Thirty-Seven
I don’t know how long I stood there, staring at the door that he had just left out of. The dust cloud had settled and I only moved when the door opened again and Sawyer burst through it, his eyes moving quickly around the room and then settling where I still stood.
“What the hell’s going on? Are you okay?” he asked quickly and I shook my head. “Who was that? All I heard was squealing tires and a cloud of dust.”
I wiped at a tear that was falling down my cheek.
“It was Adam,” I answered softly.
“Adam? Where is he?” Sawyer’s eyes darted around the room as if he would magically appear.
“He left.”
“What do you mean he left? What the hell is going on?”
I finally moved for the first time since Adam left. I walked over to the door, bent down and picked up the piece of paper Adam had dropped. I handed it to my brother. I watched as he unfolded it, his eyes dancing across the page just as mine had when Adam gave it to me.
“What is this?” he asked.
“Adam paid off the loan,” I said and his face twisted into confusion.
“What loan?”
“The loan. Dad’s loan,” I said.
“What?” Sawyer exclaimed. “He paid it off?” I nodded and Sawyer slapped the paper against his palm. “I didn’t realize you’d told him. I thought we were going to keep this between the family.”
“I didn’t tell him. Erica did,” I said and Sawyer sighed, his eyes rolling.
“When did he talk to Erica?”
“I don’t know exactly. He called her to make sure I was okay. That’s when she told him.”
“When did he pay it off?”
“I don’t know. He seemed fine yesterday when we talked. He must’ve just found out and paid it off,” I answered.
“But how could he just pay it off? How’d he even know which bank?”
“I don’t know. Obviously, he figured it out and no bank is going to turn down someone willing to pay off a huge debt like this,” I said, looking up and meeting Sawyer’s eyes.
“I can’t believe he did this,” Sawyer sighed.
“Me either.”
“Why’d he take off though?”
“Because we had a fight,” I said softly. “He shouldn’t have done this. We were taking care of it. He had no right.”
“You said that to him?” Sawyer asked and I nodded.
“I was so angry at him,” I said quietly, thinking back to the pain on Adam’s face that I had caused. “And he was so angry at me…for keeping this from him, for not trusting him.”
“We all kept it from him though,” Sawyer said regretfully, our eyes meeting again just as we heard the door open again. I turned my head quickly, thinking Adam might have come back. It was my mom though and she stopped, her hand still on the knob when she saw the looks on mine and Sawyer’s faces.
“Is everything alright?” she asked, walking in slowly and setting her purse down.
“We need to talk to you, Mom,” Sawyer said, holding up the paper.
“What’s that?” she asked as we all took a seat in the living room.
“Adam came by today,” Sawyer began.
“Adam? Where is he?” she asked, looking around. “I didn’t see his truck outside.”
“He left,” I said and she looked at me curiously.
“Why?” she asked and I turned to Sawyer, silently encouraging him to continue.
“He paid off the loan, Mom,” Sawyer said, handing her the paper.
“Our loan?” she whispered as she looked over the receipt.
“Yeah,” Sawyer answered as she continued to stare down at the paper. Finally, her eyes rose. They were filled with tears.
“Adam did this for us?” she choked out and her eyes locked on mine. I nodded and she covered her mouth with her hand, shaking her head. “How are we ever going to repay that boy for what he’s done?” She blinked and the tears fell. Sawyer scooted closer to her and put his around her. She was crying, but it was as if a million pounds had been lifted from her shoulders and I suddenly felt very guilty for how I had treated Adam. “Why isn’t he here? I need to thank him.”
I looked at my brother then, the guilt even heavier.
“He’s not here because I yelled at him for paying the debt,” I said softly.
“You yelled at him? What on earth for, Caroline?” my mom asked crossly.
“This wasn’t his problem, Mom. It was ours. We were taking care of it…as a family. He had no right.”
“Caroline,” she gasped. “Adam saved us. We were trying to take care of it, but we all know it wasn’t going to be enough. Time was running out. We weren’t going to have the money in time and your brother was going to lose his house before he even got to move in. This farm would be gone. Everything our family built would be lost. We all knew it, but none of us would admit it.”
My eyes filled with tears again. My mom was right. We had pulled together, doing the best we could, but we all knew it would never be enough, not with the stipulations and time constraints. We would have lost everything if it wasn’t for Adam and how had I thanked him? By yelling at him and making him doubt that I even really loved him.
“I was awful to him,” I whispered. “I lied to him. I kept everything from him. I was so angry though…that he would just step in and do this without even talking to us.”
“He knew we would’ve said no,” Sawyer said. He was right. If Adam had told us he was going to do it, we would’ve refused. He had to go behind our backs.
“He’s a good man, Caroline,” my mom said, holding up the paper. “And not just because of this.”
“I know he is,” I admitted softly. “I still struggle sometimes though. He’s Adam DeLain for goodness sakes and I’m just me. I could never do anything like this for him. Never.”
I felt my mother’s hand on my knee then and I brought my eyes up to look at her.
“But he needs you for so much more, honey. Adam might be rich and famous, but something tells me he thinks he’s just him, but that you are Caroline Hale and that you are as extraordinary as people think he is. That man loves you, sweetie, and I’m telling you, that is something you don’t want to miss out on one second of.” She smiled with tears in her eyes. “I know you’re upset with him. I know you think he overstepped, but, Caroline, don’t push away the man you want to spend forever with because forever is over too soon.”
She blinked and tears slowly fell down her face. I could see her pain. I could see her regret. I could see her recalling her life with my father and missing him so much. She didn’t want me to feel that. I felt the tears in my own eyes and then I looked at mother and brother.
“I have to make this right,” I said softly, my eyes landing on Sawyer’s. I couldn’t tell how to read his face. His brows were creased and the corners of his mouth were turned down. But then, he looked right into my eyes.
“We’ll work this out with him,” Sawyer added. “We’ll figure out a way to repay him, but we have to thank him. We have to make this right.”
I nodded and then stood up, going to get my cell phone. He couldn’t have gotten far. Maybe I could get him to come back. Maybe I could think of something to say to him that could allow him to forgive me. What if he didn’t want to hear me though. What if I’d finally pushed him too far.
My finger hovered over his name for a few seconds before I finally pushed the green button to connect us. Nervously, I put the phone to my ear, my heart falling in my chest when it immediately went to voicemail. I lowered the phone and my family was staring at me.
“Voicemail,” I said defeated. “I have to get to Boston.”
“You can’t leave now, Caroline. You don’t even know where he is,” Sawyer protested.
“I know,” I agreed. “I’ll leave first thing tomorrow. I think he and I both need some time to clear our heads.”
I thought of Adam. I could see him sitting behind the steering wheel, Silver Falls growing smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror, remembering my harsh words. And then I thought about what I would say to him, hoping it would be enough.