When We Left

by Elena Aitken

  “It’s okay.” She untangled herself from her friend. “I mean, he’s obviously busy, so…” She shrugged instead of finishing the sentence. “But on the plus side, maybe I’ll be able to sleep over tonight after all.”

  Jess’s eyes lit up and she clapped her hands together. “Do you think so? Really?”

  “Maybe. I’ll call my mom.”

  She knew before her mom even answered the phone that she would say yes to the sleepover. No doubt, she’d feel so bad for Morgan that her dad was an asshole who couldn’t be bothered to visit her that she would have agreed to almost anything. Plus, she’d been good lately, doing all the things she was supposed to be doing and not being a total bitch to her mom.

  At least not as often anyway.

  Jess waited expectantly as Morgan made the call and explained to her mom that her dad had cancelled on her. “So,” Morgan said when her mom stopped trying to convince Morgan that her dad still loved her, blah blah blah, “I was thinking that maybe I could sleep over at Jess’s house tonight instead. I mean, I’ll spend the day with you tomorrow if you want, but I thought maybe…”

  “Yes,” her mom said. “That’s a good idea. As long as it’s okay with her mom?”

  “Yeah?” Morgan gave Jess the thumbs-up. “I mean, it’s totally okay with her mom.” Jess nodded. “And it’s okay with you? I mean, really?”

  “Yes,” her mom said again. “I think it’s great that you’re making friends and while I’d still really like to meet Jess, I used to know her mom and if it’s fine with her, I’m sure it’ll be good.”

  “And you won’t be lonely?” Morgan wasn’t sure where it had come from, but she was suddenly consumed with worry for her mom, who hadn’t spent an evening alone since the separation. It had always been the two of them. “Because if you’re going to be—”

  “Morgan, I’ll be fine. The girls are in town so maybe I’ll spend the night at Christy’s and have a sleepover myself.” Her mom laughed, and it was actually a nice sound to hear. It had been a really long time since her mom had laughed. Maybe this stupid small town was actually good for both of them.

  Morgan dismissed the thought as soon as it popped into her head. Just because she didn’t hate everything about the town didn’t mean she had to like it.

  “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

  “Sounds good. I love you.”

  She knew her mom was waiting for her to say it back. Instead, she mumbled a good-bye and hung up before turning to Jess again. “I guess you should tell Jason we’ll both be there tonight.”

  Chapter Eight

  To Cam’s surprise, sitting cross-legged in Christy’s living room, drinking wine with her girlfriends, felt like the most normal thing in the world. It felt as if it hadn’t been over a decade since they’d had a sleepover, or even all been in the same room with each other.

  “So.” Cam poured another glass of wine in Drew’s glass and passed Amber the bottle. “You’ve heard all about my drama.”

  “Well, not all of it.” Drew grinned. She’d made a few comments that indicated she was still waiting for an answer about what was going on with Evan, but Cam wasn’t ready to talk about it, so just as she had been doing, she ignored the comment.

  “I think we should hear about someone else.” Cam purposely didn’t meet Drew’s gaze. “Amber? Have you made partner yet?”

  Amber was the most career driven out of all of them and always had been. Since Cam could remember, Amber had her sights set on a high-powered law career and she’d never wavered from her plan, going right into an undergraduate degree, and then straight to law school. She’d always been top of her class and it didn’t surprise anyone when she landed the job of her dreams at a top law firm in San Francisco.

  “Not yet,” Amber said. “But soon. In fact, I’ve been putting in a ton of extra hours lately because the partners are looking at everyone really closely and there’s an opportunity to make partner coming up. I know they’re going to pick me. I mean, how can they not? I live and breathe McLean, Paterson, and Dewitt. The spot is mine.”

  “Sounds like soon it will be McLean, Paterson, Dewitt, and Monroe.” Christy held up her glass of sparkling water to toast. “That’s so great, Amber. I know you’ve been wanting this forever.”

  “I have.” She clinked glasses with Christy and each of the other women in turn. “And it’s so close now, I can almost feel it. You know what I mean?”

  Cam shrugged. She’d never wanted anything that much. Well, at least not a career. “I’m happy for you, Amber. I mean, if you’re happy, that’s all that matters.”

  “And I am.” She leaned back and crossed her long, lean legs. She was still every bit as striking as she’d been as a teenager. The years hadn’t touched her as far as her model-thin body and long, dark hair went. She was still gorgeous enough to be a model. But when she looked close, Cam could see the strain around her friend’s eyes. She looked tired, although Cam would never say it.

  “Are you happy happy?” Christy grinned. “Is there anyone special in your life? Come on, I’m an old married woman and I need to live vicariously through you.”

  There was something laced under Christy’s words, but Cam couldn’t put her finger on it. Christy and Mark had always been an affectionate couple. Even in high school, they couldn’t keep their hands off each other and were often the source of teasing, although secretly, they all thought Christy and Mark were the very definition of relationship goals.

  “I hate to disappoint you, Christy.” Amber shrugged and drank deeply. “I’m not seeing anyone right now.”

  “Right now?” Drew prodded. “Does that mean you were seeing someone?”

  Amber shook her head. “No. There’s no time.”

