Page 12

Chapter 12

I don’t say one word to Camila as we’re driving to the dog park.

She left all the groceries behind at the supermarket. I was too upset to wait for her to finish shopping and go through check out. I needed to get to the dog park immediately. I needed to know the truth.

While I’m sitting in the car, I shoot off more text messages to the number scribbled on my arm:

I’m on my way to the dog park.

Don’t leave.

I’m almost there. Please don’t leave.

The entire day, every time I sent a text, a reply came almost instantly. But there’s no reply to any of these text messages. It’s like there’s nobody on the other line at all.

I don’t understand it.

I google the name Harrison Finch. I brace myself for a Facebook page featuring a picture of Harry with his arm around some beautiful woman. But nothing comes up. There’s no mention of Harrison Finch anywhere. It gives me hope. Some.

Camila pulls into a spot next to the dog park. I’ve got my phone gripped in my right hand and I’m afraid to look up. Because in my heart, I know what I’m going to see.

“Tess?” Camila says.

I raise my eyes. The dog park is a stone’s throw away from the car. All the people I saw at the park earlier have left. It’s empty.

But Harry was there earlier. I know it.

I unbuckle my seatbelt and leap out of the car. I sprint over to the gate enclosing the dog park. My fingers wrap around the cool metal wires, which dig into my skin. I stare into the empty space. Harry isn’t there.

Was he ever there?

I don’t know anymore.

Is Camila right? Is Harry really gone from my life? Has he already left the state? Is he married to another woman, his time with me a distant memory?

“Tess…”

I turn around. It wasn’t Camila who said my name this time. It was Graham . My husband, apparently. He’s standing in front of me, still wearing the expensive gray suit that fits him like a glove, holding Ziggy’s leash, the locks of his sand-colored hair tousled by the wind. He offers me a hopeful smile.

“Camila texted me to come here with Ziggy,” he explains.

Ziggy is straining at his leash. He licks my hand excitedly. I run my hand over his fur, and instantly, I feel better. Dogs are magical. I don’t know what I would’ve done today without him.

“I thought we could let Ziggy play in the dog park a bit,” he says. “I’ll let Camila go home early and we could spend some time here.”

I look over at Camila, who is watching us from the car. I wonder how many times in the last year Graham has driven home early to make sure I was okay. I wonder how many times I’ve freaked out at the supermarket.

I wonder how many text messages I’ve imagined from Harry.

“Tess?” Graham furrows his brow. “What do you say?”

I run my hand over Ziggy’s head. “Yes. That sounds nice.”