Page 24 of Unravel Me

“Thank you.” I smile as he finally leaves, and the front door clicks behind him.

I turn slowly toward Penny, unable to meet her gaze. Her eyes, wide with a mix of confusion and amusement, say it all.

“So, that’s a turn of events.” I shrug, pushing past her into the living room to assess what’s what. She is hot on my trail. “Are you going to tell me why Red has suddenly shown up to play hero, because I am not fooled and neither should you be. Oh, my god, Aud…is he stalking you?”

I laugh and sit down on the couch, desperately needing to take a load off. “He was picking up a check from my neighbor, saw me struggling outside with the boxes and offered to help. As much as I want to hate him, no one else is coming to help us, Pen. He kind of saved the day. Like seriously, this would be too much for us and you know it.” We glance around in unison at the overpacked boxes.

She rolls her eyes. “What about the girlfriend?”

“Okay, so embarrassing story. Mabel is not his girlfriend. She’s his dog.”

We both go quiet for a moment before bursting into laughter, Penny's cackling echoing through the apartment.

“I’m mortified for you. But it’s not like you’re dating the man, so it’s fine.” Penny justifies in between bouts of laughter.

“Exactly, I’m not dating him.” I stand and pick up a photo of Jackson and I from a ski trip last winter, examining it. It feels like a lifetime ago. I set it back down on the fireplace mantel, in its rightful place because it’s just baggage from another life. One I want to shed.

“Exactly,” she replies slowly. “It would be scandalous to even kiss him.” A smile creeps up on her face, but I quickly peel my gaze away and walk to the window that overlooks the street. Gazing out, I have a clear view of Rhett effortlessly loading boxes into my vehicle. A three-row SUV was completely impractical for just one person, but right now, I’m grateful Jackson convinced me to get it a few months ago.

Penny and I keep moving the last few things into the hallway. I avoid her eyes, and she pinches her lips together tightly.

“Alright, what’s next?” Rhett strides back into the hall a few minutes later, a grin on his face, not even the slightest sign he’s out of breath.

I haven’t been around a lot of men who would happily give up their time to help a stranger. Certainly not my ex, and my father would rather throw money at a problem than solve it in any form himself.

Just another sign that Rhett and I were from different worlds.

“Do you want these?” Penny’s voice pulls me from my trance, and I swallow hard, feeling Rhett’s gaze on me.

Penny balances a box on her hip, pulling out mementos from Jackson and I’s relationship that I kept on a shelf in my closet. A ticket to the theater from our first date, a photo of us in Jamaica on spring break. She narrows her eyes, examining something close.

“Leave it. The whole box.” I glance back into the apartment through the open door.

“We are done here. If we could just grab the last few bags of clothing, that’s it.”

Rhett nods, squatting down to load up the final dolly. Penny doesn’t move, holding my gaze as I fling a dry cleaning bag over my shoulder and smile at her. A reassuring smile. It was as much for her as it was for me.

“You really are leaving everything else?” she asks. I know it’s preposterous to her, even if she won’t flat out say that. I packed all my clothes and the few things I wanted. Most of my cherished items from childhood and college are in storage, and I hadn’t been planning on getting them out until we moved into the big house.

In truth, I was leaving 75 percent of my stuff behind. I had the money to replace it all if I wanted, but that wasn’t the point. I didn’t want to replace it. I didn’t want any of it. I wanted to shed the weight of my past. I didn’t want anything that reminded me of Jackson.

“I’m good. I have what’s important to me,” I shrug.

“It’s your call, babe.”

Rhett was waiting at the elevator, holding the door open as Penny stepped in. Before locking up, I peered into the apartment one more time.

This is the only goodbye I get to control—because Jackson was never going to give me the closure I deserved. But as I walk away, I’m struck by how good it feels, how freeing. Stepping into the elevator isn’t hard like I imagined it would be.

After all, I’m saying goodbye to an illusion.

Outside, Penny and Rhett load the last of the boxes into the SUV, and I shut the doors behind them.

“Would you like me to follow y’all to your place and help you unload?” Rhett asks, his crystal blue eyes shining under the rim of his old baseball cap. A sudden knot of fear tightens in my stomach. What if saying no means this is the end? Rhett feels like a stranger who’s somehow seen too much, and the thought of cutting him loose now feels more uncomfortable than continuing this…friendship?

“Actually, I roped my neighbors into helping, so you’re off the hook, Red,” Penny chimes in before walking around to the passenger door.

Rhett’s face falls slightly, but he readjusts his baseball cap to hide it.