This Thing Called Love: A Novella ✔️

Twenty-Three - Molly

Nausea bubbles in my gut as I stare at my phone.

Leo's leaving. He loves Miami, yet he's saying goodbye to his family and moving halfway across the country just so Valentino and I can live in faux-marital bliss.

The weight of what I've done presses against my shoulders. Every time I try to call him back, it goes straight to voicemail, which means he must have turned off his phone. And that makes me feel worse.

How could I have been so stupid? Finally, I meet a guy I could actually fall in love with and I go and ruin it with a bunch of middle school-like drama. What was I thinking? This was always going to end badly because that's what happens when you lie.

My forehead presses against the steering wheel and my eyes well with tears. I've lost the best thing that's happened to me in a very long time and I have no one to blame but myself.

There's a vibration on my lap. A sliver of hope rises in my chest as I glance at the screen, hoping Leo had a change of heart. Maybe, just maybe, he wants to talk this through?

But it's not Leo.

Before I answer, I try to clear the emotion from my throat. "Hi, Uncle Gus."

"Hey, kiddo. Just wanted to check in. Are you feeling any better?"

"Not really." I grab a napkin from the glove box and wipe my eyes. "I ruined everything. He's gone."

He sounds confused. "Sorry, I'm not following."

After I share with Uncle Gus the sordid details of the past twenty-four hours—minus the part where I killed half a bottle of vodka—he blows out a slow breath. "Well, heck. That's not good."

"It's the worst."

"What time did you say he's leaving?"

Even though he can't see, my shoulders lift in a shrug. "Valentino said noon. But I'm not sure if that's when he's supposed to be at the airport, or when his plane takes off."

"And he turned off his phone?"

"Looks that way."

Uncle Gus goes quiet. Which means that even the man who's never at a loss for conversation has no idea what to say.

Until he does. "There's another road crew workin' out at the airport. Been repaving the dang thing for weeks." And then he hesitates. "Okay, I have this crazy idea but I'm not sure if you're gonna go for it."

I listen with renewed hope as Uncle Gus fills me in. It is crazy, and I have no clue if we can even pull it off. But I'm desperate, and willing to try anything.

"So, what do you say?" he asks when he's finished telling me his plan.

"I say, I'm already on my way."

🌴

By the time I get to the airport, a long line of cars are already bumper-to-bumper on the causeway. With Uncle Gus' plan in action, it's only going to get worse. Horns are blaring, people are cursing. It's like weekday rush hour on crack.

Like I often have to do at a job site, I shift my vehicle to the side of the road and follow the shoulder around traffic. When I pull into the clearing where the road crew park their cars, Uncle Gus is already standing at attention, guiding his employees with the same gusto as a drill sergeant.

"I want the front loaders to stay put, but the bulldozers need to move. We're trying to slow down traffic, not stop it all together!" he screams over the hum of idling engines.

"What's that dude's name again?" one of his employees call over to him.

Uncle Gus lifts a hand to the side of his mouth to navigate his voice. "It's Leo De la Mora! He'll be in a black pickup."