A short while later, we were putting the finishing touches on the tree when I said, “Guess no one will be surprised when you move back, then.”
Toby was silent for a moment. Too silent for too long a moment.
My stomach suddenly felt too full. Reluctantly, I looked up. He was already looking at me. “Move back?” he asked.
Had I misunderstood? We were together now. Right? “Ah,” I said, suddenly self-conscious and awkward. “I-I thought we were together.”
“We are.”
That was good news, but also… I was now more confused than ever.
“My life is in Boston, Archer. My apartment, my job,” he said.
But I’m here.
“Right,” I said. “Of course.” After a moment, I cleared my throat. “I guess I just thought…”
“That I would abandon everything I worked for and come home?”
I went quiet, my chest tight, emotions overfull but not in a good way. The urge to run and avoid this tempted me.
But then I remembered I’d be running to a place that didn’t have him.
“Of course not,” I said. “I would never ask you to do that. You’ve worked really hard and have accomplished so much.”
“I really love my job in Boston.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Yeah, I know you do.”
“It was one kiss,” he said. “I can’t just change my entire life for one kiss.”
“I guess it wasn’t just a kiss to me.”
Toby’s face fell. Silence echoed between us.
Heart bruised, I turned back to the gingerbread. “We should get this finished. It needs to be at the auction tonight.”
“Archer—”
“It’s okay, Tobes.” I cut him off. “Let’s just work on this.”
“We should talk.”
“Later,” I said.
“You promise?”
“Yeah.” I agreed even though I wasn’t sure what there was to talk about. I thought we were finally on the same page… but clearly, I was wrong.
15
Toby
What doyou do when you spend practically your whole life dreaming of something…
And then the dream comes true?
People always spend all their focus onthedream. On getting that thing they want above everything else. No one ever talks about what happens when you get it.
