Page 63 of Second Chance with the Half-Elf
She never found the balance. She loved in bursts—like storms—and then shrank from it, terrified she’d ruin what she needed most.
God, I see her in me.
That same skittish ache. That pull and retreat.
I drop down onto a bench half-covered in leaves and stare out toward the edge of town, where the ocean meets the clouds and everything feels far away enough not to hurt.
I thought I was running from him.
But I wasn’t.
I’ve been running from the part of myself that wants too much and never knows how to ask for it without flinching. Fromthe fear that wanting someone—really wanting them—makes you weaker. Exposed.
My mother used to say love wasn’t safe. It was sharp-edged and bloody and worth every scar if you were brave enough.
I’m tired of being a coward.
A seagull lands on the post near my feet, eyeing me like it knows I’ve just admitted something important and wants payment.
I toss it a broken piece of cracker from my pocket.
“Don’t get cocky,” I mutter.
It squawks in judgment anyway.
I stay on the bench for a long while, letting the wind thread through my coat and the sea murmur beneath the cliffs.
Eventually, I walk. But this time, not aimless.
I go to the old house.
It sits at the end of a short drive, its paint sun-faded, roof moss-lined, and the porch railing half fallen in. The For Sale sign is still staked out front, crooked from weather and disinterest. I stand there for a long time, just looking at it.
All its broken parts and tired grace.
And something shifts in me.
The wind kicks up, and the chimes—still hanging, rusted and tangled—sing out like a memory.
I walk up the steps. The wood groans but holds. I sit on the top stair, knees up, hands in my pockets.
I could sell it. Forget it. File it under “things I survived.”
But I don’t want to run anymore.
Not from this town.
I want to stay. I want to rebuild what was mine. Or what could be mine again.
Even if it means facing every ghost that lives in the walls.
I pull out my phone and dial the realtor.
When she answers, I say four words.
“Take down the sign.”
CHAPTER 24
