Incoming call from Chase Everton at 4:19 a.m.
CHASE [4:20AM]
You better answer the fucking phone right now or so help me god I will get in my car and drive to Detroit right now
ELENA [4:22AM]
I’m sorry for calling you last night, but I need you to stop contacting me.
This is over. I’m married.
CHASE [4:24AM]
What the fuck do you mean this is over?
We’re friends Elena
Friends care about each other
Friends worry when their friend’s husbands come home screaming
ELENA [4:26AM]
Please leave me alone.
Then, Tuesday, December 24, 2023
CHASE [9:44AM]
I know I probably shouldn’t say it, but I can’t get you out of my head.
It’s only been two days, and I miss you, Elena.
Then, Wednesday, December 25, 2023
CHASE [6:13AM]
Merry Christmas, Elena.
Then, Wednesday, January 1, 2024
CHASE [12:00AM]
Happy New Year, Elena.
Chapter Nine
CHASE
Now, December 2024
Mom hadn’t let goof my hand since we left Harbor Hall, not even during the hour-long ride home. She’d insisted on sitting in the back seat with me—weird as hell, but I got it. After everything I’d put her through, if holding my hand like I was five again made her feel better, I wasn’t going to argue.
Dad’s truck crunched over the gravel driveway before rolling to a stop. The engine cut off, leaving us in heavy silence. Mom squeezed my fingers one more time before finally releasing them so we could climb out. The December air hit like a slap, and I hauled my sad little duffel bag from the truck bed while Mom hovered nearby like I might disappear between the truck and the front door.
“You must be starving,” she said, already heading for the house. “I’ll make whatever you want.”
“Breakfast for dinner?” The words came out smaller than I meant them to. More like the little boy who used to crawl into her bed during thunderstorms than the fuckup who’d spent the last three months in rehab.
