Page 69 of Off the Beaten Path

She nods. “From Paris. I have a job there. I have a partner there. I have alifethere, Holden.”

“Well, we’rehere,” I say, pointing at the ground to emphasize my point.

“And you don’t need me here!” She’s practically yelling now, her arms waving. “Look around, look at what you’ve built with her all on your own. I just want to be allowed to try to build something with her too, Holden.” Her voice drops. “Can I do that?”

I stare at her for a long moment, her words bouncing around in my head. “You haven’t wanted to before.”

Mia swallows, and I expect her to look away, but she holds my gaze. “No, I haven’t. I’ve been selfish.”

In all my days, I would have never expected her to admit to that, to finallyseeit, and maybe that’s what finally makes me realize that maybe she’s serious about this.

“You have to stop promising her things you can’t follow through on.”

Mia nods, tucking a strand of blond hair behind her ear. “I know.”

“And you need to call her when you say you’re going to. Ideally at the same time every week.”

“I can do that.”

“I know you can’t be here for everything, but you need to be here for some things.”

She nods again, a dip of her chin. “I want to be. I want to start now.”

I tap my fingers on my arms, watching her. “How long are you staying?”

Mia shrugs. “I don’t know. I bought a one-way ticket. I have to be back for some projects in the next few weeks, though.”

My jaw tightens again, becauseof courseshe would show up without a call and have no idea how long she’s staying. But I have to remind myself that at least she’s here, at least she’s trying.

Finally, I say, “Okay.”

“I’m going to do better,” Mia says softly.

The shower turns off, and the room goes silent again. Pushing up off the couch to head to June’s room for pajamas, I say, “We’ll see.”

I’m halfway down the hall when Mia calls, “Holden?”

Spinning on my heel to face her, I sigh. “Yes, Mia?”

Her blue eyes look a little cloudy. “Is Wren good to her?”

A knot forms in my throat, picturing all the little moments with Wren and June over the last few weeks, the gentle way Wren shows up for both of us. “Yeah, she’s good to her.”

Mia nods, looking a little sad but pleased, her lips pressed together. “I’m glad. June deserves that.”

“She deserves her mom too.”

I’mpullinguptoStevie’s Airstream when Holden calls. A sigh of relief escapes me, and some of the tension that’s been coiling inside me since I walked away from him and June finally releases.

I accept the call with shaking hands. “Hey.” The word sounds like a prayer, a breath of relief.

“Hey, Red,” Holden says with a sigh, like he feels just as much relief at hearing my voice as I feel hearing his. “I missed you this evening.”

“I missed you too,” I whisper into the darkness of my car. And it’s true. When I saw Mia, and then Holden seemed to disappear into his head, I wasn’t sure what to do. The time she called when I was around, Holden asked me to leave, so I thought it was my best course of action. For the first time in weeks, I felt like an intruder.

I left, but that doesn’t mean I was happy about it.

When I finally couldn’t take looking out my windows and seeing the lights on behind his curtains, I called Stevie and asked her if I could come over. She said it was perfect timing because she’d just made way too many of her famous churros.

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