Message in a Bottle - Nicholas Sparks [71]
“I know.”
He stepped back from the door and closed it. She rolled down the window and put her hand out. Garrett took it in his for just a moment. Then she shifted the car into reverse.
“You’ll call tonight?”
“I promise.”
She pulled her hand in, smiling at him, and slowly started forward. Garrett watched her as she waved one last time before driving off, wondering how on earth he’d get through the next two weeks.
Despite the traffic, Theresa made it to the hotel quickly and checked out. There were three messages from Deanna, each seemingly more desperate than the last. “What’s going on down there? How did your date go?” read the first one; “Why didn’t you call? I’m waiting to hear all about it,” read the second; and the third said simply, “You’re killing me! Call me with the details—please!” There was also one message from Kevin—she’d called him a couple of times from Garrett’s house—and it seemed to be at least a couple of days old.
She returned the rental car and reached the airport with less than a half hour to spare. Luckily the line to check her bags was short, and she made it to the gate just as they were boarding. After handing her ticket to the stewardess, she boarded the plane and took her seat. The flight to Charlotte was only partly full, and the seat next to her was vacant.
Theresa closed her eyes, thinking back on the amazing events of the past week. Not only had she found Garrett, but she had come to know him better than she would ever have imagined possible. He had stirred deep feelings in her, feelings she had long thought were buried.
But did she love him?
She approached the question gingerly, wary of what an admission like that would mean.
Idly she ran through their conversation of last night. His fears of letting go of the past, his feelings about not seeing her as much as he wanted to. These things she understood completely. But…
I think I’m in love with you.
She frowned. Why did he add the word “think”? Either he was in love or he wasn’t… wasn’t he? Had he said it to appease her? Or had he said it for another reason?
I think I’m in love with you.
In her mind, she heard him say it over and over again, his voice edged with… what? Ambivalence? Thinking about it now, she almost wished he’d said nothing at all. At least then she wouldn’t be trying to figure out exactly what he’d meant.
But what about her? Did she love Garrett?
She shut her eyes tiredly, suddenly unwilling to confront her warring emotions. One thing was for sure, though—she wasn’t ever going to tell him that she loved him until she was certain he could put Catherine behind him.
That night, in Garrett’s dreams, a violent storm was well under way. Rain pelted hard against the side of the house, and Garrett ran frantically from one room to the next. It was the house he lived in now, and though he knew exactly where he was going, the blinding rain coming in the open windows made it difficult to see. Knowing he had to close them, he rushed to the bedroom and found himself entangled in the curtains as they blew inward. Fighting them off, he reached the window just as the lights went off.
The room went black. Above the storm, he could hear the sound of a distant siren, warning of a hurricane. Lightning illuminated the sky as he struggled with the window. It wouldn’t budge. Rain continued to pour inward, wetting his hands and making it impossible to get the grip he needed.
Above him, the roof began to creak with the fury of the storm.
He continued to struggle with the window, but it was jammed and wouldn’t move. Finally giving up, he tried the window beside it. Like the first window, it was stuck as well.
He could hear the shingles being torn from the roof, followed by the crash of shattering glass.
He turned and ran to the living room. The window there had exploded inward, spewing glass over the floor. Rain blew sideways into the room, and the wind was horrific. The front door was shaking in the frame.
Outside the window, he heard Theresa begin to call for him.
“Garrett, you’ve got to get out now!”
At that moment,