Unbreakable (35 page)

There are men moving all around the house, coming and going through every door. New tile was installed in the kitchen and the bathrooms, and now, all new fixtures are going into both bathrooms. I’m really happy with the results and how quickly the remodel has happened.

“So,” Luke says. “You’ll be around for the next couple of days to wrap up all the loose ends around here, right?”

“Yep.” I nod as I take in all the small details that have really transformed this old house.

“After today all that’s left is new trim throughout the house and finishing up the exterior. I’m glad you went with all new windows,” he says, turning around to notice the expansive living room. “Really opened up this room.”

I nod my head in agreement. I went well over my initial budget, but every penny was worth it as I look around at how this bungalow was transformed.

“So have you decided what you’re, ah, going to do with it yet?” Luke asks. We haven’t discussed this part of it. Do I sell it? I designed this place with Jess in mind. All of this was what she mentioned she would love or showed me pictures of. Or do I stay for a while? Settle into the first home I’ve ever bought?

“Not sure yet,” I reply honestly, because I really don’t know what I’m going to do. Dad thinks I should list it right away, positive that it will sell and make me a large profit in the improving housing market. But this house holds a bit of sentimental value for me, and I’m not sure if I’m ready to cut it loose yet.

Luke nods in understanding but doesn’t press me further. Juan, the general contractor and foreman, walks up to Luke, asking some questions that I’ll let him handle since my cell phone is vibrating in my pocket. Stepping out onto the front patio to take the call, I see that it’s from an unknown caller.

“Hello?”

“Is this Gabe Garcia?” the voice on the other end of the phone asks.

“Yes, how can I help you?” I question the caller.

“My name is Landon Christianson. I need to speak with you about Jess.” My heart stops at the sound of her name.

“Is she okay?” I panic.

“She’s fine. Kind of. Do you have a minute to talk?”

I’m not even sure I heard every word Landon said. He spoke fast, and I mostly remained quiet, listening to him while trying to wrap my brain around everything he was telling me. Jess was in Wilmington, North Carolina. She’s afraid to call me. She doesn’t know he’s calling. He’s a friend, and she needs me.

Shoving my phone back in my pocket, I try to absorb everything that was just thrown at me. I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket with the text message I was just promised, providing an address of where I can find her. My thoughts and heart are all over the place. What should I do? What do I want to do? The front door opens and Luke meets me on the patio.

“Everything okay? You look a little pale,” he says concerned as he walks over to me. Shaking my head, I’m still trying to gather my thoughts.

“Who was that?” he asks.

“Landon Christianson.”

“Who the fuck is that?”

“I’m not really sure. He called me about Jess,” I say. Luke’s eyebrows shoot up so high on his forehead, they almost meet his hairline.

“Jess, Jess?” he asks. “Our Jess? What about her? Is she okay?”

“I don’t know. All I know is she’s in North Carolina, and he says she needs me.”

“North Carolina? What the fuck is she doing there?”

“I don’t know. He wants me to go there.”

“Fuck,” Luke responds quietly, and I can’t think of a better word at this time myself. “So are you going to go?”

Turning around to look at the house, I contemplate for a few seconds, but I already know the answer. “Yeah, she needs me.”

“Don’t worry about shit around here. We’ve got this under control. Go bring our girl home,” he says as my stomach flips.

“What if she doesn’t want to come home?”

“Well, you’ll never know the answer if you don’t go. Go pack your shit right now.”

Sitting at the gate with my boarding pass in hand, I feel the exhaustion of the last twenty-four hours sink in. Work was a bitch; we had calls all night long, and I didn’t sleep for more than an hour at a time. Within seconds of taking Landon’s call, I knew there was only one option, I had to go to North Carolina. Spending the next few hours making arrangements for Dad or Luke to be around to oversee the final days’ worth of work at my house and getting my shit packed, I’m dead tired, yet adrenaline courses through me at the thought of seeing her in a few hours.

Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment, but I know I have to see her and ask her one last time if she wants me out of her life. I know without a doubt, that if she says ‘yes,’ I’ll be gone. For good. But I have to ask her. I let her go too easy last time, but I had to let her go. I had to give her the space to figure out her life.

A slight jerk of the plane landing jolts me awake. The engines roar as we slow down. Opening the window shade, I’m met with the late afternoon sun in Charlotte, North Carolina. Deplaning, I follow the signs that lead me to the rental car counters. After a short shuttle ride and a few signatures, I’m walking out to stall B12 to find the car that is going to take me to Jess. Plugging in the address Landon sent me into Google Maps, I plug my phone into charge and pull out of the airport. I have just less than two hundred miles and three and a half hours until I get to her.

The drive is beautiful and surprisingly fast. In just under four hours, I’m pulling into Wilmington and turning into the parking lot of a condominium complex that is situated right on the beach. I can’t help but smile a little knowing that no matter where she ran off too, she’d find a beach. She loves the sand and the water.

