I don’t say one word to Camila as we’re driving to the dog park.
She left all the groceries behind at the supermarket. I was too upset to wait for her to finish shopping and go through check out. I needed to get to the dog park immediately. I needed to know the truth.
While I’m sitting in the car, I shoot off more text messages to the number scribbled on my arm:
I’m on my way to the dog park. Don’t leave.
I’m almost there. Please don’t leave.
The entire day, every time I sent a text, a reply came almost instantly. But there’s no reply to any of these text messages. It’s like there’s nobody on the other line at all.
I don’t understand it.
I google the name Harrison Finch. I brace myself for a Facebook page featuring a picture of Harry with his arm around some beautiful woman. But nothing comes up. There’s no mention of Harrison Finch anywhere. It gives me hope. Some.
Camila pulls into a spot next to the dog park. I’ve got my phone gripped in my right hand and I’m afraid to look up. Because in my heart, I know what I’m going to see.
“Tess?” Camila says.
I raise my eyes. The dog park is a stone’s throw away from the car. All the people I saw at the park earlier have left. It’s empty.
But Harry was there earlier. I know it.
I unbuckle my seatbelt and leap out of the car. I sprint over to the gate enclosing the dog park. My fingers wrap around the cool metal wires, which dig into my skin. I stare into the empty space. Harry isn’t there.
Was he ever there?
I don’t know anymore.
Is Camila right? Is Harry really gone from my life? Has he already left the state? Is he married to another woman, his time with me a distant memory?
“Tess…”
I turn around. It wasn’t Camila who said my name this time. It was Graham. My husband, apparently. He’s standing in front of me, still wearing the expensive gray suit that fits him like a glove, holding Ziggy’s leash, the locks of his sand- colored hair tousled by the wind. He offers me a hopeful smile.
“Camila texted me to come here with Ziggy,” he explains.
Ziggy is straining at his leash. He licks my hand excitedly. I run my hand over his fur, and instantly, I feel better. Dogs are magical. I don’t know what I would’ve done today without him.
“I thought we could let Ziggy play in the dog park a bit,” he says. “I’ll let Camila go home early and we could spend some time here.”
I look over at Camila, who is watching us from the car. I wonder how many times in the last year Graham has driven home early to make sure I was okay. I wonder how many times I’ve freaked out at the supermarket.
I wonder how many text messages I’ve imagined from Harry.
“Tess?” Graham furrows his brow. “What do you say?”
I run my hand over Ziggy’s head. “Yes. That sounds nice.”
