Morning comes quickly and hope blossoms in my chest, but I open my eyes to a cold and empty bed. His imprint in the pillow is the only way I know I didn’t dream him being here. With my resolve tightened, I quickly pack all of my stuff into my backpack and push it to the back of the wardrobe.
I dress for my shift at Strikers then open the bedroom door to Daisy standing guard. His silent presence is the sign I need to bolster my shattered heart.
Hope is a fickle bitch. I’d hoped that Echo would know I’d planned to run. I’d hoped he would be here to stop me. Instead, I’m being babysat again. Daisy’s silence gives me room to think and to reason why leaving is the right thing to do.
The silence is deafening. Since the first day I met Daisy and he mouthed off to Echo about me, I’ve never heard him speak more than one word consecutively. But today his quiet is both a blessing and a curse. He patiently watches me as I grab a cup of coffee. I don’t attempt to engage him like I normally would, and I see the question in his eyes.
Running back upstairs, I close the bedroom door behind me and lean against it. Nervously dragging my backpack from its hiding place, I drop it from the bedroom window. The bag makes a quiet thud as it hits the ground. I hold my breath and wait for Daisy to burst through the door, but as minutes pass and nothing happens. I blow out a breath of relief and text Brandi.
Liv: Bag’s ready for you. x
The plan is for Brandi to wait for me to leave then drive here and grab my stuff. Simple but effective. Scanning the room, I take in the familiar details; this will be the last time I see it. I drop to the bed and pull Echo’s pillow to my face, inhaling deeply, locking his fresh Echo smell to memory. Slowly, I move to the door and pause with my hand on the handle to take one last look behind me before I leave.
It’s time to go. I signal to Daisy, and he follows me out to the truck and opens the door for me. Across the street, Gus is standing on his porch, drinking a coffee. I jump from the truck and race across the street; I can’t leave without saying goodbye.
I hear Daisy’s heavy footsteps behind me, but I don’t stop. My feet hits Gus’s porch steps, and I glance over my shoulder. Daisy stops in the middle of the street, shakes his head, and starts to walk back to the truck. Since Gus saved mine and Echo’s lives, he’s been completely embraced by the club. The Sinners take care of their own, and the brothers regularly drop by to visit with him.
“Everything okay, sweetheart?” Gus asks. His smile radiates warmth, and I dash into his waiting arms.
“Gus, you’re one of my people. You know that, don’t you? Not just because you saved me, but because you brighten my life.” I hold on to him tightly. His arms wrap around me, hugging me back. Once I leave, I doubt I’ll ever be able to come back here. “You make my day every time I see that smiling face of yours.”
His cheeks stain red, and I smile widely, knowing that he secretly loves the praise I shower on him. “Young lady, I swear you deliberately try to make me blush.”
I laugh softly. “I’m so glad I met you, Gus.”
Gus wipes his fingers under his eyes discreetly. “Me too, sweetheart. We were never blessed with children or grandchildren, but my Millie would have loved you.”
“Oh Gus,” I cry, as tears well in my eyes.
He chuckles and steps back. “Go on, get yourself off to work. And stay safe. I’ll see you later.”
I nod and lean in to kiss his wrinkled cheek. “See you later, Gus.”
Head held high, I walk back to the truck. Daisy holds the door for me and I climb in. A single tear escapes and silently rolls down my cheek. I’m leaving so much more behind in Archer’s Creek than just Echo.
Time ticks by slowly; the bar’s quieter than normal. My escape plan’s simple, but we need Strikers to be busy. Sadness fills Brandi’s eyes as she watches me from across the bar.
Daisy sits guard at the far end of the room, so I walk to the opposite corner and beckon Brandi to me. “Sweetie, you have to stop looking at me like that,” I say.
She grabs my hand and squeezes lightly. “Liv, honey, I think you’re making a mistake.”
“I can’t do it anymore, Brandi. We’re making each other miserable. All he feels towards me now is guilt, and it’s breaking my heart.” Tears start to fill my eyes, but I blink them away, refusing to let them fall.
“Are you sure, Liv?” she asks. “Because I think he’s gonna lose his shit when he realises you’ve gone. I think that man loves you, and in his stupid caveman head, he feels like he let you down when you got attacked.”
I sigh and push my hands through my hair. “I know he thinks this is his fault, but I don’t feel that way. He says he loves me, that he owns me, but if that were true, he’d keep me close not push me away. He doesn’t even want me to touch him. It’s done. Finished. Now I just want to leave quietly with a little bit of dignity.”
With an understanding nod, she pulls me in for a hug. “Okay. Just in case I don’t get to tell you later, I’m really gonna miss you,” she says and then rushes away, wiping a stray tear from her cheek.
Pulling in an emotion filled breath, I whisper quietly, “I’ll miss you too.”
The bar gradually starts to fill up with people, and my nerves kick in. The clock hits four fifteen, and catching Brandi’s eye, I nod. She smiles sadly as she nods back. She spins to hand a customer a bottle of beer and swipes a tray of glasses off the counter, knocking them to the floor.
The glasses shatter into a thousand pieces, shards flying everywhere. “Oh my God, I’m so clumsy. That was a whole tray,” she cries dramatically. Quickly handing the beer to her customer, she rushes off to grab a broom.
“I’ll go grab a new box of glasses from the stockroom,” I say. Brandi nods, grabbing Daisy and insisting he man the bar as she tidies the broken glass.
I slip into the stockroom and laugh at the irony of the situation. In seven weeks I’ve come full circle, and like the day I arrived in Archer’s Creek, my backpack’s stacked up against the storeroom shelves. Only this time I’ll be leaving behind the man I love, good friends, and a place I could have called home.
It’s time to leave, but my legs won’t move. My breath stutters in my chest and agonizing pain pulses from my heart. I close my eyes for a second and harshly pull in a breath, forcing a second gasp of oxygen into my lungs. Tears escape from the corners of my eyes, but ignoring them, I will my limbs to work and sling my backpack over my shoulder.
I throw open the back door and leave Strikers and Echo behind. Just like we planned, an out of town taxi’s waiting for me, and I slide inside with tears soaking my cheeks.
Practically holding my breath the entire way to Austin, my ears prick every time I hear a motorcycle. I watch the road behind us, desperate for Echo to barrel down and stop me from leaving.
Far too soon, we pull into the airport, just like Brandi and I planned. I take out my phone and text her.
Liv: I love you for being such a good friend. I’ll text you soon. xx
My hands shake and a sob vibrates in my chest as I power down my phone and remove the SIM.