Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 108124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
“Fine. Go. Do what you have to do. I’ll tell anyone who asks that you’re under the weather.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“I hope this is all worth it, son.”
“She is. She’s the one.”
Two hours later, I was sitting on a flight to South Carolina, waiting to take off. I’d called Presley a dozen times, but each time it went straight to voicemail. I hit redial one more time, but the same thing happened. No ring—right to voicemail. So at least she wasn’t ignoring her phone; it was probably off. The flight attendant came on overhead to say the cabin door was now shut, and we’d be taxiing for takeoff momentarily. All personal devices needed to be turned off and put away. I was just about to switch my phone to airplane mode when it vibrated with an incoming message. I’d hoped it was Presley, telling me she’d landed okay and saw all my missed calls, but it wasn’t. It was my mother.
Mom: Tanner knows Presley left. The front desk told him she checked out. I think he might be heading back to South Carolina.
CHAPTER 33
* * *
Presley
Last night after Shelby and I talked, I’d booked a flight home and turned off my phone. Then when I got up this morning, I’d realized that while I’d plugged the cord into my phone, I hadn’t actually plugged the other end into the wall socket. So my cell was dead, and my flight had been so early that I didn’t have time to deal with it. Luckily, my plane had been a newer one, and there were outlets at each seat for me to charge it, even if I couldn’t turn it on during the flight.
The minute I got off the plane and turned on my phone, messages started pouring in. All from Tanner. I knew before I read the first one that it wasn’t going to be good news. I needed to take a minute to see what had caused the influx of messages, but my gut told me to do it in private. So I stopped Alex as we passed a restroom just outside our gate.
“Honey, I need to run to the bathroom. Could you wait right out here for a minute?”
“Okay.”
I wagged my finger at him. “Don’t wander off.”
He rolled his eyes. “Yes, Mom.”
Once I was alone in the ladies’ room, I took a deep breath and opened the text chain.
Tanner: WHORE
Oh God. My heart started to race as I scrolled down to read the rest of them.
Tanner: How could you?
Tanner: My brother?
Tanner: My fucking brother?
Tanner: Where the hell are you?
Tanner: Were you that desperate to get laid?
Tanner: He’s using you, you know.
Tanner: He’s always wanted anything I had. It’s all a game to him.
Tears welled in my eyes.
Tanner: I hope you aren’t fooling yourself thinking you were anything special. He’s got a girl in every city.
The texts went on and on. They seemed to jump back and forth between angry and sad. Some were both:
Tanner: I’ve loved you since the eighth grade. How THE FUCK can you do this to us?
But the last text freaked me out the most.
Tanner: I’m coming to find you.
Tears streamed down my face. God, how did he even find out? And what the heck do I do now? I wanted to curl into a ball, but my son was waiting outside alone. So I splashed some water on my face in an attempt to compose myself so I wouldn’t worry Alex. But I was so rattled that even the sound of my own phone ringing scared the crap out of me. I jumped and bobbled it in my hands. I couldn’t get a good grip on the damn thing. It wound up smacking against the side of the sink before hitting the floor with a loud clank.
Shit.
When I bent and picked it up, the screen had shattered. Worse, it would no longer turn on. I sighed. While I was upset, maybe a broken phone was the best thing for me right now. My eight-year-old son was standing outside, and I needed to get us home without falling apart. So I took a few deep breaths, smoothed down my blouse, and went back out into the airport.
Luckily, Alex was too busy playing a game on his iPad to even notice my red nose. “Come on, honey. Let’s go home.”
***
Hours later, I was back at The Palm Inn and unpacked, but still very much on edge. I’d used the house phone to call Levi and Shelby, but both went straight to voicemail. They were probably together at Jim’s jersey-retirement ceremony, where I hoped Tanner was, too. But his last text kept playing over and over in my head. I’m coming to find you. Every time a guest walked in or out, I practically jumped through my skin. I kept expecting it to be Tanner.