Page 88 of Meet Me Back Here

I stare at it, waiting for it to explode, but of course it does nothing. It’s just a box.

But it’s not just any box. I know what it is. I should put the clothes back, close the drawer, and wait for Forrest. We can talk. We can figure this out.

I don’t do that though. I reach out, and I lift the tiny box. It’s heavy with the weight of my entire future.

I pry open the lid and find a sparkling single diamond on a white gold band. Just looking at the portion sticking out of its foam home, I can tell it’s my size. This isn’t his mother’s old ring, a vintage family heirloom I could understand him wanting to keep after his parents divorced. This is shiny and new, and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it’s meant to be mine.

I snap the lid shut and toss the box back where it came from, shoving the drawer closed. It gets caught on the clothes I’d disrupted, but I don’t stop to fix them.

I can’t.

I need to get out of here. I need to go.

I wrench open the door, and I run.

“I’m so sorry, Mrs. Dane,” I call as I flee to her front door.

She looks up from her place on the couch and says something about trying to reach Forrest, but I don’t stop. I can’t stop.

Then, I’m gone.

Forrest

“Cam!” I cry as I fly out of my car, not even bothering to turn off the engine after I throw it in park at her curb. The house is dark and there aren’t any cars in the driveway, but I have to try anyway.

I got home late from work today, much later than I intended. My boss wanted to take me out to dinner afterward. Then other architects joined for drinks, and I couldn’t leave. I didn’t want to leave. Things were going so well.

Time got away from me. I wasn’t checking my phone. I didn’t see Mom’s missed calls or texts until well past dark.

Cam’s phone went straight to voicemail, so I drove here probably faster than was strictly safe.

“Cam?” I call again as I reach the base of the treehouse ladder. If she’s upset, I know she’ll be up there. She’ll be angry I took so long, but she’ll be there, waiting for me.

I start climbing.

As I do, I can feel that the treehouse is empty. There’s a kind of quiet that can’t exist when Cam is around. She’s life itself, bright and beautiful. This place is dark, still, barren. Cold, even though it’s summer.

Something is wrong.

“Cam?” I try one more time when my head clears the treehouse floor. I sweep the small space in a second. She’s not here.

But the space isn’t empty. Under a rock, in the middle of the floor, is a single sheet of paper. A scrap really.

I recognize the beautiful handwriting as Cam’s.

When you read this, I’ll be on my way to Arizona. I can’t do this. I’m sorry.

I call her again. Nothing. I text her. It won’t go through.

She’s gone.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

find a girl who will tell you how it is

The flight back home has a somber feel to it, and not just because our trip together is over. I have this massive decision looming over me. Forrest gets more anxious about his next exam the closer it gets, and it’s only a handful of days away. He tries to hide it as he supports me, but I want to be able to support him too.

I also want to ask him exactly what he meant when he said we’ll figure things out if I end up taking the job at DCU. Will we do long distance? Will I come back to Massachusetts for school breaks and holidays? Will he move? Can he move? Will we break up and stay friends? Will we… just stop?