Shock - Marie Johnston Page 0,35
a big test in medical school.
“Yes, sorry. I meant to send a reply but got busy going over coordinates. Going a little later will be no problem. I’m ready when you are.”
Dammit. She’s the one who had to do all the planning for this. And of course, she’s being cool about it. She’s Lia. And I still have to cancel on her. “So, Cass hardly got any sleep last night. She asked if I could watch Jayden for a few hours this afternoon. I’m sorry, but I can’t make it.”
“Oh no, it’s no problem.” Her voice is steady but there’s more than a hint of disappointment. “I totally understand. He comes first.”
I don’t want to give up the entire day with Leah. Cass only asked for a few hours. I doubt she’ll leave him with me much longer. “You want to come over later tonight?”
More silence. “Are you…are you sure?”
Right. The friends with benefits thing. I’m not asking for the benefits now. I want her company because I was looking forward to our date.
“We could catch a movie or something,” I offer instead, so she doesn’t think I’m inviting her over to get laid. I looked forward to geocaching. It was new and unusual. But now the stereotypical movie date sounds even better. Whatever can keep me from canceling on Lia.
“We don’t exactly have the same taste in movies,” she says wryly.
No, we don’t. I like classics and she likes superhero action movies. Which I like too, only in the movie theater. My screen at home doesn’t do them justice.
“I can compromise.”
She chuckles. “All right. Why don’t you message me when Cass picks him up? I should be back by then.”
“You’re going out anyway?” It’s my turn to be disappointed, but Lia isn’t the type to stay at home and wait. She might’ve with Samuel, but not with me. I respect her for it. At the same time I dislike Samuel even more.
“Might as well. This is probably what I would’ve been doing anyway,” she says lightly. She might feel the same way I do about the date, but she’s getting on with her life, on her terms. Unlike Cass, Lia won’t anchor herself to a guy and try to destroy his life to make a point.
She’ll just leave.
The thought lines my gut with anxiety. My life is rooted here. My job is here. I could be a paramedic anywhere, but Sunnyville EMS gave me a position as soon as I stepped foot in town again and said I needed a job. I can’t ignore that kind of loyalty. Mom is here, and Cass followed me here, and by some miracle, she stayed after our breakup, claiming it was a better place to raise a kid than LA. Whatever happened between us, whatever she’s done to me with regards to our son, she’s here. I won’t leave again.
Lia has no one here but herself. She can go anywhere in the world.
I need to remember that before fate strikes with brutal irony and I’m the one left wanting more.
Lia
If I look at my phone one more time, I’m going to throw it off the edge of this trail.
I’m hiking back toward my car, my trail shoes crunching in the dirt. I found my cache hidden on the outer edges of one of the local vineyards and logged my information, but despite the brilliant green views of grape vines as far as the eye can see, nothing about this afternoon has been exactly fun.
By the time I get back to the car and land in a sweaty heap behind the wheel, my phone is still silent. I double-check the reception, which was spotty on the trail, but I have all my bars.
I check the time. Four hours have passed since Ford called.
I took my time hiking, then meandered over the trail through the vineyards. I spent even more time perusing all the other call signs written in the cache’s logbook and tried to guess the story behind all the trading objects they’d left behind.
My trading object is bandages. Fun ones. My call sign is Emergency Girl. Today, I left behind an emoji bandage and the souvenir I took was a simple mood ring. According to the ring I’m feeling warm and loving, but I think the California sun has more to do with the color change. I doubt there’s a ring color for feeling let down.
Ford said a couple of hours, but it’s clearly taking longer. My brain wants to revert to