Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 71768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
As I took her pinkie in mine, I agreed, but I also doubted in my heart after so much loss in our lives.
Walking her down the aisle was one of the hardest things I’d ever done, and stupidly enough, just as we got to the minister—a butterfly flew overhead, as if to mock me or just prove her right.
I shook away the sad memory and walked by the kitchen window, then froze.
A blue butterfly was just outside the kitchen window, sitting on a flower, its wings flapping slowly.
My throat felt tight as I watched.
Within seconds it was gone.
Within seconds I had tears streaming down my face.
I quickly swiped them from my cheeks, embarrassed that something so small and insignificant could affect me. She’d been right this entire time, hadn’t she? She’d always had so much faith where I looked at facts, and now, now I was the one standing there without her, staring at a butterfly.
“I hope you’re well,” I whispered in a gravelly voice as my phone started buzzing on the counter.
“This is Rip Edison.”
“Hi, Mr. Edison, this is Mrs. Sue, I’m at the school with Ben, um, we’ve been waiting for over an hour, and Colby still hasn’t picked him up. I tried calling several times, and it just goes to voice mail. Could you come grab him?”
Panic surged through me. Where was Colby? Was she OK? She was a lot of things, but she wasn’t flighty enough to forget Ben. Never. “I need to grab Viera from her nap, then I’ll be right there.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Mrs. Sue said. “Do you want me to drop him off? You already signed the paperwork stating I can do that since the funeral…” Her voice trailed off. “Since things have been difficult.”
“Yeah,” I croaked. “Actually that would be great, thank you.”
“No problem! I just didn’t want to do so without your permission. We’ll swing by in a few minutes.”
“Thanks.” I checked my cell. No missed texts, nothing from Colby. My entire body went rigid. I wanted to default to anger because it was easier than the terror I felt that she wasn’t where she’d said she’d be—and that she hadn’t as much as texted.
She’d said earlier that she was going to work on her blog post, had she forgotten the time? It was something she’d do. I hoped to God that she’d just been in the zone, as she put it, because this was—this wasn’t good.
“Unbelievable.” I cursed under my breath and then remembered that Viera was upstairs sleeping. How the hell had Colby forgotten to pick up Ben, they’d had plans, and it had been her idea. The one thing she was supposed to do after grabbing groceries. In the deepest recess of my mind I knew I felt nothing but panic, but the anger was easier to focus on.
Please let it be something stupid.
I checked my phone again.
She was more than an hour late.
I tried calling her. No answer.
And then I called again, and again, and again, and then I finally left a voice mail. “Where the hell are you? Ben was at school waiting for you for an hour! His teacher has to drop him off, Viera’s sleeping, and let me guess, you were saving a turtle as it crossed the road. Or decided to put your phone on silent and got distracted by something at the store. Please tell me that’s the case, Colby. Please. What the hell? We’ve been doing so good, everything’s been perfect. Fuck. Why aren’t you answering? I’m trying not to freak out and I’m sorry I’m coming across as an ass, but I had this nightmare and please just call me back.” I hung up the phone and then went to text messages.
At least then I could see if the message was delivered and read.
I quickly typed one out.
Me:
Call me please.
It said delivered but not read.
I tried again.
Me:
Look, I’m sorry for the voice mail. I’m out of my mind here. You know how Ben gets when nobody shows up. He freaks out and thinks something happened. You can’t fucking do that to him so soon after his parents died. You can’t do that to me, to us.
Again, delivered but not read.
I started to slowly panic as I recalled all the times I’d texted her or called. She’d always answered, she’d always responded.
With a curse I called Banks.
He answered on the first ring. “What up, dude—”
“Is Colby with you?”
“No.” He drew out the word. “She stopped by to put a gift on your desk and then said she was going to the grocery store. I made a joke, she laughed, and then she left.” Leave it to him to remember word for word what had actually happened. “Why?”
“She’s not answering her phone, and she didn’t pick up Ben. He’s been waiting over an hour and obviously upset.”