a blabbermouth.
“I’m not going to say a word!” he yells at my back. “And I would really appreciate it if you would keep our little secret!”
I don’t say anything, not trusting myself to be kind.
“Seriously, Toni! You can count on me! I won’t tell anyone you’re pregnant! Not a soul! Not that it’s really a secret anymore!”
I pause for a minute with my thumb hovering over the keypad to the next door. I can’t believe he’s actually making a joke about this. Like it isn’t my entire completely messed-up life that he’s talking about.
I press the PIN code and open the door when the lock disengages. Stepping through, I stare down onto the first floor of the warehouse. May and Thibault are loading up the van with the photography and video equipment. May’s about to go do the job that I should be doing, Dev is behind me making fun of my messed-up life, and my boss and mentor is punishing me, forcing me to work behind a desk just because I’m pregnant. Ozzie, the one guy I thought I could count on, is pretending everything is completely normal, like he’s not stabbing me in the back. I don’t know who he thinks he’s fooling, but it’s not me.
I run down the steps, almost falling in my hurry to get to the bottom. I stride over to my car and get inside, slamming the door shut. Thibault is looking at me strangely and May is waving goodbye as she frowns. I ignore both of them, pulling out of the warehouse with screeching tires. I don’t give a single shit that I just left rubber behind. Screw this place. I’m not working at a stupid desk when I should be out in the field.
I take off out of the port with no destination in mind, but I’m not really surprised when twenty minutes later I find myself at the place where it all started, the place that used to be an empty lot where a beautiful man stood as a boy shooting cans off a barrel with his BB gun.
There’s a parking lot here now. I eye a spot in the farthest corner and slide my car into it, putting the vehicle in park and turning off the ignition. I rest my arms on my steering wheel and drop my head to the center, letting the tears come.
I used to have a plan. I used to know exactly who I was and what I was all about. Now I have no idea what I’m going to do with the rest of my life. Hell, I don’t even know what I’m going to do for the next minute of it. So I just cry. And I cry, and cry, and cry . . .
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
I’ve been reduced to hiccups. All the tears I’m capable of manufacturing have fallen onto my steering wheel. A tapping on the glass at my left ear wakes me out of my stupor. I twist my head slightly to the left so I can see who’s there. The gorgeous face of Chance “Lucky” Larieux is staring back at me. He frowns, as if commiserating with me.
“Go away,” I say with my tear-soaked, raspy voice.
“Not going to do that. Open up.” Sand and gravel crunch under his feet. When I turn to look again, he’s gone. But then there’s a noise on my right. Lucky is standing at the front passenger window.
He points to the corner of the door, gesturing to a spot where the lock would be if this car had been manufactured in a prior decade. “Let me in. I just want to talk.”
I sit back in my seat and stare at the ceiling, exhausted by nearly a half hour of crying. Hunting by touch, I find and use the automatic button by my left hand to give him access. Seconds later, he’s sitting in the seat next to me, staring at me with so much concern in his eyes it almost makes me start to cry again.
“Babe . . . why are you so sad?”
My lips tremble as I battle not to cry any more. “I can’t believe you’re asking me that.”
He gives me a sad smile. “Probably the dumbest question I’ve ever asked, huh?” He puts his finger up to his temple and pulls an imaginary trigger.
I nod. I don’t feel like smiling, but his mea culpa does make me feel a little better.
“I knew I would find you here.” He leans forward a bit