hard to leave him behind. He said he wanted to make it work, but that was impossible.
My life was in California. My work kept me busy. It wouldn’t make a lot of sense to fly back and forth to Portland or wherever he ended up going. I’d fought for him. I’d tried. Xander had some things to work through and there was nothing more I could do to help him do that.
I texted Nelle to let her know the plane landed. She was already waiting for me.
“Hi,” she greeted me when I made my way to the baggage collection area.
“Hi.”
“You don’t look happy.”
“It’s a long story.”
“I took the night off. We’ll go back to your place and you can tell me everything over a glass or five of wine.”
“Yes, please,” I groaned.
Thirty minutes later, we were sitting on my couch, shoes off, candles burning, and full wine glasses in hand. “Tell me what happened.”
I said a phrase that was becoming a little too familiar. “He’s gone.”
“Will you please stop saying that?” she snapped. “I know he isn’t dead, but the way you say it makes it sound like he is.”
“He’s not coming back,” I clarified.
She shook her head, clearly not getting it. “What do you mean?”
“He is selling his house. He isn’t coming back to California.”
“What?!” she shrieked. “Why? Where is he going? What did you do to the man?”
“I didn’t do anything,” I retorted. “Apparently when he fled here like a thief in the night over the weekend, that was his plan. He has no intention of coming back.”
“Why? He has everything here.”
“I know,” I said. “That’s what I tried to tell him. He doesn’t want to be here with memories of his brother haunting him. The last place he saw his brother was here and it haunts him.”
She slowly nodded. “I get that, but you would think he would want those memories.”
“I guess not everyone likes to live with a ghost.”
“What does that mean for you guys?” she softly asked the question I had yet to figure out the answer to.
“I don’t know. He says he wants to make it work but we both know it won’t. He doesn’t even know where he is going to land. He’s kind of lost and drifting.”
“Why don’t you go with him?”
I almost choked on his wine. “Well, for starters, he didn’t invite me. Then there’s the fact I work here. My job that I have worked very hard at is here. My dad is here. My life is here. I’m not running from any ghosts.”
“But I thought we established you were into this guy,” she said. “Isn’t he worth fighting for?”
I rolled my eyes. “Uh uh. No way. You don’t get to put that on me again. I fought for him. I chased him down, after breaking several laws by the way. I did what I could. I was there for him. I let him know I was here. I have done everything short of shackle myself to him and I have a tiny bit of dignity left. I’m not going to do that.”
“He’s a stubborn guy,” she reasoned. “He needs a little more convincing.”
“I don’t think he has it in him. He’s made up his mind. He knows exactly what he is leaving behind.”
“Maybe he didn’t ask you to go with him because he didn’t think you would want to,” she suggested.
“I don’t want to go with him. I have a job. A job I love. A job I have worked very hard to get to where I am at. I am not going to give all of that up.”
She sipped her wine. I could practically see the little wheels in her brain turning. “If you give up everything to be with him and he wants you to be with him, I don’t think you need to worry about working. He’s ridiculously rich. Why would you work?”
“I am not going to mooch off him,” I said.
“You wouldn’t be mooching. It’s a couple thing. Do you mean to tell me if things work out, you would insist on paying half the rent?”
“Well, no, but that would be different.”
“How?”
“Because we would be a couple,” I answered and then shook my head. “No, I don’t even know if I could do it then. I just don’t know.”
“He has enough money to ensure your grandkids wouldn’t have to work. You cannot tell me that isn’t just a little appealing. I’m not saying you are after him for his money, but this is the real