‘Yes,’ Greta whispered. ‘Let’s do that.’
She leaned over, planting a light kiss on Lottie’s forehead. She gently trailed a hand down her hair until she tore her fingers away, clamping them to her chest.
Every last second. Every last detail felt significant. She wanted to memorize them, to hold on to them.
When she got back to Longmill—ifshe got back—she would cherish the small things, fleeting moments like this, not as wistful memories, but as proof that life was meant to be lived in the present, not anchored in the past.
Lottie jumped to her feet and headed upstairs. ‘I’ll go and get the game. See you later, Mum.’
‘Yes,’ Greta managed to croak.
Her eyes trailed after her daughter. She held on to a last glimpse of pink plaid disappearing around the corner.
She was left alone with Jim.
He stood up to face her. ‘Where are you going?’ he asked.
Greta couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his waist, holding him tight. ‘Away,’ she whispered.
He angled his chin. ‘Want me to come with you?’
Yes. I want you to come.
But she screwed her eyes shut and shook her head.
Jim placed a finger gently under her chin, lifting her face towards his. He leaned in and their lips met in a long, tender kiss. It felt just as warm and welcoming and loving as she’d longed for. It was so easy for Greta to picture herself waking in his arms each day and continuing her life in Mapleville. A life full of love and hot coffee.
‘I love you, Mr Perks,’ Greta murmured as she pulled away, allowing herself to take in his bright blue eyes. ‘No matter what happens to us. No matter where we are.’
Jim smoothed a lock of hair from her forehead. ‘And I love you, too, Mrs Perks. Wherever we are.’
A smile trembled on Greta’s lips. There were so many things she could say, but none of it would make sense to him. So instead, she simply said, ‘Thank you.’
Then she kissed him again, more fiercely. One last time.
When she finally tore herself away, her heart felt ripped in two. She fixed her gaze on the front door, pushing herself to move toward it. ‘I’ll see you later,’ she said as her eyes swam with hot tears.
As she headed down the path, the air was cooler, soothing to her hot cheeks. Greta glanced back one final time. Jim and Lottie stood on the doorstep, smiling and waving in sync.
Greta hurried on, her eyes fixed on the rain-spattered pavement as she rounded a corner. Only then did she let her tears flow freely.
She wanted to go home.
The warning signs were all around her now—the heavy clouds, the rain. But Iris said ithadto be a choice, a decision Greta had to make.
But how? How could she return to Longmill? What still connected her to Mapleville?
Greta looked up, staring at the inky clouds. The sun was a white hazy ball.
And suddenly, she knew.
Her fingers touched her collarbone, brushing the smooth surface of the one thing that tied her lives in Mapleville and Longmill together.
The pearls.
Chapter 34
GRETA WRAPPED HERfingers around the pearl necklace.
