Chapter 27

Sarah

Spending time with my family again is great. I usually see them so often, but this time, only a few days away from them seemed like a lifetime. Maybe it was because I couldn’t leave, and it was out of my control. Now that I’m with my sister again, I feel like I can relax. It’s not that I wasn’t relaxed with Graham, but being with someone that I haven’t known for very long is just not the same as being with someone I had grown up with.

“So, tell me about Graham,” Monica says. It’s just the two of us, drinking coffee. Larry and Lindsay have gone out to do some grocery shopping.

I blush. “Where do I start? He’s been great in every way. We never planned to spend so many days together. I mean, we hardly know each other, but I feel like I’ve seen who he really is now. I really like him.”

“I’m so happy for you, sis. You deserve a good man. You’ve waited long enough.”

I nod. When I think about Graham, I get butterflies. The last time I felt like this about a man was when I met Jacob. That didn’t end well, but I have a feeling that this one will end differently.

“Are you nervous about it?” Monica asks. She knows me too well.

I shake my head. “That’s the thing. I’m not nervous. I feel great about where we’re headed. I think that’s why I want to pursue this, and why I don’t want to just say thank you and walk away. Everything about him is different than the other guys I’ve met. He seems so sincere. That’s very hard to find these days.”

Monica nods. “It really is. I can’t tell you how glad I am for you. I take it you’re going to stay in his cabin?”

“I am. Obviously, he’s not going to be there with me now that the snow has melted enough, but it’s a free place and has good memories now.” I smile, remembering the nights we had sex. I remember all the movies and the board games and everything we did together to pass the time. I’ve told Monica everything we’ve talked about — not the private things, but everything else — and she agrees that we’re compatible in so many ways.

“How are you going to get back to the cabin?” Monica asks.

“Graham said I just have to call him, and he’ll pick me up again. He wants to drive me back there. He complains about my tires.”

Monica rolls her eyes. “He’s not the only one. I hope you listen to him, being that you’re not listening to me.”

“That’s not the point.” I laugh.

“Why don’t you let me drive you there, so he doesn’t have to come all the way here, first?” Monica asks.

I shrug. “I suggested that, but he’s weird about it. It almost feels like he doesn’t want me to go to his place.”

“Why? Do you think he’s hiding something? Like another girlfriend.” Monica winks at me and I laugh. Of course, that couldn’t be true. Then again, it’s not like I know anything about him. Just because we spent some time together, snowed in, doesn’t mean that he can’t have secrets from me. Suddenly, I’m nervous.

“Hey, I was just joking,” Monica says. There must be something on my face.

I shake my head, trying to get rid of the thoughts. “You know what? You’re right. There’s no reason for him to drive all the way here. You can drive me to his place.”

Monica agrees, and I get out to get ready to leave. It’s not that I agree with Monica, but that I’m suddenly worried that there is something Graham might not want me to know. He doesn’t want me to go to his place when I lived next to him for a long time. It doesn’t make sense.

I’m probably just being paranoid now, after everything that happened with Jacob, so going to his place will set me at ease. Seeing that nothing is wrong will prove to me that he really is the guy I think he is. I don’t let him know that we are coming, though. A part of me doesn’t want him to be able to hide anything, if there was something to hide. I feel terrible for suddenly mistrusting him, but Monica’s words scared me.

I really don’t know Graham at all.

Monica drives me to Graham’s house, and we park in the street. There is a car in the driveway of my old house.

“How is the place taken already?” Monica asks.

“The eviction note stated that the landlord needed the place immediately. There was a reason why I only had a week to get out.” I know I’m being rational, but I’m as shocked about a car in the driveway as Monica is. I know that the house doesn’t belong to me anymore, but seeing this just pushes it home.

Monica and I are both looking at the house when the front door opens. Graham steps out, and I blink.

“What is he doing there?” Monica asks in a quiet voice.

I want to know the same thing. My mind runs through a million scenarios, and none of them make sense. Unless Graham is here to try to bargain for me, which he would never do. I don’t understand what business he has walking out of my old house. I open the car door and get out. Monica says something to me, but I can’t hear her above the ringing in my ears.

“Graham,” I say.

He freezes when he hears me. He pales, and no matter what I want to believe, he looks like he’s been caught in the act. “What are you doing here?”

Graham steps off my old porch and comes to me. His eyes dart around the yard like he’s trying to find an answer there.

“I thought you were going to call me to come pick you up,” Graham says. “This is not what it looks like at all.”

“Then explain it to me. What am I seeing?”

Graham is fumbling around for words, not even uttering a full sentence. My emotions go from shocked to hurt then to furious.

“I know this isn’t another woman because you were snowed in with me. Unless… unless you’re the landlord who…” I want to end the sentence, but when I say the words, I realize the truth.

The words I’m speaking hit me as hard as they hit Graham.

“Were you my landlord?” I ask. Inside, I’m screaming for Graham to tell me that he’s not, that this is some ridiculous mistake. I will him to give me some other reason that makes sense.

Instead, Graham nods. “This is not how I wanted you to find out. I was going to tell you. I just needed to figure out how.”

My ears are ringing again. My chest is tight, and I can’t breathe. Everything that we built the last couple of days crumbles in front of me, and I feel as used and disrespected as I did when Jacob cheated on me and made me feel like it was my fault.

“Don’t try to explain yourself, Graham,” I say when he opens his mouth to speak. “I will pick up all my things from the cabin as soon as possible. After that, I don’t ever want to see you again.”

“Sarah, please,” Graham says, but I shake my head and turn my back on him.

“Don’t,” I say and get into Monica’s car.