Justin arrived a few minutes after they left. I’d been watching from my front window with Margie. She practically ran to the front door when he pulled up. I opened the door before he could knock.
He looked disheveled. “Hi,” he said.
“Hi,” I said. Things already felt awkward, and I knew it was my fault. I caused the argument after all, but I didn’t know what to say to him. I didn’t even know how to act around him.
“Daddy!” Margie yelled and hugged Justin. “Anna said you won!”
“I did, sweetheart. Are you ready to go?” he asked.
We made eye contact, and I could already see dark circles under his eyes. I was the first to break the eye contact.
“Can Anna come with us?” Margie asked, and I felt my heart break a little. “I want her to stay the night.”
It was hard for me to keep from crying again. I was ultimately hurting Margie, too. The thought of that had made me start to feel guilty.
“Anna needs to get some rest in her own bed,” he said. I didn’t look at him. I couldn’t make eye contact with him again.
/> “Okay,” she said, sniffing back tears.
“I’ll see you later, okay?” I said to her and gave her a big hug. “Have a good night, Margie.”
“Okay, Anna,” she said.
“Goodnight, Anna,” Justin said.
“Goodnight, Justin,” I said. I didn’t really know what else to say to him. Or how to even act around him. They went back through the door, and when they reached his car, he turned to look at me. It broke my heart to look at him, so I closed the door.
We had plans to meet up the next day and go on a walk with my family, but I didn’t think that was going to happen now. I couldn’t help the ache in my heart. Things had been going good between us, and now, I didn’t really know where we stood.
I was glad my parents left and didn’t see the way we acted around each other. I didn’t need to hear their opinions. In fact, I just wanted to go to bed and forget about everything that happened between us. I didn’t want to think about anything for the rest of the night.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Justin
I had a hard time sleeping that night, partially because of my shoulder and partly because of the dull ache forming in my stomach. My newest injury kept me awake, but thoughts of Anna were ever more powerful. I didn’t know where she and I stood. We hardly spoke when I picked up Margie, and I only hoped it wasn’t the end for us. I was in love with Anna. I needed her in my life, and I wanted nothing more than to find a way to keep her.
I was so close to being done with Markie and his bullshit. I just needed Anna to understand that and support me through this last fight.
Before our argument, we made plans to go on a walk with her family the day after my fight. Just because Anna was upset with me didn’t mean I wasn’t going to go. I wanted to prove to her how much she meant to me, whether she was mad at me or not.
“Let’s get going, pumpkin!” I yelled to Margie from the living room. She went into her room to get changed a few minutes earlier.
“I’m so excited for family day!” Margie said, running down the hall toward me. She sat down on the couch, and I helped her put her tennis shoes on.
We headed out the door and drove to Anna’s house.
Everyone was outside when we pulled up. I got out and grabbed Margie. When I put her on the ground, she ran over and hugged everyone while I walked over. The look on Anna’s face told me she was surprised to see me.
“You didn’t think I was going to miss this, did you?” I asked.
She shrugged but gave me a small smile.
“Are you guys ready? We’re going on a nature trail walk just outside of town,” Tom said.
We both nodded, and I moved Margie’s booster seat over to their van. We all piled in the van and drove off toward the nature trail. Anna still sat next to Margie, but we didn’t speak to each other. I felt awkward about the situation, but I didn’t know what else to do. I wasn’t sure how to make her feel better when she wouldn’t even talk to me.
When we got to the trail, we all climbed out of the van quickly. Millie immediately walked over to me and Anna and fixed us with a serious look.