Page 154 of Come Break My Heart Again

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Mrs. Nelson is reclining in her beach chair when I step out of my convertible, a wrapped book tucked under one arm. There’s no sign of Nina’s car, but I think—hope—that just means Ryder isn’t home. I’m not prepared to see him, following the call I made in the middle of the night.

I’ll have to get ready soon, before I board a ferry to Martha’s Vineyard tomorrow. Keira checked—three times—that I was okay with Ryder coming. I assured her I was, and I’m not sure if it was a lie or not.

“It’s not Saturday,” Mrs. Nelson tells me, shading her eyes as she peers up at me. No flower sunglasses today.

“My schedule switched around a little,” I tell her. “After graduating.”

She nods, then says, “You let that boy’s return chase you off.”

I guess I know why Mrs. Nelson never asked why I visited Nina each month. She made her own—correct—assumptions about my motives.

“That’s one way of looking at it,” I reply, glancing at Nina’s trailer.

The railing has been replaced since I was here last. An air conditioner unit whirs in the kitchen window. All the bushes have been pruned.

Mrs. Nelson takes a sip of what appears to be straight whiskey. “There haven’t been any other young ladies climbing in his window, if you were wondering.”

My cheeks burn. “I wasn’t.”

But I’m more than a little embarrassed she saw me sneaking into Ryder’s bedroom during a rainstorm.

And … that’s nice to know. Not that I think Ryder would bring a woman back to the trailer with Cormac and Nina sleeping down the hall. He’d go back to her place or fuck her in a bar restroom.

Not that I’ve given it any thought.

“Elle!”

For the first time, Nina didn’t wait for me to make it to the door. She waves from the doorway, beckoning me toward her trailer.

I’m relieved—so, so relieved—that she looks the same as the last time I saw her. No sign of sickness.

Silently pray that means she has more time than the doctors predicted.

“Nice to see you, Mrs. Nelson,” I say.

She hums in answer, taking another sip from her cup as I head for Nina.

Nina hugs me when I reach her, which is another surprise. One that makes me glad I didn’t listen to her request to stay away. Didn’t let Ryder chase me off for good, as Mrs. Nelson so delicately put it.

“It’s so good to see you,” she tells me.

I nod, trying hard not to get too emotional as she breaks our embrace and steps aside so I can enter the kitchen. Being back here feels so normal. So natural. But also different, seeing theFranklin Constructionball cap hung on the arm of the couch and the three plates dripping in the drain rack.

Ryder’s no longer a ghost here. Heishere.

“So good to see you too,” I say, heading toward the table where the teapot is waiting, steam curling toward the ceiling. I set the book I brought Nina down beside it.

“Joanna has been extra chatty this week,” Nina tells me, taking her usual seat across from me. “Her daughter and granddaughter were supposed to be visiting from Florida, but they got stuck down there because of a hurricane that passed through.”

“That’s awful,” I say. I hardly know Mrs. Nelson—didn’t even know her first name until now—but it feels like she’s a part of my world after years of visits here.

I hadn’t heard about the hurricane, which is also upsetting. That there are enough tragedies happening daily that we can’t keep up with them all.

“It is. They’re coming in August instead.”

“Does-does Ryder’s father still live in Jacksonville?”

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