Rewind It Back (Windy City, #5)(125)

Could she be headed here? No. No, there’s no way. She doesn’t know where the team is staying, and if she got that information from Stevie, Zee would’ve stopped me from leaving if he had any inclination that she was on her way.



Me: Can you let me know if she comes home?

Wren: Of course.



Something feels off. Something in my gut is telling me to not get in the airport security line, so I don’t. I stand off to the side and text the girls to see if any of them have heard from her.

They haven’t.

I didn’t call Hallie after my game because I was trying to surprise her, and I’m shit at lying but fuck it. I dial her number, but after it rings too many times, it goes to voicemail.

Panic starts to take over because the last time she left the house with a bag and wouldn’t answer her phone was when her dad was in the hospital. Did she go back to Minnesota again?

If Hallie isn’t going to answer her phone, there’s only one other person to ask.

I call Luke.

Things were fine between us at the hospital, but Hallie is going to be in my life forever. Things between her brother and me need to be better than fine, so I got his phone number from her a few weeks ago with the idea of inviting him and his family down when the house renovation is finished.

“Hello?”

“Luke? Hey, it’s Rio.”

He hesitates for a moment. “Hey, man. Is everything okay?”

I glance around me, watching the security line build up with passengers. “I’m not sure, actually. Is Hallie there?”

“Is she here in Minnesota? No . . .”

Fuck.

“Is your dad doing all right?”

“Yeah, he’s doing pretty great actually. I don’t think she’s headed this way unless she didn’t tell us.”

“She would’ve been there by now. She left early this morning.”

There’s a long beat of silence on the line.

“Let me call her,” he suggests. “I’ll text you back when I know more.”

“Yeah. Thanks. I’d appreciate that.”

“I’ll let you know.”

He hangs up the phone and I pace the airport as I dial her again.

No answer.

Something feels off. Something isn’t right.

When I analyze everything a little more, she has been a bit distant this week. Calls were shorter than usual. Texts were more infrequent. I summed it up to her being busy with the renovations because that’s what she told me, but now I’m thinking there was something going on that I wasn’t aware of.

I lift my phone to call her again when it dings with a text.

And the message on the screen is one I never thought I’d read.





Chapter 40


Hallie


My attention snags on the house next door, following the roofline that connects it to this one. I take inventory of the redbrick exterior and the new ivy that’s grown along the front wall since I lived there.

The car parked in their driveway is not my family’s car. The pots and planters on the top step are different from the ones I walked by every day growing up.

It’s been a long time since I was last here, and my nerves are rattling.

I’ve spent the entire week thinking about this conversation. Going over all the things I need to say and writing it down in the form of a letter in case she doesn’t want to listen to me.

Rio’s team plane lands back in Chicago tomorrow afternoon, so I took the day off today, knowing I need to get back home before he does. He doesn’t know I’m here, nor does he have any clue that I’ve been planning this. I didn’t want him to try to talk me out of it.

Yes, it’s his mom, but this conversation also doesn’t really have anything to do with him.

I truly have no idea how this is going to go. The last time I saw Mrs. DeLuca, she told me she never wanted to see me again. Yet, here I am, six years later, standing on her doorstep.

Inhaling a deep breath, I steel my spine and knock on the door.

Standing outside, I slip off my coat as I wait. It’s early March in Boston, but it’s a warmer day than I expected.

The door finally opens with a smiling Mia DeLuca revealed behind it, but as soon as her eyes land on me, that grin drops.

I swallow hard. “Hi.”

If there’s one thing I know for certain, she hasn’t lost that intimidating factor one bit. Standing in the doorway, she looks me over from head to toe, but when she makes it to my face, she can’t meet my eye.

I know exactly what she’s thinking. I can see the pain in her eyes.

Exhaling, she drops her shoulder an inch as she opens the door wider. “Well, I can’t exactly leave you out in the cold, now, can I?”

The smallest tick of a smile lifts on my lips before I slip past her into the house where I spent so much of my childhood.

As soon as I’m inside, an overwhelming wave of nostalgia passes over me. It’s the exact same as it’s always been. It’s the same kitchen we used to bake cookies together in. The same dining room our families shared so many dinners together. The same living room where I watched TV after school with Luke and Rio.

The front door closes behind me, pulling me out of the past and reminding me why I’m here.