Page 115 of Your Place or Mine

Until I set my fork down on an empty plate.

That’s when I felt his presence again.

He came out of the kitchen holding something wrapped in a paper napkin. Pie. Of course.

He slid it in front of me without a word, then took the stool beside me like he hadn’t been emotionally exorcising ghosts thirty minutes ago.

“Apple,” he said.

“Thanks,” I said, staring at the flaky crust.

It looked like something my mom would’ve made. Not fancy. A little crooked. A little too golden around the edges. But full of love.

I didn’t take a bite.

Instead, I asked quietly, “Do you ever wonder how much one moment can change everything?”

He didn’t answer right away. But he didn’t walk away either.

So I went on.

“I lost my mom seven months ago,” I said, voice barely above the hum of the bar. “It was… fast. Cancer. One minute she was helping me hang wallpaper samples in my shoebox of an apartment, and the next, I was emptying her medicine cabinet.”

Callum didn’t speak, but he turned toward me, his body angling like he was really listening.

“She was my best friend. The only real family I had. And when she was gone, I didn’t know who I was anymore.”

I swallowed hard. My fingers curled around the edge of the napkin.

“I thought maybe if I did somethingbig, I could outrun it. Buying this building felt like… I don’t know. Purpose. Like maybe if I fixed something broken, I’d stop feeling so broken myself.”

Callum exhaled slowly. “That why you came here?”

“Partly,” I said. “It was her dream, too. To see me use my degree. To create something that felt likemine.Prepare for the future.”

I finally looked up.

He was watching me.

And it wasn’t pity in his eyes.

It was recognition.

“Why Reckless River?” he asked quietly.

“Because it was far enough from the city that I could breathe again,” I whispered. “And small enough that I hoped I could start over.”

He nodded slowly, something shifting in his expression.

I looked down at the pie again.

“I’m not trying to ruin your bar,” I added.

“I know.”

“And I’m not trying to replace anyone.”

His jaw tensed, but he didn’t pull away.

---