She watched the rest of the newscast, and when it was over she picked up her phone. Ian hadn’t responded yet, and Kate hoped that meant he was on his way. She was excited to talk to him about North Carolina. The food pantry had been slow that day, and she’d spent some time in the afternoon reading about Charlotte. She dreaded turning in her resignation, but she was starting to look forward to the move and planned on breaking the news to her parents in the next day or two. Her mother would be happy for Kate, and even if she did have a few reservations, she probably wouldn’t utter them. Her dad might be a different story, but telling him she was going with Ian would likely go over better than when she told him she was going to stop practicing law. He’d probably try to convince her to return to it now that she’d no longer be responsible for the food pantry.
Kate felt a slight prickle of unease when Ian had not arrived by seven. She opened the app on her phone to track him and clicked on Ian’s Phone. But instead of a pinpoint on a map she got the word Offline. Her forehead creased in confusion. Was there a problem with the app? He wouldn’t have turned off the location function, would he? She called him, but it went straight to voice mail.
Kate set the phone on the coffee table and went to the window. The rain had changed to snow and was coming down hard, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle in his SUV. The Shelby, however, would be a different story. The temperature had plummeted and the wet streets would be icy under the layer of snow. The rear-wheel-drive car would be helpless in those conditions.
She fidgeted, unable to keep still, and she paced as the hours crept by. At eleven she drove to his apartment. The roads were horrible, and she had to fight to keep the TrailBlazer from fishtailing and sliding through intersections. When she arrived, she went to the main entrance to buzz him since she didn’t have a key. She pushed the button on the intercom for fifteen seconds straight and waited a full minute between each attempt. There was only silence in return.
Finally she went home.
She spent the night in the chair by the window, watching the snowflakes as they passed through the beam of the streetlight, her emotions cycling rapidly between frustration and fear, confusion and resignation. She wanted to heave something at the glass, feel the satisfaction and hear the crash when it shattered.
Every twenty minutes, she’d tap Ian’s Phone on the app.
Every time it said Offline.
Though he’d promised he wouldn’t, he’d left without telling her. There was no other logical reason for why he was not curled up on the couch in front of the fireplace with her.
She watched the sky lighten as the sun came up. At seven, she decided she would try his apartment again. Fighting tears, she pulled on her boots and wrapped a scarf around her neck. The roads were still a mess, and it took longer than usual to get downtown. She drove carelessly, her mind occupied by more important things.
A man wearing a dark gray sweatshirt with the hood up was sitting on a bench in the entryway of Ian’s building. Kate ignored him and crossed to the bank of intercoms, angrily jabbing the button for Ian’s apartment. No buzzer sounded in return, no voice spoke to her through the speaker.
Goddamn you, Ian.