Page 62 of Silver Fake

In my quiet moments, I find myself wondering what's going on in Lisa's mind. Does she see the same changes that I do? Does she feel the gap widening between us, or am I just overthinking? It's hard to tell. Lisa has always been good at keeping her cards close to her chest.

Lisa walks out of the bathroom, and I shove all my shit back down. She looks beautiful, but she always does.

Her eyes meet mine, and she smiles. Then, that odd look she's given me a few times the last couple of days comes over her face, and her smile falters.

With it, a twinge of pain makes my chest ache in response. I've got to figure out what I've done because I know I've reached no retreat. I'm not sure I can recover if she decides she's over this between us. Every time I look at her, it's on the tip of my tongue to tell her I love her, but when I see the happiness fade from her face like it just did, I'm afraid telling her I love her is more than she wants from me, and fuck if that thought doesn't cut deep.

"You ready to go?" she asks. She doesn't even sound like her usual self. Her voice is more matter-of-fact than the usual Lisa. Maybe she's just worried about me since she saw how upset I was when I got the news about Wyatt leaving. I hope that's what it is.

"Yeah," I say. I grab our bags off the bed and point with my chin at the dresser on the other side. "Could you grab my briefcase for me?"

"Sure."

She's quiet on the ride down in the elevator. Normally, riding an elevator with her is exhilarating, but right now, the silence feels loud, like a million little voices screaming in my face.

We make our way to the car and set out for work. She's fiddling with the hem of her dress, and I can't stop looking. Lisa doesn't fiddle. I know something is on her mind. I open my mouth to force out the words to ask if something is wrong, even though I don't want to hear her answer.

She looks at me suddenly and reaches across the console, taking my hand. I smile, lacing our fingers together.

"Are you upset?" she asks.

I lift my eyebrow, glancing at her. I don't have any clue what she's talking about. She's the one that seems off.

"Upset about what?" I ask her.

She looks down at our hands and rubs her thumb along the outside of my finger. "With Wyatt moving to Fit Mountain and leaving your parents' business. I know that's going to be a big change for them."

"It's a big change for him, too," I say.

"Yeah. Wyoming is a lot different from Texas."

Chuckling, I say, "It is." I glance at her.

She's still got worry on her face, but maybe I've been reading her wrong. Maybe she's just been worried about me and how I will react when we tell Wyatt goodbye before he leaves for his new adventure this weekend. Maybe opening up about how I'm feeling with Wyatt leaving will help her relax.

"I feel torn. Wyatt is my best friend, and I want to celebrate this great opportunity with him. I am happy for him. Even I left Barton Beach to pursue my career goals, so I shouldn't expect him to stay forever."

She squeezes my hand and gives me a small smile. "But you did."

I nod.

"Yeah, I guess I did. I should have known he'd want to be closer to his family one day. Life is too short to be so far from the people we love the most for good, and he's already been without his family for a few years. I guess he's just been at the hotel for so long that I never considered there would ever be a time when he wouldn't be there. I feel like an ass for how we ended our call the other day. I got so caught up worrying about my parents running the hotel without him that I never even congratulated him."

"It's not wrong for you to feel the way you do," she says. "Your feelings are valid whatever they are, and this is a big change. Not just for your parents, but you too. You might not live in Barton Beach anymore, but there is a big difference between a two-hour drive to see your best friend and a plane ride to visit him in Wyoming. He's not just leaving the hotel and your parents. In a way, he's leaving you too."

I turn to look at her, and she looks at me like she sees me. Like she can see inside me and feels all of the emotions rocketing through me just like they are her own.

I want to pull this car over and pull her, not my lap, and tell her how much I love her right now. Tell her how hard I have fallen for her and that she makes all this better.

I know I will make it through this change, even if my closest oldest friend is moving thousands of miles away because I've got her by my side.

We pull into the parking lot at work, and I turn in my seat to face her. Lifting our joined hands, I kiss her knuckles.

I can't tell her how much I love her yet, but maybe I can say this. "I'm really glad you're going with me to Barton Beach to the goodbye party."

She smiles, and it's the first time that her smile has reached her eyes in the last two days.

"Try not to think of it as saying goodbye. You'll see him and talk to him again. He's just a plane ride away. Think of it as celebrating your best friend's success and focusing on being happy for him. Your parents are amazing, and they are talented and smart business owners. They will come out on top with the hotel, and I'm sure they won't have any problems getting a new manager. They are the kind of people others just want to be around. People will be fighting to fill that manager position."

---