Cole’s expression was sympathetic. “If she’s as smart as I think she is, she’ll come around.”
Jamie nodded. “I hope you’re right.”
Cole reached out and gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder. “Good luck. I’ll come back the day after tomorrow and give you a lift to the doctor’s office.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that.”
Cole pulled his phone out of his back pocket and scrolled through his list of contacts. “I’m going to leave you Laurel Cavanaugh’s number, just in case. She lives just down the road. She’s a writer and she works from home, so she’s usually around. If you get stuck, give her a call, okay?”
“Thanks.” Jamie watched as he wrote the number on a slip of paper and left it on the island.
They returned to the front porch, and Jamie watched Cole drive away. He turned and went back into the house, where Boomer stretched and yawned hugely, before rubbing his head against Jamie’s cast.
He snagged another beer and made his way back out to the deck, where he lowered himself into a wooden Adirondack chair. Dylan’s house was great, the view was fantastic, and he would soon be getting the cast on his leg removed, which would enable him to be independent once more. He could start making plans to return to his unit in California, which was what he wanted, right? So why did life look so freaking bleak?
Chapter Sixteen
Three days had passed since Jamie had left the house on Pinewood Avenue. Rachel had no idea where he’d gone, only that he was gone. It had only taken her a few hours after their ugly confrontation to realize the magnitude of the mistake she’d made. She’d run across the street, ready to tell Jamie what an idiot she’d been, but the house had been locked up tight. She’d gone around to the back and peered through the French doors into the kitchen, but her heart already knew the house was empty.
He had left without so much as a good-bye. Without allowing her an opportunity to make amends. The expression in his eyes just before he’d left still haunted her. She’d hurt him, and deeply. She’d expected him to be angry, but she hadn’t expected him to leave. She hadn’t seen or heard anyone pull up to the house, and had no idea where he might have gone. For all she knew, he could be on a flight back to Oceanside, California, where he had a condo.
With Dylan and her parents still in Bozeman, she’d never been lonelier. Only pride kept her from calling her brother at the hospital to see if he had any idea where Jamie might have gone. She’d called Jamie’s cell phone numerous times, but each time it had gone to voicemail. Rachel didn’t know if he had his phone turned off, or if he just didn’t want to talk to her.
Finally, tired of feeling sorry for herself, she’d gone into town to listlessly poke through the shops, and had even walked out onto the pier, crowded with tourists and young families. But that only reminded her of when she’d visited the pier with Jamie, and how he’d brashly declared to anyone and everyone that she was the most beautiful girl in Glacier Creek.
For the first time since she’d headed off to college and New York City, she regretted that she hadn’t maintained any of her friendships in Glacier Creek. Life had moved too fast, sweeping her along with it until one day she looked up and realized fifteen years had passed. In all those years, she’d only contacted her high-school friends once or twice, when she’d been home for a holiday or other family event. She hadn’t attended any of her class reunion s, or tried to maintain her old friendships, mostly because Deke had never wanted to spend any time with her family or her friends.
Instead, she’d had a few superficial friendships with the socialites who hung out on Deke’s yacht, or temporarily lived at one of his many residences. When Rachel had questioned Deke about it, he’d always brushed her concerns aside, saying those same people would be more than willing to open their doors to him and Rachel in return.
Only they never had, at least when she’d accompanied Deke.
In retrospect, they had not been true friends. They had only wanted to hang out with Deke because he provided anything and everything they needed, at no charge, including booze and drugs.
She thought of her mother and Mrs. Colter, who had been friends since before Rachel was born. They’d weathered good times and bad times, yet their friendship had never wavered. Similarly, Jamie had managed to stay connected with Dylan and Cole and most of the other guys he’d hung out with as a kid. He hadn’t ditched them just because he’d joined the Marines and had deployed halfway around the world.