ten hours to turn up at my door after he hasn’t so much as text me in over a month?
My head is scrambled.
My mind, shattered.
I just don’t understand his reaction to Carter.
Fuck. Carter.
I drag myself up off the floor and swing my bedroom door open.
I have no idea if he’s still here or not.
Taking quick steps towards his room, I knock lightly on the door and wait. A beat passes before the door swings open and a now dressed Carter stands on the other side, holding an icepack to his jaw.
I wince as I take in the dark bruise quickly forming. “I’m so sorry. You didn’t deserve that.”
He shakes his head, his eyes filled with nothing but understanding. “I probably would’ve reacted the same way if I were him. Wanna tell me who he is?”
“You didn’t gather who he was from all the shouting?” I try to joke but it falls flat.
“Only thing I gathered was the man has a mean right hook.”
Guilt eats at me. “I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m a big boy. I can handle a punch or two.”
“Still, it shouldn’t have happened.”
He nods as his eyes flick over my shoulder. “Is he gone?”
I nod with a sigh. “Yeah.”
“Should I expect him to return?” he asks wearily.
“I have no idea. I haven’t spoke to the guy in a month, so I’m just as confused as you are.”
His brows shoot up. “You break his heart or something?”
I let out a dry laugh. “That would imply he had one. It would be impossible to break that man’s heart.”
Carter hums as he assesses my face. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that, Livvy.”
I brush his comment off and change the subject. “You hungry?”
He gives me a tight smile. “Nah. I’m just gonna rest for a while, if that’s alright.”
I nod. “Of course.”
He closes the door with a quiet snick, and I turn, making my way back towards my bedroom. I throw on some clothes and scrape my damp hair back into a bun. Grabbing my phone and keys, I trudge down the stairs and out the front door.
I walk for what seems like hours.
The wind is bitter against my face, and I’m frozen to the bone. I deeply regret not drying my hair before I left the house. Knowing my luck, I’ll catch a cold now on top of everything else.
I stop off at a shop to pick up some flowers before continuing my walk to the graveyard my parents are buried in.
It’s exactly as I remember it. Still dark and still daunting. The dark clouds gathering over head only add to the eeriness of the place.
Goosebumps prickle on my skin as I weave my way through the graves of strangers, some of them so old you can barely make out the name engraved on the headstone and others so new the soil is still fresh.
A shiver runs through me. I’ve never liked the idea of being buried six foot in the ground. When my time eventually comes, my only wish is to be cremated so my ashes can be spread somewhere beautiful. I don’t want to become another hole in the dirt.
After several minutes, I find my parent’s headstone and my stomach sinks as I take in the neglect evident on their grave.
The only person to blame for that is me. I’m all that’s left of the Donahue’s, and I haven’t stepped foot in this graveyard since the day their headstone was placed.
The once white, marble stone is now worn from years of harsh weather conditions. The grass covering the lot is overgrown and unkempt. It looks dull in comparison to the beautifully decorated graves around them and I add tidying up their spot to the list of things I need to do before I go back to Rosewater Creek.
I brush some off the dirt concealing their names and place the flowers against the stone as I take a seat beside them.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper into the wind as I close my eyes and spend some time with my parents for the first time in ten years.