We Promised to Wait for Everyone—But No One Waited for Me Chapter 05

We Promised to Wait for Everyone—But No One Waited for Me Chapter 05

At six that evening, the four of them got home together.

The table was covered with groceries, more food than Thanksgiving.

Josie pulled two packs of peeled shrimp out of a bag.

“Delaney’s favorite shrimp. I bought two packs.”

Dawson was mixing the broth when Miles stopped him.

“Her stomach isn’t great. Don’t make it too spicy.”

He swapped the single pot for a split fondue pot: mild broth on one side, spiced on the other.

Wesley took the bottle of drinkable yogurt Delaney liked out of the fridge and set it right in the

middle of the table.

This dinner was what the four of them had planned over the last two days, to apologize to Delaney.

“What time does Delaney usually get home?”

Miles checked his phone.

“Seven, usually. It’s six forty. Soon.”

Seven o’clock came. Delaney didn’t.

Wesley texted the group.

[@Delaney, are you off work? We’re waiting for you to eat.]

No one replied.

“Maybe she’s still working late? She was late last Friday, too.”

“Then we wait a little longer.”

Seven thirty. Eight. Nine.

The deli sides slowly went cold.

Josie carried them into the kitchen to reheat.

When she bent over to throw something away, her hand froze.

In the trash lay the sticky note she’d written for Delaney before leaving that morning.

She picked it up.

It had a deep crease down the middle.

Her hand shook, and the note fell back into the trash.

“Wesley…” Her voice broke. “Come look at this…”

Wesley came over, looked at the note in the trash, and frowned.

“She came home?”

“I don’t know…’

Josie’s tears spilled over.

“Is Delaney still mad at me? Does she not forgive me?”

Miles seemed to think of something. He walked into the bedroom and looked.

The spot against the wall was empty.

That was where Delaney’s suitcase had always sat.

He called toward the kitchen.

“Stop worrying. Delaney’s probably on a work trip.”

“A trip where?” Wesley asked.

Miles froze.

“To…” He opened his mouth. “I didn’t ask.”

“For how long?”

“She didn’t say…’

“When did she leave?”

“I don’t know.”

Wesley stared at him, his frown deepening.

“Miles, Delaney is your girlfriend, right? Where she’s going, for how long, when she left, and you

on’t know any of it?”

Miles couldn’t say a word.

Dawson took out his phone and called Delaney.

It was off.

“Off. Maybe she’s on a plane.”

“A plane to where?” Wesley asked again.

Nobody could answer.

The four of them stood in the living room, and no one spoke again.

At last Wesley untied his apron and threw it on the floor.

“Forget it. She’s sulking, and she couldn’t even tell us.’

“Let her sulk. She’ll come around in a couple days.”

Josie tugged his sleeve, her voice tiny.

“Wesley, what if she’s really angry this time?”

“How long can she stay angry?”

Wesley gave a cold snort.

“All our lives, hasn’t she always cooled off on her own?”

He said it with total certainty.

Miles walked over to Josie.

“Don’t cry. Delaney will figure it out in a couple of days and come back.”

“She’s always done this. She makes a fuss, but in the end she always comes home.”

Josie sniffled and nodded.

Nobody really enjoyed that dinner.

When it broke up, Miles went to his room and shut the door.

He leaned back against it and looked at his phone.

Only then did he notice that Delaney’s last message was from Saturday, in the group:

[Where is everyone?]

Nothing since. The whole week.

She used to tell him wherever she was going.

On work trips, she’d ask him to drive her.

Even a trip to the grocery store, she’d ask, “Want me to pick anything up?”

But this whole week, she hadn’t told him anything.

He didn’t know when her suitcase had disappeared.

He didn’t know when she’d left.

He didn’t know where she’d gone.

Miles stared down at the words [Where is everyone?] and felt a tightness spread through his chest.