Page 123 of Return To You

“Get ready and call me from bed? I want your voice to be the last thing I hear tonight. And I’m not sleepy yet.”

“Okay,” I breathe against my better judgment. How can I say no to Ethan asking me to be the last thing he hears?

See? We can make it work. We can have a long-distance relationship.

thirty-nine

Grace

Day 2 Love Note:

Sensory imprinting

The smell of your skin: honey with a hint of lavender and jasmine

Proving my point, the next morning, Randy, Emerald Creek’s florist, delivers a gorgeous bouquet in tones of blues and golds to the spa. The envelope says Grace, and the note reads, Always thinking about you. It’s in Ethan’s handwriting, which means he planned this before leaving. And how sweet is that? Would I have gotten a gorgeous bouquet if he hadn’t left? I don’t think so.

It’s the silver lining of a long-distance relationship.

The proof that we can be unconventional. That our love is stronger than our geographical separation. Last night’s angst is flying out the window.

Randy and Claudia move a side table so we can set the bouquet at the entrance. “It elevates the whole place,” Randy points out.

I want it there so I can see it every time I come through the main room, which has to be a hundred times a day. I’m tempted to take it home, but I still have the smaller bouquet Ethan got me before leaving.

Randy clasps his hands together. “Oh gosh, Grace, I’m so happy for you. He’s such a catch!”

My heart swells. “Hey, he sure knows how to make his absence worthwhile. Your arrangements are gorgeous.”

Randy blushes. “Oh, thank you.”

After Randy leaves, I take a selfie in front of the bouquet to send to Ethan.

“Let me see?” Claudia says over my shoulder. “Let me get a better one.” She takes the phone from my hands and directs me to stand in front of the flowers.

Ethan hearts my message with the photo but doesn’t text back. He doesn’t call in the evening either.

That night, I Google How to dry a bouquet.

Day 3 Love Note:

Funny-not funny

Your face when you rushed to your house thinking Damian was sick, and instead found me and your box of souvenirs

That day, I finally text the Bitch Brigade about Amy visiting the space. With Ethan having just left, I didn’t have it in me to talk about that, too, with my friends. But it’s time.

And now I have to fend off a slew of angry texts and plots for vengeance.

Which is exactly why I didn’t text them right after the fact. They might have been able to convince me to get on the warpath. And the truth is? There’s nothing I can do but move and start somewhere new. Richardson was right about not spending my money on a lost cause.

Even assholes are right sometimes.

Finally, Alex chimes in with something constructive.

Alex

Let’s take a look at the Mill. You might like it.

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