Taking a spot in visitor parking, I kill the engine just as the sun sets over the water. A dusky darkness has fallen over the parking lot and large exterior parking lights have turned on. I take a moment to take in my surroundings and get my bearings as I’ve been traveling for over nine hours. Nine hours I’ve thought about everything I plan on saying to her. Yet here I am, and I still don’t have the words. Nervousness sets over me, as in the first time I kissed her nervous, first time I told her I loved her nervous.

Opening my car door, I step out and smell the salty ocean air. It’s refreshing, and I can see why Jess would like it here. Immediately, I notice her SUV parked in a space marked #101. That matches the condo number that Landon sent me, along with her address. Walking up the sidewalk, I notice the door with #101 on the wall right next to it. Stopping for a minute, I turn to look back at my car and then at Jess’ car and wonder if I’m making the right decision in coming here.

Reaching for the doorbell, I pause. My finger hovers over the small round button. I fight with myself internally over whether or not I should push that small button. Nothing but a door and some windows separate me from the woman I love with every ounce of my being. With a deep breath, I push the lighted white button, and my heart races. I can hear shuffling as she makes her way to the door.
Click, click, swoosh.
I can make out the sounds of the deadbolt, the handle lock, and the chain. My eyes move to the doorknob as I watch it slowly turn.

The door opens, and I lift my eyes upward meeting the most beautiful green eyes I’ve ever seen. A small gasp escapes her lips, and she takes a step backward wrapping both arms around her waist. Her long hair is pulled up into a loose, messy, twisted ponytail. She’s wearing a dark grey tank top and black yoga pants. I notice that she’s still thin; you can see it in her arms and face. We both stand, taking in the sight of each other as my heart races. Swallowing hard, I decide it’s now or never.

“Hi,” I say, nervously my palms sweating. Her eyes are glistening, and she drops her arms to her sides. Moving quickly towards me, she stops just inches away before throwing her arms around my neck. She pulls herself into me and lifts herself up, wrapping her legs around my waist. It may be the tightest hug I’ve ever felt from her. Wrapping my arms around her, I squeeze her back, taking in the smell of her hair. My cheek rubs against the side of hers, and I can feel her heart beating as wildly as mine against my chest.

Afraid to move for fear this moment will end, I forget everything I’ve rehearsed, everything I thought about for the last three and half months and say the only thing that is front of mind. “God, I’ve missed you.”

Am I dreaming? Is this real? I know it is when I hear the word ‘hi’ roll off his tongue. Jumping into his arms, I hold onto him for dear life. He doesn’t immediately hug me back. I deserve that. But when I feel his arms finally wrap around me and squeeze me back, the tears that are pricking at the backs of my eyes form.

Hearing him say he missed me melts my heart. Tears are rolling down my cheeks, and my body starts shaking. I didn’t believe I’d feel him like this again.

“Don’t cry,” he whispers, turning his face into my hair. I feel his lips press against the side of my head for a second, but he pulls his face away. Untangling my legs from his waist, I drop them to the floor and loosen my arms from around his neck.

“What are you doing here?” I mumble, wiping tears from my face with the back of my hand. Looking at me like he doesn’t know what to say, I grab his hand and pull him inside the condo and out of the doorway. He takes a few hesitant steps into the kitchen area, and I notice him looking around the condo.

“Can we talk?” Gabe asks, “Is now an ok time?”

Extending my arm toward the living room, I nod. “Yeah, have a seat.” Finding a spot on the love seat that sits perpendicular to the couch, I see him fidgeting with his hands. I sit at the end of the couch nearest him and take a deep breath.

“Landon called me,” he says immediately, and my heart stops again.

“What? Why?” I question him.

Shaking his head at me, he continues, “He didn’t say much. Just that you needed me, but you wouldn’t call.”

Closing my eyes, I remember every word Landon said to me on the beach last week. The words are ingrained in my memory.

“There can’t be an ‘us’ when you’re heart belongs to someone else.”

“I will never be that guy for you. I want someone who needs me to breathe, to survive, and to love. For you, that’s Gabe.”

“You need to call him.”

I hear Landon’s deep voice whispering these words to me again. I close my eyes and listen to those words repeat in my head.

“I will leave right now if you want me too,” he says, looking at his hands.

“No,” I whisper. The tears are back in my eyes, threatening to spill over once again. “I need to talk to you, and I owe you an apology.”

He shifts slightly on the couch. “Before you start, there is something I need to say.” Making direct eye contact with him, he clears his throat. “When you came to say goodbye that night, I know you thought something was going on with Heather. There’s not. Luke and Heather are dating. She had just walked up and given me a hug, and that’s when I saw you. Jess, for three and half months all I have done is think about you. For the rest of my life, I will regret not fighting harder for you. I should have fought harder for us.”