Page 101 of Objection to Love
That was enough for April, and she dropped the subject.
But Em’s brain wouldn’t drop the subject. It burrowed deep into her mind and seemed to poison every thought until she was sitting in her driveway staring at his name on her phone and clicking “call” against her better judgment.
The lights were on in Garrett’s house, but it was still Noah’s jeep in the driveway. The call went straight to voicemail. But another option had just walked past the front window. Noah already thought she was crazy—why not solidify that notion? After all, April was right, and Em was beginning to believe that for the rest of her life she’d regret not getting to the bottom of Garrett’s sudden absence. This was the first man she’d ever let in. The first man to make her look at life differently. And it felt like a disservice to him to believe that the thoughtful, fun man she’d fallen in love with would discard her without hardly a second thought. Much as it seemed that way.
She slammed her car door and walked up the driveway and across the lawn to Garrett’s. Her heels clipped against the brick steps of his porch with purpose, and in some strange way, the sound bolstered her confidence. It was the sound of a powerful woman walking into the courtroom. But it could also be the sound of a woman in love fighting for her man.
Oh, man, that was overdoing things a bit, wasn’t it?
Nah. It really wasn’t.
Noah opened the door with the same surprised expression as last time, but this time, Em asked if she could come in. He nodded and stepped back, making room for her to pass.
He closed the screen door but propped the main door open after she passed him, letting in the warm evening air and the occasional sound of a car driving by. “Want something to drink?” he asked, though he sounded confused.
“No. Thanks.” She spun to face him in the living room. “I wanted to ask you a few things.”
“Okay. Shoot.” He passed her and dropped onto Garrett’s couch. Em had no choice but to follow and seat herself on the edge of the loveseat.
“Why isn’t Garrett answering my calls?” Might as well cut straight to the chase.
Noah’s eyebrows shot up. “Well, I’d guess it’s because he lost his phone. Why are you calling him though? He said you broke up.”
“We did. But I… I need to talk to him. I can’t get ahold of him, and I probably won’t ever see him again if he doesn’t answer my calls. But… you said he lost his phone?”
Noah nodded, eyeing her curiously. “Yeah. At the airport. He emailed me to let me know.”
Okay. This was good. Really good. “Does he have a new number? Can you give it to me?”
“No, sorry.”
Em sucked her cheeks in. “I imagine he asked you not to? Guess that’s my answer then. Sorry for bothering you, Noah.” She started to stand, but Noah’s laugh caused her to stop, her hands on the cushions beneath her, prepping to push off.
“No, I mean I can’t give you his new number, because he doesn’t have one. I’m guessing he’s waiting till he gets home.”
Em searched Noah’s lighthearted expression for some explanation of what he meant. “You’ve lost me. Isn’t home Texas now? Why would he wait to get a phone?”
Noah laughed outright. “Texas? Not that I know of. Unless this trip is a house-hunting trip, which he told me it was a work thing, so I think the chances of that are slim, then there’s no way he’s moving to Texas.”
Em was starting to feel dumb because she wasn’t following this explanation at all. It pained her to have to ask more questions for clarification. “But you said he was in Texas.”
“Yes. For a work thing.”
“You didn’t say he was coming back.”
It wasn’t a question, but Noah shrugged. “You didn’t ask, and you left pretty fast last time. Sorry.”
Em looked away for a minute, trying to figure it all out. It was then she noticed something. Garrett’s pictures on the wall. She looked back to where Noah sat, onGarrett’scouch. She turned to look at the kitchen. Which had Garrett’s table and chairs and another of his pictures.
“Now that I’ve answered all of your questions,” Noah’s voice brought her head back around to look at him, “I have some for you. Why are you so interested in Garrett? I thought you broke up.”
“I already told you we did. I want to talk to him.”
“Why?”
Em met his eyes. For the first time in the limited time she’d known the guy, they were completely serious as he watched her intently. A lot of reasons flitted through her head. Easy, superficial reasons for why she might want to talk to Garrett. But something in her made it impossible to lie now. About this.
“Because I made a huge mistake. I thought I had my life all figured out… but… well, the only important thing now is that I was wrong. Stupid wrong, really.”
