The Wrong Path - By Vivian Marie Aubin du Paris Page 0,62

some point people came and left until it was just the two of them alone in the small chapel.

“Is it bad?” she asked softly.

He was silent for a moment. “Yeah,” he answered quietly. “It’s bad.”

She didn’t want to make him talk about something that hurt him, but she still needed to ask. “What happened?”

His voice was far away, as though he were watching it unfold before his eyes. “We were eating dinner. She got really pale and started complaining that she didn’t feel well. And then she just… collapsed. The doctor’s say she doesn’t have much time.”

She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Shouldn’t you be with her?” she asked.

“I asked her what she wanted me to do. She said pray. So here I am.”

Tears slid down her cheeks. She squeezed his hand. “You should go see her, Will.”

He shook his head. “You should. I’m sure she’d be happy to see you. And you should go be with Trev—“

“I’m not leaving you.”

The words came out automatically, decisive and final. She knew she should feel bad, or at least feel surprised, but she didn’t. She just wanted to be with Will. And, when a tenseness in his shoulders relaxed and he slumped against the back of the pew, squeezing her hand in response, she knew he was as relieved to hear the words as she was to say them.

There was a vibration between them. Will gave a start, yanking the cell phone out of his pocket. “Dad?” he asked, his voice catching in his throat. His listened for a moment. Annabelle’s heart pounded in her chest as she waited for him to give any indication as to what he was being told. She watched in confusion as he wordlessly ended the call and stared at the phone, his face expressionless.

Then he stood.

“I’ll take you home,” he said quietly.

She let out a sob, glad she was still sitting. It took her several seconds to force her legs to support her weight, as if all the strength had been sucked from her body. Only after she reminded herself that Will needed her to be strong for him—not for him to have to be strong for her—was she able to force herself to stand up and follow him out of the chapel.

They were silent as he drove, except for her occasional sniffle. She was probably cruel not to tell Trevor she had left, but she couldn’t bring herself to call him. She didn’t care if it made her a terrible person or if everyone she knew hated her for it. She wanted to be with Will, and right now, Will needed her.

They climbed out of the car slowly. Annabelle looked up at her empty driveway, then at Will, who stood beside her on the sidewalk with a dull, empty expression on his face, waiting for her to go up to her house.

“Come in,” she requested softly, taking his hand and gently pulling him toward the house.

He looked like he might say no, but he just went, following her up to the house. She unlocked the door and led him up to her room, where together, as though it were the most natural thing in the world, they curled up on her bed, wrapped in each other’s arms.

Chapter Sixteen

“I didn’t go with them after that night, you know.”

She watched as Will’s fingers toyed with hers from her position against his chest on the bed, confused at his sudden admission.

“Who?” she asked, when he didn’t elaborate further. She lifted her head from his shoulder to look up at him.

His eyes were distant as he continued staring at their hands. “My friends. I didn’t go with them again.”

She felt her heart skip a beat as his words slowly sank in. He had listened. Their fight hadn’t been for nothing. Her words really had reached him.

She lowered her head back to his shoulder, her eyes falling closed with relief. He interlaced their fingers, their hands falling to his chest as he turned and sighed against her hair. She smiled slightly at the sensation, pressing closer to him.

She almost groaned at the light ding of the doorbell rang throughout the house. She closed her eyes, willing whoever was at the door to go away.

“Annabelle!” came a call from down the stairs. “Trevor is here.”

Her eyes flew open at her mother’s announcement, her blood running cold. She felt Will go rigid beside her, his fingers tensing almost imperceptibly around her hand.

And then Will pulled away from her, sitting on the