Settling Up by Eryn Scott

Author:Eryn Scott [Scott, Eryn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kristopherson Press
Published: 2016-06-30T18:30:00+00:00

14

The sum of it all

Sitting in the dark, eating my salad in the silence of my car, I thought long and hard about my list. And after I’d eaten, I pulled out my phone, knowing I needed to talk this out with someone. My finger hovered over Betsy’s name on my “recently called” list, but it didn’t press down, didn’t commit. Mack’s name caught my eye and, without too much thought, I pressed down on it.

It’s not like my sister wasn’t helpful or that I didn’t want to talk with her. I would definitely call her tomorrow to tell her all about it. But as for right now, my heart wanted to talk to Mack, longed for the calm he brought me and the warmth I felt when I was near him, how he seemed to know what to say in the way I needed to hear it. I put the phone up to my ear as I listened to it ring. And ring. And ring. His voicemail kicked in, but I hung up before the beep sounded. I bit my lip and sent him a text instead.

Me: You at home or work?

I didn’t see any sign of response, so I took a deep breath and began to drive back home. It was late. Betsy would be getting the girls ready for bed. I could sit on this information, these feelings, for a night. It was fine. I nodded, I suppose trying to convince myself of that, and focused on the road.

About fifteen minutes later, my phone buzzed from where it sat on the passenger seat, lighting up the dark interior of my car. I pulled over onto the shoulder of the back highway route I’d opted for (not wanting to add the stress of the freeway to my too-many-thoughts-already mind). Checking the phone, I saw Mack had texted back.

Mack: On a break. Are you okay?

My fingers flew over the screen.

Me: Physically fine. Mentally not so much. Can I come talk?

Mack: Of course. I only have ten more minutes before I have to be back on the floor. Should I wait for you outside?

Me: Coming back from the city, so it’ll take me at least twenty. I’ll see you on the floor.

Mack: OK.

It felt like the strangle-hold my anxiety had on my lungs loosened a bit more the farther away from the city I got, so by the time I pulled into the parking lot of the casino, I was breathing much easier. I wasn’t used to coming into the card room at night, so the amount of people filling the seats and the chatter in the air surprised me at first. In fact, it stopped me in my tracks, making me wonder if this was a good idea. This did not seem like the right environment to help me calm down, that was for sure.

Until I locked eyes with that tall sandy-haired man with that now-familiar face across the floor. Said face wrinkled in concern and I wanted nothing more than to tell him everything, spill it all, because I just knew he would help me fix it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.