Absolution(30)

“I thought I made myself clear earlier,” Callum said, his voice laced with anger.

Jack’s heart sank.

“I told you to stay the hell away from her, didn’t I?”

“I don’t want to fight again,” Jack sighed. “It’s been a long day. Can’t we just take this up again tomorrow?”

“What was she doing here? What did you say to her?”

“She came to me – I didn’t go to her,” he frowned, shifting his weight as he made the connection. “And how the hell did you know she was here anyway, are you stalking me?”

Callum just raised his eyebrows.

“You’re stalking me?” Jack was incredulous, his blood boiling.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Callum huffed, planting his feet on the doorstep. “I saw her car outside earlier. I want to know what you said to her.”

“You want to know if I told her about what happened that night.”

Callum glared at him.

“The answer is no, I didn’t. But why the hell didn’t you? You were there, you knew.”

“Because it wasn’t my place to tell her – it was yours.”

“Jesus, Callum! You just let her think God knows what, all this time?”

“What the hell do you care what she thought? You weren’t here, remember? I didn’t tell her because what the hell would be the point?”

“What would be the point?” Jack repeated indignantly. “She would’ve known the truth!”

“That you were a coward? She figured that one out for herself when she woke up and you were gone!”

Jack opened his mouth to speak, but Callum cut him off.

“Don’t you dare come back here and start blaming me or anyone else! No one told you to go – you made that choice yourself! You did the wrong thing then and by coming back now and stirring it all up again, all you’re doing is making it worse. You’re here for your own selfish reasons, not because of Tom or because of her!”

“I’m trying to make it right!”

“How?”

Jack was dumbfounded, knowing that he had asked himself that question a million times and come up empty.

“She doesn’t need you anymore. The best thing you can do now is just crawl back into whatever hole you crawled out of and leave her alone.”

“No. I’m not going anywhere, not this time.”

“That’s your master plan? Seriously?”

Jack glared at him in silence, his anger mounting.

“Oh come on – you gotta admit, that’s a reckless statement, especially for you. You disappear when the going gets tough, remember?”

“That’s not what happened and you know it.”

“Do I? Because that’s what it looked like from where I was standing!”

“You know damn well why I left!” Jack blurted out. “You knew what I did – you were there!”

“Yeah, I knew what you did – big deal! You were trying to save her life, she wouldn’t have blamed you!” he said hotly. “You did the wrong thing, Jack, you should’ve stayed.”

Jack stared at him, his heart racing. He thought about the relationship they used to have, how close they were. Like brothers. And now this – strangers. Worse than that; enemies.

“I made a mistake. I won’t make that mistake again.”

Callum shook his head, eyeballing Jack as he took a step backwards, forcing his hands back into his pockets.

“Here’s the thing, you made your choice, now you have to live with it, just like the rest of us. You can’t change what happened, and if you stick around you’re only gonna hurt her again. Is that what you want?”

Jack opened his mouth to reply but Callum wasn’t finished.

“She was just starting to get her life back together, after everything she’s been through. Don’t rip it all apart again,” he pleaded quietly. “Do the right thing this time – leave.”

Devastated, Jack couldn’t think of a single thing to say in reply. He watched Callum walk down the steps and along the street to his car, get in and drive away. He was still standing frozen in the doorway, watching the space where Callum’s car had been, several minutes later.





CHAPTER 6




“Your future is not determined by others but by your own choices - the choices you make today and tomorrow.”