“Uh, don’t do that.” