Arriving at her doorstep, I knelt down to place the flowers over the welcome mat. A thump startled me. Pixy must have smelled me or something. He appeared at the dining room window, which was just on the other side of the front door.

He began to “baa” incessantly.

“Shh!” I warned.

Just as I started to walk away, the exterior light flashed on, and the front door opened. I turned around.

Aubrey was standing there. “Chance…”

Lifting my hand slowly, I said, “Hi.”

“What are you doing here?” She looked down and spotted the flowers, bending to pick them up. “You were leaving these at my doorstep?”

“That’s right. I wasn’t planning to come in.”

Dick appeared, placing his hand possessively around Aubrey’s tiny waist. My eyes landed on it then moved up to meet Aubrey’s frightened expression.

“Mr. Bateman,” Dick said. “How can we help you?”

We.

Fuck you, Princess Fucker.

“I was just coming by with a little token of my appreciation for Aubrey’s assistance with my legal matter.”

“That was nice of you, but you should have stopped by the office instead of coming here.”

Dick.

“Actually, I’ll be leaving early in the morning. So, this was my only opportunity.”

Aubrey had been looking down at the flowers. Her head immediately lifted, and her stare was now penetrating my own. “You’re leaving town?”

“That’s right. My business here is done.” I continued looking straight into her eyes, so she understood how serious this was. “I wasn’t going to leave without saying goodbye.”

She stood there speechless. Pixy was standing right by Aubrey’s legs. Knowing what he was angling for, I bent down, closing my eyes to let him lick my face for the last time. When I stood up, Dick, who seemed confused about my instant bond with the goat, looked back and forth between the animal and me.

Tightening his grip on Aubrey, he said, “Well, we wish you the best.”

“Thank you.” I started to walk away before turning around one last time. My voice was strained. “Take good care of her.”

I didn’t care how inappropriate that last comment was. It needed to be said.

Swallowing my pain, I walked across the grass without looking back at her. I couldn’t. After I turned the corner, I got into my truck and sped off.

I headed straight for my motel room. I’d wanted to go to the bar to say goodbye to Carla but was scared of drinking myself into oblivion. Someday soon, I’d write her a letter or something to let her know how much her friendship meant to me.

Aubrey hadn’t called or texted. That only solidified the fact that my leaving was for the best.

Tossing and turning, sleep wasn’t happening for me. Unable to rid my body of the excruciating physical ache of knowing I would never touch her again, I conceded to my insomnia. I sat up at the edge of my bed, pulling my hair in frustration as I looked over at my packed suitcase while checking my phone for what seemed like the hundredth time.

Looking down at my hand, I took off the fake gold band from Vegas and threw it angrily in the trash can. While a part of me never expected her to call, a bigger part of me was shattered that she didn’t. What bothered me the most was that I still couldn’t envision my future without her in it.

A knock at the door startled me.

The motel was in a seedy area, so I made sure to check the peep hole before opening. The view inside was a distorted version of a distraught Aubrey. My confused heart accelerated despite having been emptied earlier of all hope.

I opened the door but said nothing as she walked past me and sat on the bed. I stayed standing across from her. The silence was deafening as we just looked at each other. Then, she started to talk.

“I waited for six hours in the lobby that day…”

When a teardrop fell down her cheek, I grabbed her a tissue and handed it to her before sitting down next to her. My body tensed in anticipation of what she’d say next.

“I was so sure that you were coming back. I kept hearing in my head what you’d told me the night you came home late from getting us dinner in Arizona, when I got scared. You said, ‘I would never do that to you.’ So, I held out hope for a while. I felt like a fool because even though all of your belongings were gone, I still believed you were coming back. I know it was only eight days with you, but I felt closer to you than anyone. I saw a future with you.”

My chest constricted. “Tell me what happened when you got to Temecula. I need to know everything even if it hurts to hear it.”