Nolan told me he'd back on Friday. That following Monday he still wasn't home and he hadn't answered a single one of my calls or texts. When he told me the cell service was bad I didn't think he meant it was completely off the grid.
For the first couple of days my mind created horrible scenarios as it tried to figure out why he wouldn't call. But as the weekend ended and the school week started I was more angry than afraid he was dead at the bottom of a lake.
How difficult was it to send a single text to let me know they extended their trip?
Nolan wasn't the only one who didn't come home over the weekend. Taylor was still with Dad. They were taking a trip to Disney World with his side of the family and he wanted Taylor for an extra two days. Mom didn't want to say yes. She also didn't want to let her personal feelings toward him get in the way of him forming a relationship with Taylor.
He extended the invitation to me, as a formality, I assumed. Even if I wanted to go I would've said no. Not after seeing how stressed out the whole thing made Mom. I couldn't leave her alone like that.
The house was eerily quiet that Tuesday night with just me and Mom. Neither of us could deal with it, so when Rachel invited us over for dinner we jumped at the opportunity.
After dinner Bee and I sat in the kitchen eating ice cream while our parents sat out on the deck drinking wine. Well, except Kevin who was up in his office working.
"He still hasn't called or anything?"
"Nope." I shoved another spoonful of chocolate ice cream into my mouth. "No call. No text. Nothing."
"When he gets back I can hold him down while you beat him up." Her attempt to make me smile failed.
When he got back? It started to feel more like if. I mean, that was his goal when we met. He wanted to leave Bellcreek so badly that he'd create a fake relationship with a complete stranger to do it. Maybe he couldn't wait for Europe. Maybe whatever cabin they were at was far enough away.
"He'll be back." My best friends words broke through my thoughts, saying just the right thing like she could read my mind. "That boy is in love with you. He's not going anywhere."
I hoped so.
* * *
In the days that followed that hope slowly evaporated. What was supposed to be one week without Nolan turned into two. And it seemed like everyone wanted to remind me that he wasn't there.
Opal kept bugging me about interviewing us as one of The Top Six. Random people kept coming up to me, asking where he was. But I didn't know. I hadn't spoken to my boyfriend in two weeks.
I wanted to scream that at the next person who brought him up, but it'd raise questions. About our relationship, about our spot on in the Top Six. We still had a little over a month until prom and I still needed the scholarship. Hell, even the trip to Europe was looking better by the day.
My feelings about Nolan being away flipped flopped repeatedly. One moment I was worried he was dead and the next I was pissed he hadn't called. Did something happen or was he just avoiding me?
I got my answer after overhearing two of his teachers discussing the homework assignments they were each sending him. They laughed as they made jokes about the quality of his work being better and how they wished they could work from a cabin.
Nolan was perfectly healthy and capable of communication. He just didn't want to speak to me.
I spent the last period of the day in the nurses office after complaining of a headache. It wasn't a complete lie. I always got a headache when I cried.
Everything seemed to get worse from there. That Sunday I woke from a nap to the sound of Dad's voice. That was nothing new, honestly. It was the night he brought Taylor back home.
That night was different, thought. He sounded angry. I sat up in my now dark room, straining my ears to hear.
"You can't keep her the whole summer." Mom sounded like she was holding back tears.
Was he trying to take Taylor for the summer?
Getting out of bed, I walked to the top of the stairs to hear them better. They were still standing in the foyer. Taylor sat off to the side playing on an iPad Dad must've gotten her despite Mom asking him not to.
"Not the whole summer, just two month," Dad shot back. "She'll be with you most of the year, I at least deserve that."
"Then we can alternate. You can have every other week," she suggested, sounding desperate.
It made sense. If I was planning to take art courses over the summer and Dad had Taylor, Mom would be completely alone. The image of her sitting alone at the dinner table made me sick.
"No." The finality of his tone made my jaw clench, holding back the urge to tell him to go to Hell. How could he be so cold towards her. "That doesn't work for me, Andrea. I want to spend the summer with my daughter. I've already made plans."
"Without consulting me?"
"That's what I'm doing now." He sounded annoyed, like she was somehow inconveniencing him. I couldn't stand back and watch anymore. "Look we can either figure this out on our own or we go to court. It's your choice."
I stomped down the stairs, my neck burning with anger. "Haven't you taken enough from her?"
He waved me off. "This has nothing to do with you, Jade."
"Jade, just take Taylor upstairs." Mom's eyes pleaded with me to listen.
But I couldn't stop myself. The anger I felt knowing Nolan willingly ignored me mixed with the resentment I felt for Dad came spewing out like a volcanic eruption.
"You've treated her like crap ever since you left and for what?" I demanded. "Why are you mad at her? You left. You messed everything up!"
His lips curled into a sneer, like he couldn't handle my words. His eyes darted to Mom. "See, this,"âhe motioned to meâ"this is what I don't want you to do with Taylor. You've already put one of my daughters against me."
Did he hear himself? Did he really think he was innocent in all this? Did he think he could treat us any way he wanted and we'd just accept it? That I wouldn't pick up on his bad behavior on my own?
"Me not liking you is your own fault," I spat, ignoring Mom as she tried to pull me away. "You left me without warning and you expected me to be okay with that?"
"I left your mom, not you." He's tone was less angry now. "I tried to keep in touch with you. You ignored my calls and texts."
I laughed humorlessly, wiping hot tears from my face. I didn't even realize I was crying. "You mean when you made those Labor Day plans that you cancelled the next day? Or when you wanted me to stay with for Christmas just so you could show off your broken family to your client?"
"What is she talking about, Reggie?" Mom's eyes darted between the two of waiting for an explanation.
He threw his hands up, surrendering. "I tried," he said, backing towards the door. "Obviously, neither of you can be reasoned with right now."
Before I could say anything else Mom stopped me. "I think you should go, Reginald."
He did as Mom suggested, but not before he threatened to take her to court for custody. He was lucky I didn't have anything to throw like the last time he pissed me off.
"Do you think he's being serious?" I asked Mom after I heard Dad's car drive away. "Would he really try take Taylor?"
Guilt formed a knot in my stomach. I shouldn't have said anything. My misplaced anger probably just made it worse.
Mom shook her head. "I don't know what he'd do. He's been a complete stranger these past couple of years."
My gaze snapped up to her. "Years?" Everything was fineâseemed fineâuntil last summer. How could their relationship had been falling apart for years and I not notice?
Mom exhaled as she lowered herself onto the bottom step of the stairs. "We tried to pretend we didn't notice that we were growing a part. Especially around you."
That made sense. When I thought back on the past years all I remembered were family vacations, trips to amusement parks and all the date nights they had. Not once did I see them fight or even raise their voice. Not until summer.
"When I became pregnant things between your father and I started to get better," she admitted. "At least I thought they were. Then one day he just...gave up. Said he wanted a fresh start and that he was leaving."
Just like that. No warning. No easing herâusâinto it. He made a decision and he didn't care what anyone else thought. The very definition of selfish.
What would stop Nolan from doing the same thing?