Page 6 of Meet Me in the Blue

He gave her his signature soft grin. “I think you and my mom make it your job to meddle.”

“Well…” Mom shot me a look. “We can always hope.”

She grabbed a bottle of pills and some apple sauce from the fridge before she left the kitchen in a hazy shade of silence. After a few seconds Nora hopped down from the counter, tucking her long brown hair behind her ears.

“I have work to catch up on. It was good to see you, Rook.”

“You, too, Nora.”

My sister tugged him into a hug, and a pang of jealousy clenched inside my stomach. Not because I thought Rook and my sister would ever be a thing, but because I wanted the right to touch him again. To reach over and hold his hand like we used to sometimes when we were kids. To rest my head on his shoulder and tell him I was lost. To ask him not to leave because I needed him now more than ever.

As Nora pulled away, he stood. “I should get going.”

“Right now?” I asked and Rook swallowed.

He picked up his coffee mug, avoiding my eyes. “I have to let my dog out.”

“You have a dog?”

“Maribelle,” he said, and it sounded likeyou would have known about her if you hadn’t pushed me away.

“She’s the cutest goldendoodle ever.” Nora grinned and took the mug from Rook’s hand. “I’ve got this.”

“Thanks.”

“I’ll walk you out?” I asked and he shrugged.

“Um… sure.”

Everything between us was wrong, misshapen. Like a photo out of focus, I didn’t recognize the two people inside the frame.

“Don’t forget your ice cream.” Nora set the cup in the sink and made a beeline for the freezer.

With his bag of ice cream tucked under his arm, we made our way outside onto the front porch. The rain had stopped, but the air was frosted and sharp.

“I missed you,” I admitted as he descended the first step. I kept talking when he didn’t turn around, finding it less intimidating without his knowing eyes watching me. “After Graham, I didn’t know what to do. I moved to L.A. and I thought I could make a go of it. I never meant to… I—”

“You should have come home.” His words came out in thick puffs of fog in the cold air.

They hovered in front of him as we both breathed in the truth of what he’d said.

“I had to find my own way.”

“Did you find what you were looking for?” He took another step away.

“No… I didn’t.”

Rook turned, his eyes dark, his face as stoic as ever. “Five years, Luka. What happened?”

“Graham and I… it was too much.”

“I know.”

“We were together for seven years.”

“I know.”

“I was lost.”

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