Chapter 16
BLAIR
The flight home was uneventful. Well, aside from the storm of emotions battering my heart.
I’d spent the entire plane ride staring at the photos of Tate, torturing myself. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to get over him. But today had to be day one of trying.
I realized getting over him and forgetting him were two different things, though.
I’d never be able to forget him. I didn’t want to.
I just needed a way to live without him, to try not to see him every time I closed my eyes at night.
I needed to move beyond how amazing it felt to have him inside of me so I could someday allow someone else in—both literally and figuratively.
I couldn’t imagine anyone measuring up. So maybe another thing I’d have to practice was accepting second best.
I wondered whether Tate had read my letter.
I couldn’t even remember everything I’d written, just that it had been a purge of my thoughts in the middle of the night.
I hoped he wouldn’t be shocked when I professed my love.
I’d given him my rawest thoughts and taken the risk that he’d accept and cherish them.
What was the harm in telling him how I truly felt?
It wasn’t like my thoughts could cause him to run away.
The worst had already happened in that regard.
Back in Massachusetts, my phone rang as I stood waiting at the train platform. My heart leaped, but then I remembered he didn’t have my number. Why the hell didn’t I just give it to him?
At least I had his.
This was Taylor calling.
“Hey,” I said in greeting.
“Hey, you,” he replied. “How are you doing? You disappeared. I was expecting more updates during the trip. You must be home by now, right?”
“Yeah.” I scratched my head. “Um…”
I wasn’t sure whether to tell him about Tate. I wondered if it might be better to keep the experience to myself. I didn’t want anyone tainting it, trying to convince me that Tate had taken advantage of me. I knew that wasn’t true.
“I ended up staying an extra day, so I’m only just now back in Mass.”
“Really? I wondered what happened because you slipped off the radar. You weren’t online or anything. What made you decide to do that?”
“Wasn’t ready to come back to reality. Don’t worry.” I cleared my throat. “I paid for it,” I lied. “It wasn’t on your dime. Since you were gracious enough to gift me the week, I could afford to add one extra night.”
I hated lying to him, but I wasn’t sure he’d understand why I’d let “some guy” pay for another night.
“Well, I wish you had told me. An extra night would’ve been no skin off my back.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I’ve had enough nepotism. You did too much for me already.”
“Well, I’m happy to hear you had a good time. I knew you’d like the resort.”
“Midnight Key was exactly what I needed, time away to think.”
And meet and lose the love of my life in four days.
“So it helped you forget about Daniel?”
Who? I suppressed a chuckle. “Yeah. I’m so refreshed now. Ready to tackle the world.” I felt tears in my eyes again.
“That was the goal,” he said. “Sometimes all we need is a change of scenery.”
Or a life-changing love.
“Yup.” I sniffled.
“You got a cold or something?”
“No.”
“Where are you now?”
“At the station waiting for my train. I’m so ready to be home.”
“Cool. Well, all right. I just wanted to make sure you were alive and well since you dropped off the face of the Earth.”
“That was the point, though, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah.” He laughed. “For sure.”
“I’ll call you once I’m settled. Thank you again for giving me one of the best weeks of my life.”
“Wow. That good, huh?”
I felt myself nodding. That good.
That great.
That earth-shatteringly amazing.
“It was,” I assured him.
“Anytime you want to go back, just let me know.”
“Thank you,” I said. Though I knew already that would be too painful. I’d never want to be there again without Tate.
After I hung up, guilt washed over me for not coming clean. Maybe someday I’d tell Taylor exactly how important this trip had been. But this wasn’t the time. I wasn’t ready.
When I turned again to look at the big board, a notification flashed on the digital screen indicating that my train was delayed.
Crap.
The station was oddly desolate. Annoyed that I couldn’t just be home and in my bed, I decided to get myself a treat. After I got a snack from the vending machine, I took it over to a bench, plopping my bag down next to me.
As I took the first bite of the protein bar, I closed my eyes and sighed. Trying to meditate, I kept my eyes closed until the moment I felt it—a whoosh of some sort whipped by me. I opened my eyes to find a man running away—with my bag!
I jumped up. “Help! Help!” I screamed as I ran after him. “He’s got my bag!”
I tripped and fell, scraping my knee on the pavement. That gave him just enough of an edge to open some distance between us.
As I looked up, he ran across the train tracks and jumped a fence.
A train was coming, and I was afraid I wouldn’t make it if I ran across after him.
I eventually found someone who let me use their phone to call the police.
I gave the authorities my parents’ number and a vague description of the assailant in case they were able to track down my phone and bag.
In the meantime, I wasn’t sure when I’d have a phone again or if I’d be able to get the same cell number.
Panic gripped me as I realized everything that meant anything to me now was inside that bag.
And by everything I meant...Tate. His number was only on my phone.
I’d never thought I needed to memorize it because it’d been safely entered into my contacts.
Without his last name and number, how would I ever find him?
Tate wasn’t all that common of a name, but there had to be millions of them.
Even after it was delayed, I missed my original train because I had to stick around and talk to the police.
By the time I boarded a later one, I felt like every ounce of life had been sucked out of me. I stared blankly out the window at the moving trees and buildings. That robber thought he was stealing my physical possessions. He had no clue that he’d also taken my heart.