The hug was instant and hard, all arms and shoulders and silent tears against my neck. I squeezed her tighter than I meant to, and she didn’t seem to mind. Her hair smelled like sweet lemon and the train, and her pulse thrummed against mine like something I’d forgotten I needed.
“I missed you,” she whispered into my collar. “So much. More than I thought I would.”
“I missed you, too,” I breathed. “Every day.”
The ache that had lodged in my chest since the day I left finally cracked open and softened.
We stood there until Skye called out with mock impatience, “Well, are you going to help the pregnant woman off the porch or just stand there sobbing into your daughter like a Hallmark movie?”
I laughed through the wet in my eyes. “Still dramatic, I see.”
“Still hormonal,” she said. “Hurry up before I have this baby in your flower bed.”
I hurried to her, taking her hand as she eased upright with a groan. “You’re huge.”
“You’re rude,” she said, grinning. “I’ve got months to go.”
Together, the three of us stepped into the cottage. The moment the door creaked open, I saw Celeste’s breath catch.
She walked slowly through the space like she was stepping into a dream she didn’t remember having, as her fingertipsgrazed the edge of the kitchen table, the jars of tea and herbs lining the shelves, and the faded quilt still folded over the arm of the sofa. She touched everything with reverence, as if she were afraid she might wake up and it would be gone.
“You’ve really been living here?” she asked.
I nodded. “It’s... been home for a while.”
Skye dropped onto the couch with a sigh, settling into the cushions like the whole cottage sighed with her. “In all your texts to us, you left out the part where you moved into the world’s coziest storybook.”
“I didn’t mean to hide it,” I said. “There’s just... been a lot going on.”
Celeste turned to face me, curiosity sharp in her gaze now. “Okay, but seriously. How did you know we were coming?”
I blinked. “I didn’t. I had no idea.”
“Then how didyoufindus?” Skye asked.
“I didn’t,” I said slowly. “I came back from the tea shop and—wait,how did youfindme?”
Skye smirked. “Nowthat’sa story.”
She shifted on the couch, one hand resting over her stomach, the other gesturing to Celeste. “So, I picked her up from the train station and we drove an hour to get here. She’d called me a few days ago after chatting with you on the phone. She told me she could tell you needed us.”
Celeste grinned sheepishly.
“I didn’t want to wait until spring break.”
I looked at Celeste. “Seriously?”
She shrugged. “It just felt right. I didn’t even know Stonewick existed until a few weeks ago. I mean, I’ve heard about it since you moved here, but I finally looked it up after Dad kept picking on it. But once I saw the village online, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.”
“So we get into town,” Skye said, “and we’re just wandering around. I meanwandering.We stopped in at that adorable yarn shop we tried out when we came here together, and that charming lady was there again.”
I let out a breath. “Luna.”
“Yep. She was warm and chatty and didn’t even seem that surprised when we said we were looking for someone named Maeve.” Skye smiled. “She remembered me immediately and told me where to go.”
“Wait, shewhat?” I asked.
“She said if we follow the mossy path past the tall pine and follow the road out of town that curves right past the fox den, we’d find a long driveway and that was your cottage.”
