“I didn’t donateeverything. Yes, your hoodies were gifted to the local clothing drive when I got back from school the first year, but no matter how mad at you I was, I could never get rid of this. To this day, that was the best birthday I ever had. And it was all because of you.”
“That was the first time I told you I loved you.”
“Well, it was the first time I told you that I loved you, and you said it back. I was the jock, remember? We’re aggressive.”
I laughed, holding her hand as I steered toward the terminal with the other.
I plucked her suitcases out of the back of my truck and set them on the curb. I had about two minutes before I’d be honked at to keep moving, so I grabbed Emily and pulled her close for a deep but quick passionate kiss. It was intense enough for both of us to chase our breath once we broke apart.
“There is no such thing as too much texting or calling. FaceTime, phone calls. I don’t care when or what time zones we’re in. I always want to hear from you, okay?”
“You sound like you got it bad, Evans.”
“I do.” I took her face in my hands. “So, so bad, you have no fucking idea.” I kissed her again until we both flinched at the blaring of horns behind us.
“I love you. Have a safe trip.”
“I love you too,” she said, cracking a smile as I spotted a lone tear trickling down her cheek. I stepped into my truck and watched her head through the automatic glass doors until I lost her inside.
I tried to reason away the ache from what felt like the same empty hole in my chest from twenty years ago. I wasn’t losingher again. I hadn’t thrown her out of my life and peeled away from her curb as fast as my tires could take me. When she came home, she’d be home.
I just had to figure out how not to lose it until then.
27
EMILY
“Wait,which way am I supposed to hold this?”
I laughed as my mother tried to angle the phone the right way for a FaceTime call, giving me a scan of her room at the rehab facility she was staying in instead, followed by a wisp of white hair on the top of her head. The recovery from my mother’s surgery had taken longer than we all had anticipated and her stay in rehab had been extended, but she was getting daily therapy and was still heading in the right direction. I hated that she’d been away from her home for so long while I’d been across the country, but Jesse and his family had made sure she had almost daily company since I’d left for California.
“This way,” I heard Jesse tell her as her face finally came into view.
“I can never figure this out. Thanks, honey.”
“Honey?” My brows shot up. “I know it’s been a couple of months since I saw you in person, but when did this start?”
Mom scowled at me. “Jesse has been a good kid since you’ve been gone. He comes to see me when he can and his parents still come by. I even have an extra visitor today.”
“Hi, Emily!”
My heart swelled at the sight of Maddie leaning on my mother’s shoulder to get her face on the screen. The three most important people in my life were on the other end of this phone call, and I had to swallow back the rush of emotion.
It was hard not to miss them so much and think of what Maddie was doing, how my mother was feeling, or what Jesse’s headspace was like that day. I had no regrets about coming to California to take on this project, but the need to get home was weighing on me.
“Hey, Maddie. I miss you guys so much.”
“We miss you too. Are you almost done?”
“Soon, I think. I’m having dinner with Raina at her house tonight to go over our progress. I should know more then.”
“I never asked you what her house is like.” my mother asked. “I bet it’s a mansion.”
“I wouldn’t call it a mansion.” I lay back on the soft cushion of the chaise longue in my hotel room. The room was more like a swanky apartment with plenty of room to work on my regular clients’ manuscripts during my downtime at night and on the weekends. It was nice, but again, it wasn’t home. And the more I stayed here, the more the walls felt like they were closing in on me.
“But it’s nice. She has a big house on a lot of property and a huge pool.”
Maddie’s eyes grew wide. “She does? I wish our house had a pool.”
