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Getting dressed in the clothes they had ripped off, Candice clear through the house, she grabbed her bag and considered leaving him a note.
But Candice had never been very good at goodbye. No, she figured, it was better to just walk away.
When Knox returned home fifteen minutes after she left, he was anxious to see her again. Not only had he searched a mile perimeter around Natalie’s place, but he had also called some of the surrounding precincts to keep an eye out.
As soon as he could, he raced back to his home. The lights were off, but he figured she had just gone to sleep. Knox wanted to have her there for him when he was out late at night. He opened his bedroom door and she was gone.
Candice wasn’t in the bathroom or the kitchen, and then he noticed her bag wasn’t by the door. He had no idea where she could have gone on foot in the middle of the night. But he couldn’t help but worry if this really was goodbye.
CHAPTER 13
Sutton
Candice had dark circles under her eyes as she clutched her cup of coffee like a lifeline. But she wasn’t drinking out of the cup, only holding it as if it were her sole source of heat. I had found her holed up in the office at Abberly’s.
Knox called ridiculously early asking if she had made it back to my place, which she hadn’t. I had a small freak out, but Mark was there to be the voice of reason. There were only a few places she would be comfortable going: Alice and Reena’s, the trailer, or Abberly’s, and it was there we found her staring at the wall with dried tears on her face.
Mark made himself scarce, saying that he was going to make sure we would be able to move into the Baker place that afternoon. I wanted to castrate Knox. I didn’t know what he did, but I hated the look on my best friend’s face.
“You girls hungry?” Martha peeked her head in and gave Candice a concerned look.
She shook her head. “No, thank you.”
I was about to tell her I was starving, but then I saw Candice’s lip begin to quiver. Then suddenly she was telling me everything. I was a little confused on how it was the elderly neighbor's fault that she ended up in bed with Knox again, but I knew it wasn’t the time to question.
Candice needed me to listen and be a friend, and that I could do. When she got to the part about Natalie calling, I started to get mad. What was it about this girl? Could she not see that Knox and Candice were perfect for each other?
And why was Knox being so obtuse? Could he not see that by rushing to Natalie he was pushing Candice away?
Later, when we were packing our things at the trailer, I asked Mark these very questions. He was adamant that we stay out of it.
“Sutton, the last thing you want to do is get involved. You can’t win. If you say that Knox is a dick and they get together then she will resent you. If you say that she should stay with him and he ends up dicking around on her then she really will resent you.”
I frowned. “So, what am I supposed to do? I can’t just sit there and not say anything.”
Mark grabbed my hands and pulled me in between his legs while he was sitting on the bed.