Page 84 of Shelter
But an ideal was just a definition. Definitions didn’t inflict pain. People did. And as I clutched my chardonnay and tried to figure out how to respond to my best friend’s question, I was keenly aware of the stinging ache spreading through my chest.
Me:Not sure. Not gonna lie. This is awkward.
Of course,it was more than awkward, but Alberta would know that without me spelling it out.
Alberta:If you don’t want to stick around, I totally get it.
Relief loosened my shoulders.Alberta truly was the best friend in the world.
Me:I’m really sorry, but I think I’m going to take you up on that.
Her response was instantaneous.
Alberta:No, I’M SORRY! Had no idea.
Alberta: But, jeez! Jerk can’t even smile???
I sniffeda laugh at her loyalty, but I still wanted to come to Cole’s defense. I knew what he’d been through. What he’d grown up with. I knew what made him so cold and hard on the outside, and I knew that behind that he had heat and heart.
I hoped he still did, anyway. For his sake.
But I had to yield to the possibility that what happened that awful night may have taken that away for good. His cool greeting toward me seemed to suggest as much, and that just made my sadness grow.
I downed my glass again.
Me:I’ll see you at home. Please just make an excuse for me.
Me: Something gentle.
I addedthat last line so Cole wouldn’t be made to feel even more awkward on my behalf. Even if he’d hurt me years ago — and that had taken a long time to heal — and he’d hurt me again tonight, I didn’t want him to suffer anymore.
The man had already suffered enough.
I looked for and found the rear exit. Slipping outside, I knew I was making the right decision to leave without saying goodbye.
Chapter 19
COLE
I paced the living room floor. Ava’s meeting should have ended twenty minutes ago, but she hadn’t left the hospital yet. At least her Find My Friends icon on my phone showed her deep in the belly of the Lafayette General complex.
What the hell was she doing?
I forced myself to sit on the edge of our new sectional. I’d been home for a quarter of an hour. Waiting. I needed to hear from Ava. I needed to know she was okay.
Because I needed to think of something else besides Elise Cormier.
I shot to my feet as soon as my mind landed on her name. How? How could she have been there tonight? What were the odds that the first time I went out after moving back to town, I’d see her?
Growling, I stabbed at my phone’s screen and texted my sister.
Me:Where are you? Isn’t the meeting over yet?
Ava should have answered right away,but she didn’t. I mean, what could have possibly kept her from texting right back? I tipped my face up to the ceiling, closed my eyes, and saw that back porch swing.
The moment I’d realized Ross’s date was Alberta Okeke, my heart had taken off like a greyhound. Elise had brought her over to the house a thousand times. I’d recognized her immediately.
And I saw the instant she’d recognized me. For a second, she’d looked — of all things — afraid. And then she’d looked pissed. Before I knew it, her back was to me, and she was moving through the crowd.
