My Heart for Yours by Jolene Perry, Stephanie Campbell Read Free Book Online Page B

goodbye to Tobin. It happened where they’re standing.
     

     
    ***
     
    Dad sat in the driver’s seat waiting. It was one of those horrible early hours of the morning that no one should be awake.
     
    Tobin’s grasp on my hip tightened and he pulled me in close as he whispered, “Don’t worry, Delia. I’ll make this okay.”
     
    I believed him. Tobin always made things okay, he’d just been busy, distant. We weren’t over, we’d just been under a lot of pressure. I knew as I thought those things that they were excuses. He was wimping out. Leaving me. But the longer he held me, almost desperate, the more I wanted to believe that we were still okay. I imagined feeling those strong arms wrapped around me almost daily when we first got to D.C. Wishing Tobin was there to hold me up. Wishing we could just go back to before things got so out of control, when we felt like things were still fixable.
     
    But it was the thing he wouldn’t talk about. The thing that I can’t bring myself to think about. That’s what kept us from trying after I moved. Maybe me leaving town was a relief for both of us.
     
    Neither Tobin nor I knew how to deal with something so much bigger than us, but I’d wanted him to know. I’d wanted him to take care of me, to tell me what to do, and he didn’t. I was dealing with too much, and the move to D.C., the move away from home, and I needed him. The harder I held him, the more I more I could feel myself breaking. His lips pressed to mine, and he backed away.
     
    “ Bye, Delia,” he whispered, and let Mom lead me to the car.
     
    I knew I wasn’t good enough for Tobin—he was letting me go.
     
    I’m actually still amazed Dad let him come say goodbye, but I paid for that one later, too.
     
    The shocking realization hit me as I climbed in the car. Tobin hadn’t known what to do with our situation, and he hadn’t known what to do with me.
     
    The hurt dug in further. It was the first time I thought that Tobin and I might not be able to survive our situation. My body shook in its first sob.
     
    It was like once I left, with all that weight hanging between us—everything I went through without him—we forgot how to talk to each other, and then he called.
     
    Tobin didn’t know Weston and I weren’t dating when that photo was taken, but my silence to him was a confirmation of what he’d called to find out. And that sealed it.
     
    Tobin had every reason in the world to hate me.
     
    ***
     
    “ Hi Delia!” Weston smiles wide. “Surprise.”
     
    “ Hey.” Weston doesn’t belong in Crawford, but I stumble toward him anyway.
     
    He wraps me up in his arms as soon as I’m close enough. “I’m sorry about your friend. I wasn’t thinking you were as close as you were,” he whispers. “I can’t be here the whole time you’re here, but I want to help, Delia. I was on my way when we spoke earlier. I’ll have to take off probably Saturday or Sunday, meet my dad in Baton Rouge, and then up to Tennessee, and down to Atlanta, but I’m here for now.”
     
    Tears start sliding down my cheeks, but I don’t think it has anything to do with Eamon, Weston, or Tobin. It has everything to do with confusion.
     

     
    Weston and I sit on the front porch holding hands while Mom and Dad argue inside. He’s politely ignoring the loud voices like I knew he would, but I can’t. Neither of us speaks. I start laughing because it’s such an absurd situation. We’re being so polite in front of the house, while the inside is a mess. It’s a metaphor for so many different things that I don’t even know where to start.
     
    “ You okay, Delia?” Weston’s hand squeezes mine.
     
    I let myself really look into his dark brown eyes as he rubs his thumb over the back of my hand. My laughter fades slowly.
     
    “ You’re not tryin’ to ignore that, are you?” I tilted my head back to the house.
     
    A soft smile slowly spreads. “Your accent. It’s cute. It’s been a while since