“I know,” he said quietly. “That’s not why I did it.”
“Then why?”
He turned toward her, eyes steady. “Because I couldn’t think of anything else that would say what I needed to say. And because I missed you.” He drew closer. “More than missed you, in fact.”
Her throat tightened. “You could’ve told me goodbye before you left.”
“I know, and I’m sorry,” he said again. “But I had to be sure, and I got a late start to Boise to catch my flight and…”
“Sure of what?” she interrupted.
He took a deep breath. “That I wasn’t running from something,” he said. “That what I felt wasn’t just this place getting under my skin again.”
She folded her arms. Part defense, part to keep from shaking. “And what did you decide?”
He looked at the porch, then at her. “That I’m a fool for ever leaving.” He shrugged out of his coat and draped it over her shoulders.
Lila’s heart gave a hopeful stutter as the warmth surrounded her.
“When I got back to Cornwall,” he went on. “I threw myself into work. Spent days cataloging coastal data, tried to bury myself in it. But the cliffs I loved felt empty. The tea tasted wrong. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. You… got under my skin, Lila.”
Lila blinked, a laugh escaping despite herself. “That’s poetic.”
“Yeah, well, sleep deprivation will do that.” He smiled before his brow creased. “I realized something. I’ve spent my whole life chasing discovery. New places and projects to research, or marine life to study. But for the first time, I wanted to stop chasing.”
Her breath caught. “So you came home.”
He hesitated. “Not exactly.”
Lila’s heart faltered. “What do you mean?”
He stepped closer, his hands sliding into his coat pockets. “I found something new. A research partnership starting up in Portland. Environmental analysis, coastal ecosystem work. It’s a chance to base myself here in the States, long-term. Closer to family… closer to you.”
Lila stared. “So you’re not going back to Cornwall?”
He shook his head slowly. “No. I’m not.”
She exhaled a shuddering breath. The tension easing from her shoulders even as her pulse quickened. “Portland,” she repeated softly. “That’s only six hours away.”
“Exactly,” he said. “But the research center I’d be working at is on the coast, just out of Moon Creek Falls.” The porch light caught the gold flecks in his eyes. “I had to go, Lila. Not because Ididn’t care, but because I did. I needed to know if what I felt was real. I thought maybe it was just the magic of Clear Creek.”
“And?” she asked.
He smiled. “It’s real.”
She looked up at him, tears stinging her eyes. “You’re sure this time?”
“I’ve never been surer of anything.”
Through the window, music swelled again. Grandma waltzed with Doc; Luke was trying, and failing, to dance with Polly.
Lila laughed softly, the sound catching in her throat. “If you’re planning to kiss me again, do it now. Before Irene or somebody else gets it in her head to fetch us.”
He didn’t need to be told twice. The kiss was slower this time. Deeper. A promise more than a plea.
When they broke apart, she leaned her forehead against his chest. She thought of his new job. “You know,” she murmured. “You really do have terrible timing.”
He laughed quietly, pressing a kiss to her hair. “Yeah, but I’m getting better at it.”
