“She’s a friend. She’s the only friend I’ve been able to talk to about you.”
“You told her about me?”
He grinned and wiped away my tears with his thumbs.
“Every day. About how much I missed you, about the awful death I wished on that boyfriend of yours. I hated it when I saw you with him.”
“Trey, I didn’t go back to Dustin. I didn’t even want him in the restaurant with us, but he wouldn’t stop following me around.”
He leaned in toward me. I could feel the heat of his breath. There was a spark there, lighting us on fire. Our bodies still reacted that way every time they touched. And once again, I felt that tingle in my belly.
“So now what?” I whispered.
“You decide,” he responded, looking me straight in the eye.
It was a dare, and I could feel my mouth dry out. Decide. That word had always been a nightmare for me. I took a deep breath. Everything I wanted was there in front of me. I had found myself now. I knew who I was. And so did he. And he accepted me with all my defects.
“You and me. Together. Forever. Here or anywhere in the world. I don’t care as long as we’re together.”
He pulled me tight to his chest, and said, “I can think of one place we might go.” Then he let me go and took my hand. “Come with me. There’s something I’ve been wanting to give you for a long time.”
“What?”
“Something that belongs to you, but that I didn’t know how to give back to you.”
I was confused, but I let him drag me into the camper, and I kneeled down on the comforter while he looked in his trunk. He took out a large manila envelope and handed it to me.
I looked at him timidly, and he motioned for me to open it. I undidthe hasp and looked at the documents inside. I brought my hand to my chest, my eyes struggling to take in all the clauses and conditions.
It was impossible!
The world started spinning beneath my feet.
“You bought the bookstore!”
“And the house,” he replied, a little nervously.
“Why?”
“I knew what they meant to you, and I couldn’t let you lose them. I just figured I’d hold onto them for you, and some day… I don’t know, maybe I just needed something of you in that moment. I didn’t know how to let you go.”
“But…where’d you get the money from?” Before he could answer, I knew. “No, Trey! You didn’t sell your project!”
He ran his hand through his hair and gave me a look that was meant to calm me down, but it was just too much. “I handed it over in exchange for the company buying those two properties for me.”
“That was your dream, though. Your legacy. You were going to find investors and do it on your own. You wanted it so bad, remember? ‘Because without art, life would be an error.’”
“Without you, life would be an error.”
“Don’t say that. Don’t…don’t just give up like that.” My mind started racing. “We can still fix this,” I said. “I’ve got the money. I haven’t spent a cent. If I transfer it to you and you call those people, you can still get it back.”
He shook his head, making me feel worse. “They’ve already started building. There’s no going back now.”
“But…”
“It’s fine. I’m okay.”
“I still have to give you the money back, though.”
