Page 79 of Meet Me in the Blue

“I heard you and Rook moved in together… and then Nora went and bought that place on Elm, you tell your mom if she ever needs any company, I’m just a phone call away.”

A month ago, this conversation would have annoyed the fuck out of me, but after I’d interviewed Dot for the paper, I realized as snoopy as she was, she genuinely cared about the people in this town.

“I’ll let her know.”

“I believe you and that boyfriend of yours have a birthday coming up next month. Isn’t that right?”

I laughed. “I can’t believe you remember that.”

“It’s my job to remember everything,” she said. “You just tell me what you want, and I’ll make you both a cake you’ll never forget.”

We wouldn’t be here next month.

The thought hit me harder than it should have.

“Thanks. We… uh… we’ll let you know.”

After an awkward hug, and a promise to call her soon, I headed toThe Herald.I was grateful Zach and my boss weren’t there yet, and closed myself off inside my office. I set the bag with my breakfast in the trash, my stomach too tied up to eat anything. It was like everything about this town had turned me upside down. I was Alice, staring through the looking glass, hoping to find a way home. Ever since I was a kid, I’d thought I wanted to live in a big city. I’d thought I’d never be able to have the life I wanted trapped in the confines of my dad’s shadow. I’d thought moving away would be the key to my happiness. But I’d left, and tried to live that life, and suffocated inside my poor choices, inside the memories of this place. I didn’t allow myself to see, to see how every cobblestone and tree branch and the craggy cliff sides had been written inside me and inside Rook. Hemlock Harbor was a part of us, it was a vital organ, attached to our hearts and lungs, and if we left this place, left its memories to fade, then Rook and I would fade along with it.

I was sure of it.

This wasn’t a panic attack, or an overreaction.

I could feel it, slipping away, and we hadn’t even left yet.

I wanted a life with Rook, in a place where we had history, more than the inflated childhood dreams I’d clung to because I’d been afraid. Afraid I’d never have what I really wanted. What I thought I’d never deserved.

Him.

I opened my laptop, and with the confidence I’d been searching for all week, I typed out an email to the Vancouver team manager regretfully declining the offer to interview. Once I pressed send, I felt the thousand-pound weight lift from my shoulders, and pulled my phone from my pocket to text Rook.

Me: Call me when you’re back at the office.

Rook: It was a false alarm, heading back to the office now. I’ll call you when I get there.

I shoved my phone back into my pocket, pacing around the room a few times, my need to see Rook boiling over until I couldn’t take it, this itching feeling under my skin. It wasn’t like I was worried Rook would be upset about my decision, but more this overpowering desire to tell him I was ready to startthislife, this life with him, with Hemlock Harbor, and nosy neighbors, and cozy morning sex.

I didn’t wait for Rook to call me, leaving Zach staring at me as I breezed by him in the hall with a quick, “I’ll be right back.”

It usually took me about seven minutes to get to Harborside Family Practice on foot, but running the majority of the way, I’d made it in five, and as I came rushing through the door, Charity stood abruptly behind her desk with a worried look on her face.

“Holy hell, you scared me, is everything—”

“Is Rook back yet?” I asked, trying to catch my bearings.

“Luka?” The deep and husky cadence of his voice calmed my beating heart, and as I turned around, I found him standing behind me.

His bag was slung across his chest, the button down and tie I’d chosen for him this morning without a wrinkle. I was the complete opposite with my shirt sleeves shoved up past my elbows and sweat beading on my forehead. I was sure my hair had to be wild from my anxious fingers.

“I didn’t—”

“Is everything—”

We both tried to speak at the same time, and when I laughed, the crease between his brows softened. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t want to move,” I blurted, forgetting where I was, that his receptionist was behind me. That his father was possibly here somewhere. And I didn’t care. “I sent an email declining the offer to interview.”

“You did?” His confusion was tinged with a smile, and fuck, my entire body relaxed.

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