  “There’s always time for sex.” Once again, there was something in Christy’s voice. Cam examined her friend, but didn’t say anything. “Please don’t tell me that as the only one of us who’s single you aren’t taking advantage of that status.”

  Amber shrugged again, and looked into her glass. “I’m not. Really, there’s no time for a relationship or…anything else,” she said pointedly to Christy. “My career comes first. It always has. You know that.”

  “I know,” Christy said. “But I just thought…well, don’t you get lonely?”

  Amber laughed. “No way.” She reached around her back and dug into her leather laptop case that was never far from her. “Remember these?” She held up a romance novel, the kind that came out monthly in the grocery store with the sexy man chest on the cover.

  Drew squealed and lunged for the book. “You’re still reading these?”

  When they were in high school, Amber had discovered a stash of romance books under her mom’s bed and devoured them. To her delight, the stack was consistently replenished as her mom bought new titles every month. She’d shared them with the rest of the girls, but none of the others had been quite as obsessed with them as Amber. It didn’t take long for the books to become a permanent fixture in Amber’s presence. Mixed in along with all the textbooks she always had her head buried in were always at least a few romance novels. The sexier, the better as far as Amber was concerned.

  “Books are good,” Christy insisted. “But it’s not the same. You really don’t want to date anyone?”

  Amber shook her head, but Cam was sure she noticed the slightest bit of hesitation in her. “Nope. It’s career first,” she said. “Besides, you know I’m not the only single one here anymore.” Amber deftly shifted the focus of the conversation back to Cam, who immediately jumped up from the floor.

  “Oh, I don’t think so. I don’t think you can consider me single. It’s not the same thing.” She moved to the shelf on the other side of the room and grabbed another bottle of wine and the corkscrew. “I’m not even officially divorced yet.”

  “But you will be soon,” Amber said with an evil grin. “And then you can be the one these two look to for their illicit love affair fix.”

  Cam burst out laughing.
“I hardly think that as a mother of a teenage girl I’ll be having any kind of love affair. At least not any time soon.”

  “What about Evan?” It was Drew who asked. Of course it was. “What’s going on there, Cam?”

  “Yeah, Cam.”

  “Spill,” Christy joined in. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”

  Cam spun around so quickly she almost spilled the wine. “How does he look at me?”

  “Aha!” Drew jabbed a finger at her and laughed. “I knew there was something there.”

  Of course there was something there. It was Evan. Her first love. Maybe her only real love. Sure, she’d loved Ryan. But it was different. So different. And seeing Evan again after all the time that had passed felt so…natural. And completely foreign all at the same time.

  “He’s a good guy.” The words sounded lame and completely inadequate even to her own ears. “He’s changed a lot. But so have I. And I’m not looking for anything. Not right now. I mean, I have way too much going on with everything. I can’t even begin to think about a new relationship. I really need to focus on myself and Morgan right now. I just can’t deal with any of that right now.”

  “But it’s not completely off the table?” Drew asked directly.

  “No.” A small smile crossed Cam’s lips. “It’s definitely not completely off the table.”

  “Oh! I knew it! I knew there was something going on between you two. It’s just a matter of time before…” Christy made a kissing sound and Cam threw a pillow at her.

  “Don’t get too ahead of yourselves.” The laugh on Cam’s lips faded and she stared into her wine. “Don’t forget he left me once. A girl doesn’t just forget something like that.”

  Christy scooted over to her and put her arm around Cam’s shoulders. “That was a long time ago.”

  “It was.” She looked up into her friend’s eyes. “But I still don’t know why he left like that. I thought everything was perfect. We were going to get married and be together forever and then…”

  He’d left. The pain in her chest was still as raw as it was all of those years ago.

  “He’s never said anything?” Cam only shook her head to Amber’s question. “Well.” Amber slapped her hand on her thigh. “I think it’s way past time you asked him, don’t you?”

  Evan’s shift had been slow, but that wasn’t unusual in Timber Creek. Even for a Friday night. Just a few routine traffic stops, a report of a domestic disturbance, and a regular visit to the End of the Road, where he’d been relieved to see that Cam wasn’t working. As far as he could tell, Tommy hadn’t been lying when he said Cam would primarily be working the day shifts. Evan knew the day shift probably didn’t pay as well, but he was relieved that she was staying away from the rough bar during the night hours.

  The urge to protect her had never gone away. If anything, he reflected, it had only grown stronger with the passing years, especially now that she was back in town.

  He leaned his head back against the seat of his cruiser and closed his eyes for a moment.

  Having dinner with her the other night had been something he’d never even let himself daydream about over the years. It had always been easier to tell himself he’d never see her, let alone have a date with her.

  But he had.

  And it had been…different. But familiar all at the same time. More importantly, she hadn’t closed him out the way she had been doing. Maybe after all the time that had passed, they finally stood a chance to be together. He wasn’t going to pretend that it wasn’t what he wanted.

  Not for a minute.

  Bored, and needing to move, Evan put his car into gear and steered it through the quiet streets of Timber Creek. He contemplated stopping into the Log and Jam to grab a coffee and have a chat with Ben, but having a cop sitting at the bar wasn’t usually good for business, so instead, he went to the Stop n’ Shop gas station and bought one of their famously tar-like substances that they passed off as coffee.

