Page 11

When Brie woke up, she immediately sensed something was wrong. The morning sun's rays across her face roused her from her slumber, and she struggled to open her eyes.

When she finally did, it was with a blush on her face as she remembered the events of the previous night.

She opened her eyes fully, expecting to see Mack next to her, but all she saw was an empty bed. Confused, she looked around the room for traces of him. There was nothing.

The only evidence of his presence was her clothes lying on the floor of her bedroom. His own clothes were nowhere to be found.

Still groggy from sleep, she dressed, wincing a little at the sweet soreness between her legs. She pressed her thighs together and rubbed her belly as she thought of all the sweet nothings they'd said to each other.

She came out of the room and followed the scent of cookies baking to the kitchen, where her mother was bent over the oven, and her father sat reading a newspaper at the table.

"Good morning, Mom. Good morning, Dad," she greeted them, a little embarrassed because she wasn't sure how loud she'd been the previous night or if they'd heard her.

"Baby, good morning. I trust you had a lovely night," her mother said, smiling as she brought the cookies out of the oven and placed them on the table in front of her dad.

"I'm fine, mom," she hesitated before she continued. "Um, have you seen Mack? He wasn't there when I woke up this morning."

This time, it was her father who answered, not quite meeting her eyes. "Oh uh. Good morning, Pumpkin. How are you?"

A bit worried now; Brie answered, "I'm fine, dad. Where's Mack?"

Brie's mother came around the table to put her arms around Brie.

Brie struggled for a minute before she stopped and settled into the hug.

"He left, didn't he?" she asked, not really wanting or expecting an answer.

Her father put his newspaper down and came around to put his hands around them.

"I'm sorry, honey. He said he was sorry. He said he had to leave, and he didn't want to put you in any more danger, not after what happened to Rachel."

Her mother cut in, "I think it's for the best. You've been through so much already because of that young man. You deserve peace; you deserve to be happy and safe."

Brie could barely hear them over the blood rushing through her ears. For some reason, their hug felt too tight, suffocating; she needed air.

"I need to go outside for a minute," she mumbled without looking at them. "I'll be alright. I just need some air."

She stumbled out through the back to the chair she'd been sitting in when Mack found her yesterday.

She held on to the chair as she cried and rocked herself back and forth, whispering his name over and over.

The pain was more than she'd thought herself capable of experiencing. She hated herself for loving him so deeply, and she hated Mack for leaving her this way over and over.

She doubled over in pain as tears blurred her vision, and she stumbled, the chair her only source of support.

She leaned against it and slid slowly down until she was sitting on the floor.

Her dogs shuffled closer and rubbed their bodies against her.

She picked one up and buried her face in its coat while the other licked her fingers. She raised her face as she continued to weep softly.

Her mother came out and sat on the floor next to her while her father watched from the door.

She placed her head on her mother's shoulder, and they all stayed that way for a long time, none of them saying anything until Brie was done crying.

Somehow, she knew Mack was gone for good.

To be continued…