Chapter 10

He flung the door open, screamed out her name, but it was too late.  She was already sitting in the little red sports car.  Lance just stood there as they drove off.  Footsteps echoed behind him.

“Why did she do that?”

Her voice just amplified the ire he was feeling.  Snapping his head towards her, he narrowed his eyes.  “We were joking around, but you knew she would react that way didn’t you.”

Cece shrugged.  “It was either now, or later.  She would have realized she was making a permanent commitment and ran.  It’s what she always does.”

“You think that scaring her off now is better?” he asked in disbelief.

“Would you rather her leave you when you loved her, or now when it isn’t that bad?”

“I love her now!” he yelled at her in frustration.  “What is wrong with you, Cece.  Why didn’t you tell me?”

“That she had commitment issues?” she asked while rolling her eyes.  “I helped you out a lot in this situation, but there are some things that you have to take care of by yourself.”

He let out a frustrated groan.  “She ran off; tell me where she would go.”

Cece clamped her mouth shut and shook her head at him. “Can’t.”

“Yes,” he pleaded, “you can.  Come on, just give me a hint.”

“If you love her so much, figure it out yourself,” she told him as she turned her back on him and walked back into the café.

He stared at her back in disbelief.  The woman had gotten him into this situation, but she wouldn’t help him get out?  Glaring at the door, Lance promised himself that, for now on, he would not take advice from Cece.  If he wanted to know how to do something, he would go to Abby.

Thrusting his hand in his pocket, he reached for his keys.  They jingled, assuring him that he had a way to get to her.  Now, he only had to find out where she would be.  Her house?  No, she wouldn’t be there.  Frustration hit him hard.  Where would she go if she felt trapped?  Finally, the answer hit him.  He laughed at his own stupidity as he jogged to his car.  Clicking the remote, it unlocked, and the door rose.  He slid easily in it before reaching up to grab the handle.  The door shut with a tiny click sound.  The key turned, the engine roared to life, and he threw it in drive.  Peeling out of the small parking lot, he hit the gas pedal as hard as he could.  He was going to find Abby, before she ran too far.

She stared out at the open area.  Taking a deep breath, she let it calm her.  Her hand was holding onto Paul’s, and she wished that their relationship had been like this while they were dating.  It just goes to show that some people work out better as friends.

“Calm enough?” he croaked out.

She looked over at him and smiled.  “Don’t like the view?”

“I don’t like standing at the edge of a cliff, is what I don’t like.  Good God, Abby can we just step back a couple hundred feet?”

“You’re afraid of heights,” she realized.

He nodded.  “Deathly.”

“I wonder why I never knew that,” she mumbled.

He took a step back before turning her body towards his.  Staring into her eyes, he sent her a lopsided smile.  “Neither of us was good in that relationship.  You went in waiting for it to end, and I went in, well, being the ass that I show everyone.”

“Why are you like that?”

“Defense mechanism,” he answered with a shrug.  “You run from commitment while I am a jerk so no one will want a commitment.  It seems we both have issues.”

“I don’t have commitment issues.”

He chuckled at her.  “Are you serious?” Seeing her expression, his face softened.  “Ah, damn, Abby.  You run from anything that would even hint at commitment.  You freaked out on me when I left my toothbrush at your house.”

“It’s unsanitary,” she mumbled while he just chuckled again.

“It was a little piece of commitment and you panicked.  Tell me this, where do you see yourself in ten years?  Still working at the same place, with no one to come home too?”

She thought about it for a minute.  “I thought that I would be married by then, maybe have children.”

“How are you going to be there if you can’t even stay in a relationship for longer than a couple months?”

“No offence, Paul, but I’ve never found a person I wanted to be with that long.”

“Until now,” he said, making her freeze.  “You love him, Abby.  You may think that things are moving too fast now, but what happens when another woman snags him?  You can’t expect the man to wait on you forever.”

The thought of seeing Lance with another woman sent shards of pain to her chest.  Another woman would see those smiles he gave only her.  She shook her head.  “I can’t let him go.”

“Nope,” Paul assured her, “you can’t.  Now, go get him.”

“What?  I can’t he’s probably back at the coffee shop angry at me for bolting.”

“He does look a little angry, but it is probably because were standing so close, not because you left him.”

“How would you-” she started to ask, but Paul turned her towards their vehicle.

Standing there, with his hands in his pockets, was Lance.  His lips were drawn in a tight line, and she could tell that he was, in fact, a little angry.  Would he be mad at her for running out?  Probably.  Should she go talk to him? Definitely.  Building up courage, she took a step towards him, but he stood completely still.  Her chin tilted up.  So, he was going to make her come to him.  Fine, she could do it, and she would show him that she wasn’t going to run any longer.