It was cowardly of her, but Brynleigh didn’t want to face the Fortune Elf yet. She didn’t want to lose the one friend she’d made.
But there was one message she wanted to send before bed.
Navigating through her contacts, not that there were many, she clicked on Ryker’s name. Opening their thread, she scrolled up to their wedding day.
Her last message had been sent an hour before she walked down the aisle.
Brynleigh
Are you ready for today, Ry?
The response had come in seconds later.
Ryker
More than ready, sweetheart. I could barely sleep last night.
Who says you’ll be getting a lot of sleep tonight?
…
*winking emoji*
The hairdresser’s here. I have to go. See you soon!
There was so much hope in those few messages. So much to look forward to. And now everything had changed.
Ryker’s words from earlier echoed in her mind.
Iwant to fix this.
So did she.
Brynleigh’s eyes were heavy, but she wasn’t ready to sleep yet. Her thumbs traveled over the keyboard.
I miss you.
No, that wasn’t it. She pressed the backspace, clearing the screen.
Please be safe. We have a lot to talk about when you get back.
That felt wrong. Delete.
What if we can’t fix this?
With a groan, she got rid of that one, too.
She typed three more messages, and she deleted them all. She had too many words and things she wanted to say, and she was far too tired for this.
In the end, she settled on something simple.
Thank you, Ryker.
She sent the message and turned the phone on silent before dropping it on the ground. Pulling the blanket over herself, she stretched out on the sofa and promptly fell asleep.
CHAPTER 16
Death and Sunny Dispositions