After He Left Me Behind, My Wedding Ring Changed Hands Chapter 01

After He Left Me Behind, My Wedding Ring Changed Hands Chapter 01

Over Labor Day weekend, my boyfriend, Reid Mercer, was taking me home for a proper visit with his parents. Of all the options, he’d booked the last intercity train of the night—the slowest run on the schedule.

I was exhausted and eventually fell asleep.

When I woke, the seat beside me was empty, and Reid’s phone was off.

I glanced at the onboard stop display and hurried to find a conductor. “How many stops until Cedarfield?”

“Cedarfield? You missed it ages ago. Grayhaven is next—the end of the line.”

She gave me a puzzled look. “I remember your boyfriend sitting beside you. Didn’t he wake you?”

My stomach dropped.

Half an hour later, I stood at the unfamiliar terminal in Grayhaven, staring around in a daze.

The man whose phone had been off finally called.

“Elise Warren was in a car accident. I had to go back to Ravenport to be with her. I forgot to wake you.”

“Go to my parents’ place on your own and wait for me. That’s it.”

The instant he finished, a deafening explosion erupted somewhere nearby.

The shock wave slammed into me and threw me to the ground.

Just before I blacked out, I could still hear Elise cooing to him on the other end of the call.

Even as everything went dark, one bitter thought crossed my mind: on the next leg of my life, I wouldn’t be taking him with me.

…

When I woke again, two days had passed.

The nurse was the first to notice and quickly called the doctor. After examining me, he visibly relaxed.

“Good. You’re awake. You’ve been unconscious for two full days.”

He set a billing form beside me. “Once you’re fully alert, sign this.”

The nurse spoke up next. Both of them looked almost embarrassed for me.

“We tried calling your emergency contact from your phone, but Mr. Mercer hung up on us. Then he turned his phone off.”

I nodded. My throat was so dry it hurt to speak.

“I understand. Thank you.”

After they left, I slowly pushed myself upright and reached for my phone.

Two whole days, and Reid hadn’t called once or sent a single message.

I opened Instagram and saw a post Elise had shared two days earlier.

[There’s something so satisfying about watching someone with beautiful hands peel an apple.]

The attached photo showed my boyfriend with his head lowered, carefully peeling an apple.

Reid hated handling fruit and hated getting juice on his hands even more.

Even when I’d been hospitalized with appendicitis and wanted some fruit, he had only sat beside me, cool and detached, and brushed off my request.

“You’ll have to do without. I don’t like touching that stuff.”

But now, for Elise, he was doing it without a second thought.

I kept scrolling and saw a comment from a mutual friend.

[Wasn’t Reid supposed to be spending the weekend back home with Mara Bennett?]

Elise’s reply was just as coy as ever.

[My mom called to tell him I’d been in a car accident. I didn’t think he’d just…]

He’d just left me behind.

I knew exactly what she meant. A familiar ache tightened in my chest.

This had happened too many times. Whenever Reid had to choose between us, I was always the one he left behind.

Then my mom’s call came through.

“Mara! Finally! Your dad and I have been worried sick for two days.”

“We couldn’t reach you, and we don’t even have Reid’s number!”

I held back the wave of emotion threatening to overwhelm me.

“I’m okay, Mom. I’ll be home soon.”

She finally exhaled, then asked hesitantly, “Mara, could you give us Reid’s number? If something like this ever happens again, your dad and I…”

My grip tightened around the phone. My throat tightened.

It wasn’t that I had refused to give them his number. Reid wouldn’t allow it.

Everyone knew I’d been the one to chase Reid until he finally agreed to date me. So when we got together, he laid down a rule.

“I’m not going to have a relationship with your family. And please don’t give them my contact information.”

I was hurt, but I swallowed it and agreed to everything.

Now, reading Elise’s reply about her mother calling Reid and hearing my own mother cautiously ask just to have his number, the determination that had kept me hanging on for five years vanished all at once.

“Mom.”

“You don’t need his number. This won’t happen again.”