Jake tossed the bat to the ground and made a run for first base, and Betty’s Braves cheered like lunatics as he flew by first and made like hell for second. My attention then shifted back to Noah, who was watching the play with a stunned expression, and I knew right then what had to be done.
I would go to dinner tonight, enjoy what might’ve been, then I’d lock the memory away and that would be the end of that.
20
Laurel
I LOOKED AT my reflection for the millionth time and wondered what the hell I thought I was doing. This wasn’t a good idea on any level. I knew that as well as I knew the sun would come up tomorrow. Yet here I stood in the most expensive dress I owned an hour before I was due to meet with Noah.
I needed to get it together. It wasn’t like this was the first date I’d ever been on. It wasn’t even my first date with Noah. But all afternoon I’d been second-guessing myself, and it didn’t appear that that was going to stop.
Not wanting to sit or spill anything on the silky fabric of the dress, I slipped out of it and pulled my robe on. There, now I could relax a little, or at least try. Maybe I could read a book while I waited. The house was quiet, Jake having gone to Caleb’s as planned. But I had a feeling that even if he was here, the silence would’ve been deafening.
What had happened earlier was still rattling around inside my head. It had been a glaring reminder that Jake was no longer a child and that the two of us needed to have a long-overdue talk. But since that seemed to be the last thing he wanted to do right now, I would wait him out and approach when he seemed ready.
I slipped my UGGs on and scooped up one of the books I’d borrowed from the library earlier this week, then I headed outside to the porch swing at the front of my house.
I settled in and toed the ground, and as the swing began a gentle back-and-forth motion, I curled my legs in under me and opened the book to chapter one. This was better. Much better than obsessing over my upcoming date. But around about ten pages in, the day caught up with me, and my eyes began to flutter shut…
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
The jarring sound of the hotel alarm clock came much quicker than I expected. But considering Noah and I hadn’t fallen asleep until three in the morning, it hardly seemed a surprise that nine o’clock had snuck up on me.
I reached out and hit the snooze button, silencing the damn thing. With the room still dark, I smiled to myself as I thought back to last night’s graduation party and what had happened after, here in this bed.
I stretched beneath the cool sheets, my arms and legs experiencing a brand-new kind of ache this morning, then snuggled in a little longer, determined to live in this moment for as long as I possibly could.
Last night had been the best night of my life. Noah had been sweet, gentle, and made me feel like I’d never felt before. He’d made our first time together one I’d never forget. And when I rolled over to wake him, I was shocked to find the bed beside me…empty. Noah had agreed to drop me back at Mary’s this morning so Mom would be none the wiser, but he hadn’t needed to get up at the crack of dawn. Where was he?
“Noah?”
I scanned the room, but the curtains were still drawn and I couldn’t see him anywhere, so I rolled over and flicked the light on. His cleared-off nightstand caught my attention in an instant, and as the silence in the room became increasingly louder, my heart began to thump a little harder.
“Noah?” I called out again, and when all that met me was absolutely nothing, the hair on the back of my neck rose. “Noah?”
Trying not to think the worst, I racked my brain for a logical reason he wouldn’t be here. But nothing made any sense. His wallet, phone, and clothes were gone. The only thing I could see was his varsity jacket, which I’d thrown over one of the chairs after dancing in it the night before. It was like he’d up and vanished. Never even been here. But my body told me otherwise.
This was not like him. There was no way Noah would just up and leave me here. It was nine o’clock in the morning and he was my way home. So where was he?
Stop it. Stop thinking the worst. But how was I supposed to do that when nothing else made any sense?
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
I all but jumped out of my skin as the alarm cycled around a second time. I reached over to hit it again, and wasn’t at all shocked to hear the plastic crack. My pulse was racing now, my hands shaking, as every possible scenario—all bad—flashed before my eyes.
I quickly threw the covers off and grabbed one of the robes we’d thrown across the end of the bed, then I made a beeline for the bathroom just to double-check.
Empty. Shit.
I ran back to my bag and pulled my cell free.
Maybe he’d called?
Maybe he’d left a text?
But when I swiped at the screen and no notifications appeared, I started to really panic.
I closed my eyes, counted back from ten, and willed myself not to cry.
What was going on? I didn’t understand. Had I been drugged? Had something happened to Noah? He wasn’t the kind of guy who’d sleep with a girl and then leave her to wake up in a hotel room alone.
That wasn’t him. So that could only mean…what? I hit his number and waited. And waited. And waited. When the call finally went to voicemail, I ended it and tried again. Sinking down on the end of the bed, I could feel my head starting to spin and brought my hands up to my face. I was starting to overheat and my hands were all clammy.
I took in several breaths, trying to calm myself, but it was no use. There was absolutely no good reason as to why Noah was gone. Not one. But then the phone finally connected and I shot to my feet. “Hello? Noah?”
“Is this Laurel?” The gruff voice at the other end was definitely not Noah’s, and I was so shocked to hear it that I couldn’t seem to find my words to answer. “I’m going to take your silence as a yes. My name’s Harry. I’m Noah’s father.”
Oh shit, the whole town, including me, knew of—or about—Harry Chamberlin. He was tough, cutthroat, and one hundred percent business. According to Noah, he spared little time for his kids, and any effort he did expend on them was usually to tell them what disappointments they were.
The fact that he was answering Noah’s phone automatically made me think that something bad must’ve happened. But before I could ask, he was talking again.
“I’m going to say this once and hopefully that’ll be enough for you to understand, because after this, the number you’ve been calling will be disconnected. Noah is gone.”
Gone? What did he mean?
“He was recently accepted at one of the finest universities abroad, and is currently on a plane halfway across the ocean. So, this little high school romance of yours? It’s over. It’s time for Noah to live in the real world now, Miss Anderson. I suggest you do the same. Don’t call this number again.”
As the phone went dead, I reached for the wall to steady myself, but it was no use. My knees began to shake, and the next thing I knew, they collapsed out from under me. I fell to the floor, dejected and in shock, then reached for Noah’s jacket and drew it to me. Unable to move, I curled up in the darkness all alone, and as tears ran down my cheeks, I buried my face inside it.