Abby
The shock of seeing Karl drenched and out of breath still hangs in the air as my mind races, trying to
piece together why he’s in this state, why he’s been missing all day.
“Karl, what happened? Where the hell have you been? Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?
We
needed you today!”
The words tumble out in a rush, fueled by anger, annoyance, and although I won’t admit it, maybe a
hint of
relief at seeing that he’s here and that he seems okay.
Karl looks at me, his eyes apologetic. “I’m sorry, Abby. I know I messed up, not showing up and not
answering your calls, but it’s because I was trying to do something for you.”
My brows knit together in confusion. “For me?”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtEnter title…
Karl exhales, as if weighing his words carefully. “I went to find those black truffles you needed for the
competition.”
My eyes widen. “You what?”
With a deep sigh, Karl begins telling me his story: about the sketchy dealer that turned out to be a
scam
artist, about Adam, and finally…
“So I went to the place that Adam told me about,” he says, still drying his soaked hair with a dish towel.
“Turns out, Adam wasn’t kidding about those guys. The whole place is crawling with security guards
armed to the teeth. It’s close to where we were mushroom hunting the other day. In fact, those were the
gunshots we heard. Maybe they caught a trespasser, or maybe they were warning shots… for us.”
A chill runs down my spine after hearing this. Suddenly, I don’t care so much about the truffles
anymore,
but rather about his safety. “Karl, are you insane? That’s dangerous! What were you thinking?”
“I almost got caught, Abby. Had to jump into a creek to escape.”
My stomach twists into knots, both from relief and the sudden realization of how close I came to losing
something—or someone—important. “You could have been hurt, Karl. Go d, you could have been
killed.”
Karl shrugs, his eyes downcast. “Yeah, but I wasn’t. I’m here. And I’m sorry I couldn’t get those truffles
for
you. I really wanted to bring them to you, but I failed.”
It takes a second for his words to register, for me to process the depth of what he’s saying, the lengths
he
went to. But when they do, I feel my heart leap, even for just a moment. “You… You went to all those
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm
lengths for me?”
Karl nods. “Yeah, I did. But like I said, I failed. I couldn’t find any truffles.”
The disappointment on his face is palpable, and it breaks my heart to see him like this. Suddenly, all of
my
frustration, all of my anger toward him throughout the day dissipates, and I’m left with nothing but pure,
unadulterated admiration.
As much as I’ve been frustrated about those elusive truffles, seeing Karl standing here, wet and
For a moment, I’m thrust back into the days when we were married, when we were always beside one
another for times like this. And for a moment, I almost miss those days.
“Karl, you didn’t fail. You came back, and that’s what matters. The truffles… they’re not worth risking
your
Karl nods, his eyes meeting mine in a silent promise.