More than likely, I died.
This had to be like a life review.
Yep, I was dead.
For so many nights I had lain awake, wondering what had happened to the boy with sapphire eyes. And here he was. With a little girl.I never expected that.
“It’s been a long time.” My extremities froze. I wasn’t sure how I mustered up an audible sound, but somehow it floated out of my mouth.
The smile he gave me was one I recognized, and it twisted my heart into unease. “It has been an extremely long time since I’ve seen you last.” He waved his hand in a gesture to the store. “And you’re here in Mapleton. What are you doing in town?”
“Oh.” My head sprang up, remembering how strange it was to meet up so randomly. It undoubtedly looked like a stalking situation. I stuttered to clear that up. “I-I’m here for work. I’m a college recruiter for the University of Florida.”
His eyes took an obvious sweep over my outfit. “That explains the Gator pajamas.”
A modest chuckle plopped out of my mouth. All my usual functioning facilities had been so stunted that I had forgottenI wasn’t wearing regular human clothes. Heat washed over my face. “Right.” I forced a chuckle. “It’s an attention-getting gimmick I use.”
“I thought maybe your dad had finally run out of roadkill and started stuffing people.” He was obviously making an honest attempt at breaking the ice. I didn’t crack a smile. After all these years of wondering what had happened to Graham. And here he was in a small-town, U.S.A. at a bookstore witha little girl.
“Ah, not yet,” I managed to say. Now that my thoughts were moving fast, I had a hard time not letting them all rush out of my mouth all at once. “So, you’re here. You made it to Vermont.” I signaled to the coffee bar. “Is this where you live?”
He nodded, not taking his eyes off me. “Yeah, in the town, not at this stool.” I laughed politely as he continued, “Vermont was always sort of a fantasy I had. After I got custody of Hadley, I wanted us both to have a fresh start.”
Custody.
Why did my throat just go dry?
I cleared my throat, but the rumble I forced seemed to only add more strain. “Well, it’s great to see you. I’ve thought about you...actually. Before. Sometimes.” I fumbled for a word that made sense, but all my words were broken. I couldn’t take my eyes off his. They were so captivating. More than anything I recalled, and I clearly remembered being mesmerized by them before. In what felt like another life.
“I’ve thought about you, too.” His lashes lowered. “How are you?”
“Good. Good.” I nodded and kept going with the only word I could find. “Good. Good.” Graham was the only guy who had ever managed to make me speechless. It was his superpower. I’d like to say I hated it, but the truth was that the way it made butterflies dance in my stomach—I loved it.
“That’sgood.” He smiled at me in a teasing way.
“And you?” I motioned to the girl next to me, then brought my hand back to pretend to scratch an itch on my cheek. “You have a, um, a Hadley.”
I saw a sparkle that started in his irises and landed on hers. Their connection was so clear and adorable. So undeniably fused and I wasn’t sure why, but it brought a single tear to the back of my eye that stung like it was a hundred and fifty degrees.
He had a Hadley.
“Yeah, I have a Hadley,” he echoed. His expression was straight and serious, making me wonder about his history and hate his history all at once.
Mostly hate his love life.
“You look great.” His compliment floated out casually, but it was enough that it sent another spark of heat right to my cheeks.
This encounter was going to exterminate me.
It wasn’t that it was Graham—the guy with sapphire eyes.
It wasn’t that it was the guy who had been my first kiss.
It wasn’t that I was wearing an evergreen alligator pajama onesie out in public.
Okay, maybe it was a little about that but come on.
And it also wasn’t because Graham had an adorable daughter withsomeone else.But it had everything to do with the fact that he was the guy who’d kept me awake at night for years, wondering what had happened to him.
