Page 78 of Missing Pieces
“Are y’all celebrating a breakup? ‘Cause I sure hope so.”
What the hell is Quinn doing here?
“Easton finally realize you ain't no good for him?” she spits.
“Quite the opposite actually,” Easton says as he saunters back over.
I look at Quinn and resist my urge to punch her in the face. “Whatever you and Easton had is in the past, he has moved on, as should you. So please just leave us alone. I won’t ask you again.”
She rolls her eyes at me. “Well, he didn’t seem to move on last night when he was with me.”
“Really? We practically live together Quinn, I know you two weren’t together last night nor will you ever be.”
She grins at me. “Not until he leaves you just like your ex-husband did.”
I see red again. Not because I think Easton would do that but because I am so sick of this skank and her need to be in my business. I slap her across the face before I can think twice about it.
“You bitch!” she shrieks.
I blink away the shock of my outburst to see Trace dragging Quinn out of the bar. As he walks back in he says, “You gonna need me to kick anyone else out tonight?”
We all just laugh and continue to celebrate.
* * *
I sit cuddled in a blanket on the wraparound at Easton’s home, well, now my home and it’s crazy to think that I found myself a permanent place to call home, a word I haven’t felt in so long. But as I sit here surrounded by friends as the kids play with Poe and a smile cracks my face, I can’t help but be grateful for all the negative things that happened in my life that led me here, to this place, to this moment. Our bellies are full as we sip on hard cider and watch the sunset over the hills.
To think a year ago I was in Chicago dressed to the nines at a fancy fundraiser to being in leggings and slippers wrapped in the arms of the man I love. As I look back, I can’t think of when I fell out of love with Drew. I always thought it was when I found him cheating on me but as I try to remember a moment like this, moments that there are no words for, moments that just feel right, where nothing else matters except for what is happening right now, I can’t remember any. At least as of recently, even my wedding to Drew was a stiff formal engagement that left me longing for something more intimate. Maybe back when we were in college when nothing mattered except our plans for the weekend and passing our finals. When we could be more carefree, not burdened by careers and finances and social soirees that were just a battle for popularity and wealth. Out here I feel carefree. The burdens of adulthood don’t weigh as heavily when you can have moments like these. Moments where we stop to smell the flowers, watch the sunset, laugh, and overindulge. These moments that are missing pieces in most of our lives.
I smile at the thought of my missing pieces being found. East toasted at Thanksgiving dinner and said just that, “To finding the missing pieces in our lives.” My heart swelled at the statement as he gave me a wink. I am not sure anyone else understood his toast, but it meant everything to me.
I look at the man whose arms are wrapped around me and place a chaste kiss to his lips. This right here is what I had been looking for all along. I know this is exactly where I want to be.
* * *
The continuous buzzing of a phone wakes me up. I roll over to turn it off but it’s not mine, it’s Easton’s and he is already moving around the room pulling up a pair of pants.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” he whispers into the phone. “Yes, I know it’s serious, but it’s four a.m. I was asleep.”
I hear mumbling on the other end, but I’m unable to make out the words. “I’ll be there as fast as I can,” he sighs into the phone running a hand through is hair. “Yeah, I know. I love you too.”
Easton walks over and sits on the edge of the bed, leans over, and kisses me with hesitation. He mustn’t realize I am awake. As my eyes adjust to the darkness, I can see something is off. There is a wrinkle between his eyes he only gets when he is frustrated or hiding something. I try not to read into it, but it’s hard not to. I know he doesn’t like to talk about Raelynn, not until after the fact, but something about his kiss is like kissing a stranger.
He presses his lips to my forehead one more time and then he leaves, and I can’t help but shiver as a feeling of dread moves through my body.