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Cole – Present Day
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LIKE EVERYONE ELSE in the parking lot, I knew I was staring, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to stop.
“Gabi?” I repeated, not knowing what else to say.
“Cole,” she replied, appearing as shocked as I felt. “What are you doing here?”
“Here as in Willowbrook Falls, or here as in the parking lot?”
“Umm, Willowbrook, I guess.”
“I was released three months ago. I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”
She nodded and pushed her hair from her face, the roots damp with perspiration. Her hair was still the mass of spiral curls I’d always remembered, though she wore it shorter now than she had when we were teenagers. Other than that, she looked exactly the same to me—hardly a day older.
Well, except for the missing limb, of course.
I nodded down at her leg. “What happened?”
Her lips thinned. “I don’t really want to talk about it standing on the sidewalk, Cole. I think people have seen enough of my business for one day.”
“Okay, so let me buy you a coffee. We can talk then.”
But she shook her head and my heart sank. “No. I don’t want to talk about it, full stop. I just want to get what I came for and go home.”
She glanced over her shoulder, as though, as though I was trapping her somehow just by standing here and she was checking for an escape route.
“So you’re back, then,” I continued, wanting to drag out what little time I had with her. “Are you staying with your dad?”
“Yeah, for the moment.”
“How is he?”
A shadow fell over her face and she shrugged. “Same as ever.” She glanced back toward the drugstore. “Look, Cole. I have to go, okay?”
“Sure, but I’d really like to take you out for that coffee sometime.”
She shook her head again. “I don’t need your pity, Cole. Just get on with your life, and I’ll try to get on with mine.”
Gabi turned and walked away, and I tried not to focus on the way she lurched slightly, favoring one side.
I waited until she’d disappeared inside the drugstore and then went back to my car. My shift started soon—I was on food prep for the lunchtime rush—though I would have risked being late if Gabi had agreed to coffee.
Even though I’d known she was back in town, seeing her had still been a shock. It was like being punched in the chest, having her so close again. And she was right, I did feel bad for her. More than that, my fucking heart broke for her. I couldn’t even imagine the sort of pain she must be in, how much this must have affected her life. I had so many questions, but I didn’t know how to ask a single one without sounding exactly how I felt—shocked, horrified, morbidly curious, and absolutely gutted for her.
And like the selfish son-of-a-bitch I was, I also felt devastated by the loss of one of her beautiful legs. I’d admired every inch of her when we’d been together all those years ago, but perhaps I’d loved her legs the most. The first day I’d managed to get up the courage to speak to her, she’d been sitting in the park, propped up against a tree, reading a book. Her already short skirt had ridden high on her thighs, and I could tell she’d been aware of how much leg she was showing by the way she’d kept tugging at the hem, trying to make the skirt longer. I’d gotten to know those slender calves and smooth thighs a lot better in the months that had followed, and my heart cracked at the idea a part of them no longer existed.
What does the remaining stump look like? How high had the amputation gone? I pushed the thoughts from my head. It wasn’t any of my business—not anymore. I’d seen to that ten years ago.
She was obviously still angry with me, and I didn’t blame her. Perhaps she was just angry with the world, and I didn’t blame her for that either. I wondered what had happened. A car accident, perhaps? I had deliberately tried not to learn anything about her over these last ten years, stopping anyone from even speaking her name if they tried to broach the subject with me. The pain had been too great, and I hadn’t wanted to learn that she was happily married with a houseful of children. Maybe I should have wanted to discover she was happy after what I put her through, but maybe part of me had worried I’d learn she wasn’t happy, and that would make me feel even worse.
But I’d never wanted this for her. I wouldn’t have wished what she must have gone through on my worst enemy.
I lingered beside my car, hoping Gabi would come back out of the store and be forced to talk with me again, but she didn’t make a reappearance. I couldn’t lurk like this for much longer. I was attracting curious glances, and besides, I was going to make myself late for work.
Not wanting to be leaving Gabriella yet again, I climbed into the car.
She didn’t leave my thoughts for a single second for the rest of the day. All I could think about was her being back, and when I would get to see her again.