I had HR draw up your severance papers. You’re free.
This was the first time I’d ever read anything in this book that made me stain the page with tears. Frustration. Fear. Regret. Years of unrequited love flashed through my mind. Dropping the notebook, I glanced over my papers. Everything was effective immediately. I didn’t have to buy out my contract. He’d even included severance pay, but I couldn’t accept any of this. I needed to talk this out. I wasn’t going to let him ghost me,again.
I yanked my phone out of my pocket and constructed a text as I strode back down the hall, ready to go after him. I had learned the last time that he didn’t reply to texts when he was ghosting me, and I wasn’t going to let that happen again.
Wham!
I bounced right off his chest where he stood blocking the door. He hadn’t gotten away from me just yet. With a whoosh of a step back, I steeled my gaze with his. “You’re not going to get away with this again!”
His neutral expression crumbled as his eyes danced over my face. “What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong?” I dropped an unladylike snort. To be fair, all snorts were considered unladylike. We’ll classify this noise more like a hack. “We were going to talk about things, but you left.Again.”
“No.” His baritone voice held firm. “I could never ghost you again, but I gave you what you wanted, your separation from Platinum Real Estate. I don’t expect you to expose yourself to the illegal real estate ring.”
“What are you really doing?” My heart thumped in pain like someone had taken a chisel to it.
His brows angled up, but his expression was firm. “I’m getting ready to bring the police in and let them know what’s going on. I’ll be putting in my notice as well.”
“No, Graham. Not what you are doing with work. We kissed.” There was that hack again, and yes, I was the one making that most unflattering noise. “I thought you wanted to talk about us.”
“About that.” He blew out a breath as he sliced his hand through his hair, leaving a wispy strand of hair to dangle by his cheek. “I’m not sorry about that. That needed to happen for me to see how crazy I was being, and maybe it’s the closure I needed.”
“Closure!” I dropped another unflattering noise, this one was more like a hiccup. My words were shorting out. “That kiss…” The heat in my face fired again as I recalled how his lips had melted on mine. I didn’t have any doubt he had genuine feelings for me, but it was impossible to explain all of this. I finally understood everything. “The last thing I want is closure.”
His head took a curious angle, a hint of a sideways glance. The reflections in his eyes sparkled as he slowly connected the dots. “You don’t need closure?”
“I don’t.” I flashed the notebook I was still holding back at him. “I understand everything now. I’m ready to forgive you.” With a boldness I’d never had before, I took a step forward and raised my chin. “I think we need to do that kiss again.”
He lowered his mouth, our lips so geographically close that I could feel the warmth from his breath. “Isn’t awkward kissing how we got into this whole mess in the first place?”
I snaked an arm around his neck as goosebumps prickled my arm. “But if it got us into this mess, I’m certain it’s the remedy to get us out.”
“Is that how it works?” He touched my chin, tipping it up until our lips crashed together, and all my anxieties melted away. This wasn’t our first kiss. It wasn’t even our best kiss, but it was a moment that brought us together, finally over our hurdles. When it was over, we linked hands and strolled out of that office together.
“Where do we go now?” I asked, as we closed our office door together, knowing we’d never step foot in there again.
“Anywhere but here.” He slowed as we passed into the parking lot. “Where do you want to go?”
“I heard Vermont is nice.” I gently elbowed him in the rib, teasing a flashback to our youth.
“Yeah, I know a bookstore that needs a manager. It’s in a simple little town, nothing fancy. Actually, quite boring.”
“Sounds perfect.”
twenty-seven
Graham
One month later
I tugged at my collar, trying to get some air as sweat pooled on the back of my neck. I had just packed a U-Haul and was ready to leave this town in my rearview mirror for good. There was one thing I needed to do. I’d been dreading it. I shuffled my feet on Elinora’s parents’ front step. Raising my fist, ready to knock on the front door, I froze.
I couldn’t do it.
This would be so much easier with Elinora here.
I swiped my hand through my hair and replanted my fist on the front of the door. My gut said I needed to be a man about this. I sucked in a deep breath and rapped on the door. Maybe I should have called ahead just to give fair warning? Sometimes catching people off-guard could make things worse than they really were. I wasn’t even sure what Elinora had exactly said to her parents about me over the years, the bad or the good. The door pulled open, and I prayed for Elinora’s mom.
