I nodded, grateful for his thoughts. But it didn’t matter when Savannah didn’t see it the same way.
“Get somewhere safe,” he called out as he turned.
“Goodnight, sir,” I said, stare drawn to the house. To where my wife and kids were.
My entire world.
With a jagged exhale, I started back up the drive and over to where my truck was hidden on the side of the house. Each night I’d left had torn a part of my soul, but this was different.
Putting Savannah’s rings in my pocket, I pulled out my phone and climbed into my truck. Movements slow as I brought up the messages and ignored the impulse to go to Savannah’s text thread.
Going to Sawyer’s instead, I scrolled through to where he’d sent Cayson’s number a few weeks back, then saved it to my phone before tapping out a message.
Each word seeming to take forever. My hands shaking. Body vibrating with all that pain and anger storming through me.
Me: Cays, it’s Beau.
Me: How much to buy the condo from y’all?
My hand clenched tight around the phone when I sent the last message. My heart wrenching from my chest and leaving a void.
“Fuck,” I shouted, throwing my phone against the door and letting my head fall back against the seat as everything crumbled around me.
Tears falling relentlessly because I was losing her.
My wife.
My wife.
My entire world.
“God damnit,” I said through clenched teeth as I cranked the engine and quickly slammed my truck into reverse. Needing to get out of there before I made things worse by going back into the house and demanding Savannah talk to me.
Trying to force her to talk tonight had led to her giving me her rings.
I was terrified she’d ask for a divorce the next time.
I already didn’t know how to survive this grief that seemed to be pulling me down into a hollow of torment. I wasn’t sure there was any surviving what came next.
But when I pulled up in front of the condo, everything hit me all over again.
I’d spent half of my life saving to buy the plantation house, sure it would one day be mine and Savannah’s. Knowing I would do anything to make that dream come true—that it would be the only house I would ever buy.
But our house and business was apparently only Savannah’s now, and I was staring at the place I’d been crashing at for weeks and was about to make permanent because of a thirteen-year-old mistake.
Because I was losing my wife.
My family.
I gripped at the fierce ache in my chest as I opened up my door and got out of the truck, snatching my phone off the floorboard as I did. There wasn’t a response from Cayson but there was a small crack in the corner of the screen from where I’d thrown it. And I wondered again what Savannah must’ve done to absolutely shatter hers.
Regardless, between that and her refusing to talk to me in person, I’d understood: Stop calling. Stop texting.
So, I had.
And then I’d pushed her too far.
I made it up the walkway and into the condo, each step taking all my energy when I felt so weighed down and hollow at the same time. My body sagging against the door for long minutes as that harrowing moment played out in my mind, over and over like an unbidden nightmare.
Pushing forward, I trudged over to the dining room table and fell heavily into one of the chairs before pulling Savannah’s rings out and setting them down. The sound of them hitting the wood clawed at my soul and tore me open as I wondered how I was supposed to fix it.
She’d ignored me completely for two weeks. Then a few days near her, hardly saying a word, had resulted in this new hell. Trying to talk to her felt like a death sentence to our marriage. Giving her space seemed like I was accepting what she wanted—what she’d said.
“No, this is losing your wife.”
I glanced up when a key sounded in the lock for the second night in a row, struggling to control the desperation and fear and suffering I could feel pouring from me as the door opened and the lights flipped on.
“Beau,” Sawyer called out, but Cayson was the first one to come into my line of sight, head shifting my way and shoulders sagging with a heavy sigh.
“This isn’t the time for Dixie Chicks,” I said, the words scraping up my throat and showing every ounce of my pain.
“Yeah, well, that was some S-O-S text,” Cayson said as he and Sawyer started my way just as the door shut.
My stare drifted past them in time to see Hunter come into view. Expression all kinds of guarded as he studied me as if waiting for me to go off on him.
“Forever,” he muttered. “I heard you. But we told you we’d be there for you.”
“And that means telling you that you can’t buy the condo,” Cayson said as he took a seat at the table. “You and Savannah are gonna figure this out. I told you, just be patient.”
My head moved in fast, tight jerks as I slid my hand forward on the table, the metal and diamonds scraping against the wood. “We’re not,” I confessed, lifting my hand and closing my eyes to block out the way their faces fell in unison. “She’s done.”
“I was thinking we could meet up with the boys tomorrow for Amber Fest,” Madison went on, never stopping from her ramble even though she’d changed the subject three times, “and then after, maybe we could spend the night at each other’s houses because I may have heard the Dixon house is going to be parent-free tomorrow.” She gave me a bright smile, looking all kinds of proud of herself.
I sucked in a small breath as I glanced up at Beau from where I was tucked into his side, pressing my hand to his stomach as I spoke to get his attention from Hunter. “Your parents are gonna be gone tomorrow night?”
Beau just looked down at me, a slow, wicked smirk tugging at his mouth as his dark blue eyes held mine. “Got plans?”
I bit at my bottom lip to hide the ridiculous smile on my face as hummingbirds took flight in my stomach. “Guess we’ll see.”
A rumble of disbelief rolled up his throat. “Uh-huh.”
I gripped at his football jersey as pure excitement swept through me, then focused on Madison as I began the process of responding to her. “One, you’re not gonna change my mind. Coffee is meant to have creamer or something else in it. Two, you’re absolutely insane, you have that routine nailed. Madi, you’re one of the best on the squad. And I say one of because I’m out there,” I said jokingly, complete with a dramatic flip of my long ponytail.
She pushed at my shoulder, a wild laugh tumbling free. “Brat.”
“Three—I forgot what three was,” I mumbled as I tried to think back to her long-winded, totally Madi-esque ramble.
“I asked if you’ve seen my that.”
“Oh right, your that,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “Except, I don’t know what that you’re talking about.”
“Her cheer jacket,” Hunter said from Beau’s other side.
My mouth popped open, but the answer stalled in my throat. “How does he do that?” I asked on a whisper instead.
“Friend, I have no idea,” she said just as softly. “But it makes my life a whole lot easier.”
“With all your this and thats?” I teased, dancing away when she playfully swatted at me. Once I was back by Beau’s side, I said, “I dunno where your jacket is. Have you checked Hunter’s bedroom?”