Grace
It only took a few minutes to sign the paperwork at the bank and turn our keys over to the banker. I sat directly beside Finn, but still, he felt miles and miles away. When we stood to leave, he walked to his car, and I walked to mine.
“Finley,” I called out, uncertain why his name had even fallen from my mouth. He looked up and arched an eyebrow, waiting for me to speak. My lips parted, yet the words I wanted to come out stayed dancing in my mind. Let’s grab lunch and maybe a movie for now…until you love me again.
“Nothing. Never mind.”
He released a heavy sigh. “What is it, Grace?”
“Nothing, really.” I rubbed my hand up and down my arm.
“Here we go again,” he muttered, and my chest tightened.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re just doing that thing you always do.”
“What thing I do?”
“That thing where you start to express your feelings and then you pull them back, saying never mind. Do you know how impossible that makes it to communicate?”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“Of course, you are,” he replied. “Look, I have to go. When we get to Chester, we can tell our parents we’re splitting. We should probably do it separately. We’re gonna have to face these kinds of things on our own, so we might as well get used to it, okay?”
Stay strong. Don’t cry.
“Okay.”
I was on my way to spend the summer in Chester, seeing how my apartment in Atlanta wouldn’t be ready for me to move into until August. On one note, moving back to Chester terrified me because it wouldn’t take long for people to realize Finn and I weren’t together anymore. On another note, I was secretly excited to be in the same place as Finn. On the same sidewalks where we first fell in love. Maybe having that connection would make him look at me the way he used to. I had a summer to make my husband fall in love with me again.
I climbed into my car, and when I turned the key, the engine sputtered. Oh no. I turned it again, and it made a scratching noise. Finn cocked an eyebrow my way, but I tried to ignore his stare. My car was ancient, a little pink Buick I’d had since the day I left for college. The only thing I’d had in my life longer than that car was Finn, and now that he was on his way out, Rosie was the oldest thing that belonged to me.
That late morning, she’d developed a cough.
“Do you need me to look at the engine?” Finn asked, but I wouldn’t look at him. I couldn’t, not after he snapped at me and made me feel awful just for being me.
“No. I’m fine,” I told him.
“Will that thing even make it all the way to Chester? You should’ve gotten a rental car and trashed that piece of junk.”
“It’s fine,” I told him, turning the key and hearing that nasty sound once more.
“Gracelyn—” he started, and my nerves were at the edge of panic.
“Just go, Finn. You made it perfectly clear that you don’t want to be here, okay? So, just go.” Unless you stayed…
He frowned and stood a bit taller. “All right, I guess I’ll go.”
“Yes. You should.” Unless you stay…
I was pathetic.
His lips turned down. “Bye.” He left me there along with our history, closing the door on the chapter of our story, one I was still trying to rewrite.