  It was a nice night, so instead of getting back into his car, Evan leaned against the hood and pulled an envelope out of his breast pocket. The letter had arrived yesterday, but superstitious and worried about the contents, he’d put off opening it.

  “No time like the present.” He sighed and tore open the top. He pulled the paper out and held it, expecting the worst. Evan had sent off the application form almost six months ago. He’d almost forgotten about it.

  Almost.

  It wasn’t something he’d told anyone about. Only a handful of people even knew that Evan had applied for college. It was such a long shot, as far as Evan was concerned, that there was no point getting anyone’s hopes up, especially his. He wasn’t even sure that it was something he could do. School wouldn’t be cheap, and taking out a student loan and managing mortgage payments probably wouldn’t go well. Besides, he really did love his job. Even so, more and more, Evan was thinking that there were other things he could and should be doing with his life. Bigger things that could have more meaning.

  He took a deep breath and was about to unfold the paper when his radio crackled to life.

  “Go ahead, Gladys.”

  “I hope you’re not too busy, Evan.” He could practically hear the laughter in the woman’s voice on the other end. They both knew there wasn’t much going on, and they both liked it that way.

  “I’m sure I can spare a few minutes for whatever you’ve got for me, Gladys.”

  “Well, how about a drive out to the Sinclairs’ place.”

  “Again?” Evan sighed and stuffed his unopened letter back into the envelope and back into his pocket. It would have to wait until later. “They out of town again?”

  “I’m starting to think they should either give us a copy of their travel schedule or hire a babysitter for that kid of theirs.”

  Evan laughed. “He’s not a bad kid.”

  “Tell that to his neighbors. I’ve had two noise complaints already.”

  “I’m on it, Gladys,” Evan said into his radio. “And you’re right, it wouldn’t hurt to have a talk with Scotty and Ash next week. They either don’t know about these parties, or just don’t care.”

  “I’ll withhold sharing my opinion with you on that.”

  Evan shook his head and climbed back into his cruiser. He knew the way to the Sinclairs’ place all too well. Their teenage son, Jason, was starting to become a familiar face for his late-night weekend shifts due to his parties that were becoming a bit too frequent.

  The Sinclair property was on the edge of town in a newer development where the heavily treed lots gave the illusion of being secluded, but in reality, there were neighbors right on the other side of those trees. And according to Jason’s neighbors at least, the trees did nothing to deaden the sound of teenagers partying.

  Evan expected to see a lot of cars in the driveway the way he normally did, but there were only a few.

  Maybe Gladys was wrong. There certainly didn’t seem to be a party going on.

  But the moment he stepped from the car, the blast of the music hit him. He shook his head and made his way to the front door.

  The Sinclairs’ house was built for parties, with a beautifully landscaped backyard complete with fire pit and hot tub, and, of course, outdoor sound system. He shook his head with a laugh. If he were a teenage Jason, he could see that it would be very hard to resist the temptation to have regular parties there. He rapped on the door.

  No answer.

  Not surprised, he knocked again and rang the bell.

  Still no answer.

  It wasn’t the first time. Evan had told Jason more than once that the neighbors would likely be a whole lot happier with him if he kept the music down, or at the very least, kept his little get-togethers—Jason refused to call them parties—inside where they wouldn’t bother anyone.

  But the kid didn’t listen. Not that he would have at that age either. Evan wouldn’t listen to much of anything when he was a kid. Except that one time, when not only did he hear the one thing th
at would change the entire direction of his life, but he listened.

  It had always been his hope that one day he might have the same type of impact on a kid just like him.

  Somehow, he didn’t think it was going to be Jason Sinclair. At least not on that particular night.

  Evan left the porch and followed the pathway to the backyard. Just as he’d expected, the party was taking place outside.

  But what he hadn’t expected was the number of kids. Instead of the usual twenty to thirty, there were only a handful. First glance told him they were paired off in couples.

  Perfect. It was that kind of party.

  Evan hadn’t been noticed yet, so he took a moment to scan the yard, looking for the host. The kids were all about Morgan’s age and the question crossed his mind if she’d ever be at a party like this one. It wasn’t totally off base. After all, Timber Creek was a small town, and just as when he’d been a kid, there wasn’t much to do to stay entertained. Of course, if he ever found Morgan in this situation, he’d—

  What? He’d what? It’s not as if Morgan were his daughter. It wasn’t his job to tell her what she should and should not be doing. It was his job to break up parties, regardless of who was attending.

  And that’s exactly what he was going to do.

  With a sigh, Evan locked onto the boy who was in the hot tub. Jason Sinclair. He might as well go directly to the source. Of course Jason had a female companion, but it wasn’t until he got closer that the kid moved to the side and Evan could see the back of a female head. A head that looked very much like Morgan’s.

  Before Evan had time to fully process what he was doing, he’d closed the distance between him and the hot tub and had both hands on Jason’s arms. “Get your hands off her.” With a strength that should have been impressive, he hauled the kid out of the hot tub and spun him around.