After tightening the last screw, I dropped the screwdriver in the toolbox and jiggled the door handle, making sure it was securely in place. I should have installed one when I started doing room rentals, but no one else ever complained—so it slipped my mind.
“What are you doing?” Grace jolted up in bed. Her hair went in all directions and dark circles clung to the skin beneath her eyes. She clearly hadn’t slept well.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you,” I said, getting to my feet. “I installed that lock you asked for.”
Grace stared at me, not saying a word. Her eyes blinked several times, darting between me and the newly installed lock. I gured after yesterday she had shut me out and was just biding her time here. But I still hoped I could convince her otherwise.
“Just wanted to make sure you feel comfortable.” I took a couple steps toward her and held out a silver key. “Here,” I said, dangling it in front of her.
If this is what she needed to feel safe, I’d give it to her. at was the thing about safety, you could either have it or feel like you had it, and they were the same thing—until they weren’t. Finally, she took it, clutching the key in her hand. I’m sure it felt comforting, like a security blanket does for a young child.
“I hope this makes you feel better.”
Grace didn’t say anything. She just stared at me with those blue, blue eyes. I
couldn’t tell if she didn’t know what to say or if she was scared to speak. I
hoped it was the former, although fear wasn’t a permanent feeling. It eventually passed. I studied her expressionless face, from her perfect pout to her soft nose and the arch of her eyebrows, but I couldn’t get a good read on her.
“I meant what I said last night.” I took a deep breath, waiting for her to say something, anything. She could yell at me for all I cared. I just wanted to talk to her. But it was as though she wasn’t here anymore. Physically, yes. But mentally, emotionally—she was gone. Maybe I imagined it, and she was never here to begin with. How could we have gone from lovers to strangers in twenty-four hours?
I looked down at my hands. ey weren’t steady. I balled them up and relaxed them.
“Well, I’ve gotta go and run an errand, but I’ll be back as soon as I can.” I turned and headed toward the door, picking up my toolbox on the way out. I glanced back, hoping she’d say something or even look at me the way she looked at me out in the pasture before everything went to shit. Instead, she laid down and rolled away from me.
I closed the door and let out a heavy sigh. is wasn’t how any of this was supposed to go. Somehow it all got screwed up. It always did. Standing on the other side, I pressed my ear against it. I just wanted to be near her. It was silent. I waited a few minutes but heard nothing. Albert’s door was still closed, so I assumed he wouldn’t be awake until midday, and I’d deal with him when I got back from the grocery store.
In two days, Grace was set to leave, and if she did, I knew I would never see her again. is town had a way of keeping insiders in and outsiders out. But I couldn’t let that happen. Grace belonged to me.
