Page 115 of Hang the Moon
+Brendon
+Great food
+Nice weather (even the rain isn’t bad)
+Funky shops
+No state income tax
+Brendon
−No job?! (addendum, no job yet)
London
+Job security
−A job I don’t love
+Nice accents?!
It took her a few days to realize she’d added Brendon’s name twice.
A month ago, on paper, moving to London had seemed likethe decision. Not simply the only one, but the right one. The smart one. Now, looking at this list, seeing it all laid out on paper, it was obvious Seattle had more going for it than London did. The sheer number of pros was irrefutable.
But job security was important.
So was being happy.
But what if she moved to Seattle and things with Brendon didn’t work out? She’d have Darcy, but Brendon was Darcy’s brother and that would inevitably bemessy.
Maybe she was overcomplicating matters. But what if she wasn’t? What if—
Annie shut her eyes.
Her heart was in Seattle and her head... she didn’t know where her head was.
Time wasn’t an inexhaustible resource. Her flight to London was leaving in ten days and regardless of whether she was on it, her subletter was moving in on the fifth of July.
No matter what, she had no choice but to pack.
Perched atop a stack of books on her nightstand, Annie’s phone buzzed. She stretched across her bed to grab it and herlips curved into an involuntary smile, warmth blooming wild in her chest.
Brendon.
He’d texted almost daily. Not often enough to overwhelm her, but the little reminders that he was thinking about her made her feel... cherished? Whatever the opposite of neglected was.
BRENDON (11:19 P.M.):What does “petite a petite le wasoh fay son need” mean?
She squinted at the screen. Gibberish was what that was.
ANNIE (11:27 P.M.):Um, what language is that supposed to be?
She mouthed the words he’d sent and snickered softly.Notgibberish, just French typed out phonetically.Poorly.
ANNIE (11:29 P.M.):Oh. Do you mean “petit a petit, l’oiseau fait son nid”?
BRENDON (11:31 P.M.):I guess?
