The heavy bag in my hand bangs against my shin, making me wince, and I nearly drop it as tears of anger at myself and this moment and my regrets ambush me with the excuse of pain.
“Chloe?” My heart thrums as I take a long breath through my nose, trying to clear the signs of tears as I look up at the sound of his voice. It’s useless because the relief of having him here only makes more tears build in my eyes, making my vision blurry.
“Are you okay?” Tyler asks, placing a hand on my shoulder.
I blink several more times as I shake my head. “I made a mistake, and Nessie’s upset with me.”
Tyler’s hand runs the length of my arm, stopping at my elbow, where he grips me. “I’m sure it will all be okay.” His eyes shift over me, constantly moving like he can’t focus on any particular spot.
“How did things go with your dad?”
“Chloe, I need to talk to you about something,” he says, licking his lips.
I wish I’d turned down that champagne or that my thoughts weren’t all tangled around the fact I have so few secrets and just this one lie, and somehow everything is combusting at once, distracting me from being able to focus on this moment and this expression that is so unfamiliar and for some reason hauntingly painful. I blow out a shallow breath and nod. “Yeah. Of course.”
His jaw flexes. “First.” He leans forward and kisses me. It’s gentle and sweet and has me leaning into him, wanting more. He brings his forehead against mine for a moment and then takes a step back. “My dad wants me to be his successor. He wants me to train with him and my grandad and prepare to take over the company, possibly as soon as five years from now.” He scoffs, then proceeds to shake his head. “I know it won’t be five years. It probably won’t be for ten years, maybe longer.”
My brows furrow with his apparent annoyance. “Ty, that’s great.”
His jaw flexes again, his eyes boring into mine. “He wants me to learn in London. In England.”
It feels like an earthquake has just hit, and the tectonic plates below us are separating, creating a massive void as I work to understand what this means. “When?”
“Now.”
Tears cloud my eyes as I roll my lips together, recalling this trip and previous conversations of Ty professing his admiration and love for the hotel and his aspirations to one day lead it.
“Wait, now as in … now?”
He nods. “Tell me not to go.”
“What?”
“I will tell him no.”
“You can’t. This is your dream—what you’ve worked so hard for. What you want.”
He closes his eyes, pain tugging at his lips. “I want you.”
I set the gift bag down and lace my hands around his neck. “I am so proud of you, and I care so much about you, but I can’t ask you to give up your future, your dreams. You have to go, Ty.”
His forehead rests against mine again. “We can figure this out.”
I bring my arms down around his waist, holding him so close I think about cold welding again and how, regardless of distance, I know a part of me will be wherever he is.
A car horn blares, and Tyler takes a step back. His eyes rove over my face again, and I realize that he’s working on memorizing me just as I am him.
“I’ll have travel arranged, and if you need anything—anything at all—call me.” His eyes fill with tears, which only makes my tears multiply.
He kisses me again, and it’s too fast and too hard. And then he turns around and heads to the black car idling at the curb.
Behind me, someone says something, but I can’t make out their words because the sound of my heart shattering is echoing in my ears.
30
Chloe
Regardless of the knowledge that he’s gone, I still step into the hotel suite, expecting to find Tyler. Instead, it isn’t only him that’s missing, but all of his things as well. Every stitch of his clothes, his laptop, his cologne, shoes—they’re all gone, and in their place is an envelope with my name scrawled across in his handwriting.
I trace over my name, my nose and eyes burning with more tears. I don’t want to be in here where I can still smell him, still remember our morning in the shower, still feel his touch. At the same point, I want to roll in the bed and soak it all up because the idea of leaving it behind makes my chest ache.
The envelope is thick, too thick to be just a note. A tear slips down my cheek as I open it, finding a stack of hundreds with a paperclip holding a note to the top bill.
These are your winnings. I know you don’t want them, but I thought we’d take them to donate to a shelter or charity tomorrow. I’m sorry I can’t be there to do it with you.
-Ty
A tear splatters across the note, and then another as I realize he made his decision before he requested me to ask him to stay.
I feel so much—too much. My stomach is churning, and my eyes are hot with a flood of tears that has my nose running and my chest aching.
“Chloe,” Nessie says from the doorway. “Where’s Tyler?”
I turn to face her, my throat so constricted I can’t catch a breath to reply. Apparently, she doesn’t need one because she crosses the room and wraps her arms around me, holding me so tight it feels like she’s keeping me from losing everything once again. Her lips brush my cheek, and when a guttural and foreign sound climbs out of my throat, she holds me tighter.
“What happened?” she asks.
“He left.”
Her grip tightens still, and my tears turn into cries, which grow into sobs.
She holds me until sleep finally shows mercy on me and pulls me under its embrace.
The next morning, breakfast is delivered on carts that are filled with an assortment of foods including an entire mountain of chocolate filled croissants. I don’t touch any of them.
A man dressed in a suit stands at the door as they wheel the carts back into the elevator, and it takes me a moment to recognize him as the one who’d told Tyler his dad was here to speak with him yesterday. He struggles to make eye contact with me as he clears his throat. “Mr. Banks has a flight booked this afternoon for you all to fly to SeaTac, where a car will drive you home.” He withdraws a letter from his jacket. “The details for your flight are all included here. We’ll have someone up to pack for you all shortly.”
I head back to the bedroom before the elevator doors can close behind him. My hope that this was a mistake and that Tyler’s going to walk through the elevator is fading. I know he’s already on the other side of the Atlantic—I can feel his loss everywhere.
I glance at the clock, realizing I only have a few hours left in the city. I change quickly and grab the stack of money Tyler left and head back out to the living room.
“I’ll be back in an hour,” I tell them.
“Where are you going?” Nessie asks.
I sniffle as I shake my head. “I don’t know.”
She stands from her seat beside Cooper on the couch. The piece of furniture elicits another memory that cuts me as I realize it wasn’t even a full twenty-four hours ago that Tyler and I were right here in this room, and I told him I loved him.