“Er—no. My mom told me you were back. And Kiara. And Trey.”
Theywhat? Oh, I am seriously going to kill all of them.
That’ll have to wait until later, though, because right now, I just want to know what’s going on behind that handsome, inscrutable face. “And?” I say nervously. “What do you think?”
He shifts his weight a little. He looks sort of uncertain. “It’s good,” he says. “I mean, if you’re happy about it.”
“I am. They hired me as comanager at the barrel museum. I’mgoing to share the job with Rose! And I’m starting up a caregiving business... and I got to see Jim before he died.”
John’s eyebrows lift. “Jim died?”
I nod. “A couple days ago.”
“Shit, Em—I had no idea—”
“No, it’s okay. I mean, I’m sad about it.” My throat tightens a little. “I already miss him like crazy. But he was ready to go, you know?”
John nods. “Still, that really sucks. If I’d known, I would’ve—y’know, called you.”
“Why didn’t you? If you already knew I was here?”
He clears his throat. “Well... I don’t know. I didn’t want to, like, assume anything.”
“Assumeanything?” I shift uneasily. Is he saying he doesn’t want to get back together? “We only broke up because I went to New York,” I say feebly. “I sort of thought—now that I’m back—”
“That’s not the only reason we broke up.” John looks up at me again, and there’s something sharp in his dark eyes. “I don’t know if Kiara told you—I’m assuming she did, she can’t keep a secret for shit—but I bought the shop.”
“She told me.”
“Yeah, well, that means I’m going to be here. In Waldon. For a very, very long time.”
“I know!”
“Em...” He shakes his head. “You made it pretty clear you’re looking for more than that. Just because New York didn’t work out for you—”
“New Yorkdidwork out for me,” I interrupt. “The internshipwas great, and the city was incredible, and the people were really nice... There was nothing wrong with it. I just realized I wanted to be here more.” I shake my head and look up at him, willing him to believe me. “I love Waldon. I love living here, and taking care of people like Mrs. Finnamore and Jim, and working at the barrel museum, and having early-morning coffee dates with Kiara and dinners at the pub with Rose and Trey. I want to be here. And I want to be withyou.”
My voice goes a bit wobbly at the end. John leans back to study my face, a little crease between his brows, like I’m a Wordle answer he’s trying to figure out.
“You mean it?” he says finally.
I nod. “I mean it.”
Just like that, the tension falls away from him. His handsome smile appears, a flash of lightning on his serious face. “Cool,” he says easily.
“Cool,” I repeat, a little thickly.
I don’t know who moves first (okay, it’s me), but all of a sudden we’re kissing, as if nothing’s happened since the day I left. My arms are around his neck, his hands are on my waist, and it’s not like some dramatic movie kiss with rain pouring down or fireworks exploding overhead, but it feels even better than that. It feels easy. It feelsright.
We break apart, and he uses his thumbs to wipe away the tears on my cheeks. I’m definitely going to have black grease marks on my face, but I don’t care.
“I should get Maya home,” he says. “Want to come over for dinner later?”
I smile so hard my cheeks hurt. “Yeah.”
“I’ve bought a new place,” he adds.
“In the three weeks I was gone?”
