I turn back to the cop, my brows furrowing even as I silently question if all cops know each other. “Uh, yeah. We came together, and I don’t have my phone, so I can’t call him. Do you know where he went?”
“Home.”
The word slams into me so hard that it takes a moment to catch my bearings, for my body to figure out how to react. “What?”
“He left about twenty minutes ago.”
I blink at the man, waiting for him to laugh and tell me he’s kidding, but he’s as serious as they come. Christ, I almost wish it was a joke. I mean, of course I knew this thing with Beau would end. Heck, the man all but spelled it out for me. But I never imagined he would simply disappear from my life.
And without a proper goodbye at that.
A flood of emotions crashes through me. Hurt, anguish, sorrow, before finally settling on anger.
How dare he do this to me? Did our time together not even warrant a goodbye? Do my feelings not matter to him one bit?
I glance at the door to my best friend’s room and gnaw my lip. I didn’t think I’d leave the hospital, not to confront Beau about my feelings. But this needs to be done.
I turn to the cop stationed outside the door. “Take care of my friend,” I say, waiting for his nod before I turn to leave. If I miss the humor in his eyes, well, it’s because the red in my own is clogging my vision.
***
The taxi crunches to a halt, its brakes groaning in protest as we navigate the impossibly long, winding driveway. For the first time since meeting Beau, I let myself really take in his home. My heart isn’t in my throat anymore, and my thoughts aren’t clouded by panic.
His house is gorgeous. A sprawling structure that stands alone, a solitary sentinel in the desert.
“Your house?” the taxi driver asks with a low whistle when we stop, prompting me to shake my head.
For the first time, I hesitate and question my decision to come back here. Without all the looming fear for my best friend’s safety, I realize how different Beau and I are.
I was born and raised in near poverty. My parents worked hard to give me the best of the world we lived in, but they could only do so much. I worked for a year as a waitress and I could afford to keep the small house my parents left me, even sharing it with my best friend.
And now this...it’s so far outside of my world.
“Miss, is everything alright?”
I turn when the front door opens and Beau steps outside, his brows furrowing at the sight of the taxi. Christ, he looks so handsome in a simple white tee and faded jeans. I realize with sudden clarity that little else matters compared to the feelings that have developed between us since he found me.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I say, stepping out, the gravel crunching softly under my shoes. “Just a moment, please. I’ll be back with the fare.”
I notice little things I didn’t before. The air here is different. Clean, carrying the faint scent of blooming jasmine and wildflowers.
Beau meets me as I walk up to the porch, his face carefully blank. “Rosalie—”
“I need to grab some money from the room to pay for my ride and then we need to talk.”
He watches me for a moment, and I can’t tell what he’s thinking. For one long second, I’m half convinced he’ll pile me back into the taxi and send me away, but he simply shakes his head.
“I’ll take care of it.”
He takes out his wallet as he walks to the taxi. He pays the man and stops to watch the car drive off before turning to me.
“You left,” I accuse, silently cursing myself for abandoning the speech I planned on the ride here.
“Rosalie—”
“Do you know how I felt when I walked out of that hospital room and the cop standing outside told me you’d left?” I walk down to him, stopping in front of him so I can get a clear read of those stunning eyes. “Doesn’t our time together warrant at least a goodbye?”
“Fuck, I’m sorry. I thought it would be easier to end things before...”