Page 120 of Return To You

I’m tempted to open one of the little envelopes now, so I move the jar to my nightstand.

I’m about to sit in front of a movie when my door opens.

Kiara, Alex, Chloe, and Haley barge in. Kiara has a box of pastries, Alex some fresh baked bread still warm from the oven, Chloe brought takeout from the restaurant she manages, and Haley has not one, but two bottles of wine.

“Your house is so cute!” Chloe exclaims.

Haley sighs. “Dude, still no deck furniture?”

“You sound just like your brother,” I say, smiling.

“Awww, look at that smile,” Haley teases, while Kiara sets her boxes on the couch, opens the sliding doors, and lifts one side of my kitchen table. “We’re still bringing the party outside. I need another pair of hands.”

“You should ask Autumn,” Chloe says as she carries chairs outside while Alex and Kiara bring the kitchen table out. “She set me up with great stuff for a really good price.”

“Yeah, you better. I’m not doing that again,” Alex says. “No wonder you’re always eating out. Your place is cute, but it’s not… entertainment-level ready.”

I shrug. “No one ever really comes over, except Skye.” And although I told Ethan this was his home, it’s not like he’s going to be spending any time in it.

“Shit,” Haley says. “Now that I think about it, it’s true. Why not?”

Because I put all my energy into my business, and when I come home, all I want to do is sleep? “I dunno.”

“Well, now that Ethan has pretty much moved in, you might wanna, you know, zhuzh it up a bit,” Kiara says as we all move to the deck, each of us carrying a mismatched chair.

Zhuzh it up? What’s wrong with my house? It’s cute, and neat, and clean. “He hasn’t moved in. Although…”

Haley stops what she’s doing. “Although what?”

“Well, when he comes back, I’m giving him a key.”

“You go, girl,” Kiara says.

“Umm… To be honest, I think I kinda got ahead of myself. I already told him… I said…”

“You said what?” they all ask.

“I told him this was his home. Well, I said Emerald Creek was his home, but he read between the lines.” At least I think he did.

They gape at me. Crap. I knew it. “I’m crazy, right? I’m so… so out of practice. Why did I tell him that? He must think I’m so desperate.”

“What!? What is wrong with you?” my friends exclaim.

Haley takes both my hands in hers. “Honey, listen. You are not desperate. You are a strong, kind, loving woman who gave her heart to a strong, kind, loving man. What are you scared of?”

I widen my eyes at her. What is she talking about? “He’s never gonna be here. Can’t you see? I’m not thinking straight.” Dad’s and Colton’s and even Kyle’s words resonate as words of wisdom, now that I’ve had a few hours to process.

“You’re giving him an anchor. A place to call home. A place to visualize as his when he’s all alone doing god knows what. A place for the two of you. That’s huge. That’s everything. God he’s so lucky to have you,” Haley says.

I’m lucky to have him, too, even if I miss him so much it physically hurts.

“On a scale of one to ten, how sad are you?” Alex asks.

“About what?”

While Chloe and Kiara set the table outside, Haley pours us an orange-y, bubbly drink in rocks glasses. “Drop the act, sister. About my idiot brother.”

“I…” Words escape me. I shouldn’t really be thinking about this now. Measuring how sad I am isn’t how I’ll protect my happy. All I can say is, this morning I got out of bed after Ethan left, didn’t lose it when Hope, who does the waxes in addition to facials, called out and I had to do Mrs. Summer’s Brazilian bikini wax. And I did not panic when I failed to find any commercial rentals online should I lose my space. So on a scale of one to ten functioning? I’m at a ten. The takeaway? “I’m doing fine.”

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