Page 82 of Until We Break

He shrugged. “Didn’t see a ring.”

“She has a one-track mind right now. I want to steer clear of her. Let me know if you see her on base again. Will you?”

“You know I will.”

I needed to get out on the water. The money felt toxic. The farther I could get away from it, maybe I’d be able to think. I could fucking breathe for a second on the boat without worrying Carrie was going to show up with another way to throw a grenade into my life. That money could ruin my career. Why didn’t she understand? Why was the money the only thing that mattered to her? I would think of a way to handle it later. I walked to the docks with Gabe, ready to head offshore.

THIRTY-NINE

Margot

Iwashed my hair. Caleb’s damp towel dried on the hook behind the door. Had he actually told me he loved me this morning before he left for work? Was it me who said it back? I giggled to myself under the hot water.

When I dried off and checked my phone still plugged into the charger, there was a text from a New York number. Ethan.

I picked it up and read it.

I’m running a few minutes behind. Ended up a on conference call with the office. Sorry.

I twisted my lips together. I wasn’t surprised. Since I had a few minutes to spare I needed to run by The Clean Queen and pick up Carrie’s tablecloth. Josie had left several messages for me that it was ready.

I didn’t know if I had forgotten it on purpose in order to avoid dropping it off at the Tranquil Harbor house. Either way, I needed to get it out of the dry cleaners and make my amends toCarrie for almost ruining it. The bright side was that I could see Lucas and tell him about my new collection of shells I’d started.

I quickly dressed and drove to the dry cleaners. Josie greeted me behind the counter.

“Good morning.” She smiled. Her hair was braided on either side of her shoulders.

“Hi. Sorry, it’s taken me so long to stop by.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got the tablecloth. It turned out great. You’d never know there was a putrid odor right in the middle of it,” she teased.

I crinkled my nose. “Yeah, that would be me. You’re a lifesaver for taking care of it.”

“Not me,” she reminded. “That’s my mom. I just run this part of the business. I’ll be right back.”

She disappeared behind a curtain and returned a few seconds later with the tablecloth draped over a clothes hanger and wrapped in paper.

“I think it looks better than when you brought it in.”

“Thank you again.” I reached for my wallet to pay the bill.

Josie took the cash and dropped change into my palm. “Are you going to the bonfire tonight?” she asked.

“Oh. I didn’t know about it. I guess not.” I shrugged.

“I haven’t seen Caleb in a while.”

I was careful not to let the tablecloth crease when she handed it to me. “We’ve been staying in more.”

I didn’t know how to explain that over the past few weeks, we’d been in our own bubble. It was a sphere I wasn’t ready to leave yet. We were in the middle of the good part. The part where we knew each other enough to find everything sexy and cute. The part where there was still excitement and mystery, yet safety together. I didn’t want out of our summer sphere for anything, especially not a bonfire.

“It’s getting serious?”

My stomach began to flutter. I hadn’t talked to anyone about Caleb. I didn’t have anyone.

I smiled. I couldn’t hide the way I felt about him even if I wanted to. I’d always kept my love life to myself, but today I felt like telling someone I was in love.

“Very serious,” I answered. “I decided to stay.”

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