She braced her elbows on the counter and leaned closer, dropping her voice. “Look, I’m happy for you. This is the first time you’ve put yourself out there with, well, anyone but your own freaking twin.”
“And that’s not a good thing?”
“Not when the person you’re putting yourself out there for has one foot out the door.”
I froze, my entire body going cold at her words. “What does that mean?”
“It might be nothing, okay? You know what? It probably is. Just forget I even said anything and—”
“Addison.”
She blew out a heavy sigh as she slumped her shoulders. “You remember the day after the fire, when I took Everly shopping?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, she called her parents while I ran into the last store. I got back in the car while they were still talking.”
That wasn’t new. Everly’s parents were the kind of parents movies were made about—married for forty years, still happily involved in their children’s lives. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if her mom knit them matching holiday sweaters. Everly usually talked to them on Sundays, but there hadn’t been a day that’d gone by since the fire when they hadn’t called to check in.
“They were really pushing for her to move home,” she said, her voice quiet.
“And?”
“And… Well, she didn’t outright tell them she wasn’t.”
The vise around my chest squeezed tighter. “Well, did she tell them shewas?”
Addison shook her head. “Not exactly. She said she wasn’t moving homenow.Not that she wasn’t moving home ever.”
I breathed out a heavy sigh, relief flooding me. At least until I thought about some of the clipped conversations I’d heard between Everly and her parents. She was stressed whenever she hung up, but I’d assumed it was because her parents were worried about her and she was picking up on it. But maybe it was because they were pushing for her to move home, and she didn’t know how to tell me.
“Maybe it’s nothing,” Addison said. “I just don’t want you to get in too deep if she’s only going to leave in the end.”
Well, that was the problem, wasn’t it? I was already in too deep. Had been for a long fucking time. I’d been in love with Everly longer than I wanted to admit, and that sure as hell wasn’t going to go away now. Not when I knew what she tasted like, not when I’d held her in my arms as we slept. Not when I’d been inside her.
I just had no idea if she felt the same. No idea if what was left for her in Starlight Cove was enough to keep her here.
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
EVERLY
For my firstday of house calls, I most definitely should’ve brought more than one change of clothes, considering the number of times I’d been peed on.
Normally, having an extra outfit at the clinic was more than plenty, but I’d forgotten I was seeing two different litters of puppies today. And though being on the bottom of a puppy pile first thing on a Monday morning was great for my spirits, having said puppies use me as a urinal was not.
It wasn’t even noon, and I was already exhausted. This was turning out to be a hell of a lot harder than I’d been anticipating. I was expecting smooth appointments since all the animals would be relaxed because of the environment. And though they were definitely more comfortable in their own homes, that also meant they roamed everywhere and didn’t stay where they needed to for an exam. I didn’t mind chasing them around or rolling on the floor to get them interested enough in me so I could do what I needed to, but that just added on to each appointment time.
And those appointments just kept butting up against each other, which amped up my anxiety, which the animals definitely picked up on.
April and I also hadn’t scheduled enough transit time between each appointment, which was causing a complete clusterfuck since I was already running behind. And, okay, that was probably due in large part to the fact that I was driving—and I used that term loosely—Beck’s truck. Which also happened to be a stick. Which I also happened to have pretty much zero experience driving.
Okay, I had none. No experience driving a stick shift—except for one very unfortunate instance in high school—but I’d figured it out because my car’s engine had been damaged in the fire, and I didn’t have another choice.
With the number of looks I’d gotten as I attempted—poorly, mind you—to change gears while driving down Main Street, I wouldn’t be surprised if Beck had received a dozen calls about it by now.
Jerking to a stop at the small, pale-blue house for my next appointment, I cringed at the sharp grinding coming from the transmission and prayed I hadn’t destroyed his vehicle. If my living with Beck hadn’t challenged our relationship enough, this certainly would.
I grabbed my bag—a poor substitute for a clinic full of equipment, but I made do—and climbed out, hustling up the front lawn even though I was already fifteen minutes late. This was a routine well-check appointment for Esther’s cat, who was usually so relaxed even at the clinic she was damn near comatose. Hopefully that meant this would be a quick in and out, and I’d be able to make up some time and get back on track with my schedule.
