Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 99921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
He nodded and waved. “Have a good weekend, boss.”
I waited until I finished my beer and heard his truck pull away before getting up and going inside. One step in, and I already regretted taking the key from Porter. The place still smelled like her. I didn’t know how that was possible after a week, but it did. I took a deep whiff of torture in and closed my eyes.
Fuck. I missed her. Missed smelling her. Missed seeing her smile at me even though I never deserved it. Even missed the cards hanging on the wall. It felt like a punch in the gut being in here. But I freaking deserved it.
I tormented myself some more in the kitchen, imagining her standing at the coffeemaker wearing my shirt from the night before, dumb Christmas cards hanging all over the walls behind her. She smiles at me as she reaches up to grab mugs, revealing her bare, perfect ass. Fuck, I’m really an asshole.
Upstairs, I opened the door to the left bedroom—Josie’s room—and stopped two steps inside. It was empty. Another blow to the gut. I stared at the indents in the rug from where the bed used to be, imagined it still there. I’d made love to her in that bed. Hadn’t done that in years. It had been so long that I hadn’t even remembered there was a difference between fucking and making love. But there was, and the difference had left a gaping hole in my heart.
I forced myself to the closet. It was empty too, not even a hanger to be found. Reaching up, I felt around on the shelf for what she’d left behind. It was one of those USPS envelopes, about as big as a piece of paper. The return address was a place in New York City. I thought about not looking inside for about half a second, but quickly justified being nosy by telling myself I needed to make sure something was even in there. It would be stupid to send an empty package.
The first thing I pulled out was a passport. Opening it and seeing Josie’s smiling face landed a one-two punch. I stared down at it for way longer than necessary. Luckily I had to get this thing to the post office before it closed or there was no telling how long I’d sit here. Walking out of the closet, I went to stuff the little book back into the envelope. But when I did, I realized there was more inside. There was no reason I needed to take the rest out—obviously the envelope wasn’t empty—yet I did it anyway.
And my heart stopped when I read the note.
Josie,
I’m taking a leap of faith. I’ll be on that flight to Aruba. Give me a chance to show you I’ve changed, and meet me on it. I love you.
Noah
This is what she needed fucking overnighted? I ripped the papers out of the envelope and unfolded them. My eyes could barely read the printed words because my hands were shaking the page so hard. But I picked off the important parts.
Ritz Carlton Aruba 9/12-9/19
Delta Airlines 6:00 AM departure – JFK airport on 9/12
My heart raced out of control. She was going away with that fucking asshole? In two days. Like hell I’ll be mailing this shit.
But after a few minutes of boiling, my blood pressure reduced to a simmer. I shoved my hands through my hair. What right did I have to keep her from doing anything? I’d fucking kicked her to the curb so she could be happy. But was this douchebag Noah really what would make her happy? The asshole had cheated on her. It felt wrong, against every instinct I had to send the envelope. Yet I gritted my teeth and went back downstairs, locking the door behind me.
The entire drive to the post office, I continued to debate it.
She can be with any man she wants. I’m sending it.
Fuck that asshole. He doesn’t deserve her. Maybe even more than I don’t deserve her. I’m not sending shit.
I hurt her. If this is what it takes for her to be happy… I’m sending it.
That douchebag will only hurt her worse. Nope. Not sending it.
Then it dawned on me. Maybe she only wanted her passport and had no intention of going on that trip.
Yet she needs them overnighted and the flight is in two days.
I flip-flopped back and forth for the entire drive before pulling up to the post office ten minutes before closing. I wasted another five debating whether to go in. Ultimately, I concluded that Josie was too smart to take that asshole Noah back, and that she’d asked to have the passport overnighted because it was safer than sending it regular mail.
Yeah, that was it. At least that’s what I convinced myself as I stepped up to the counter. Frannie, the government’s grand gossip, scowled upon seeing me. Guess everyone knew now.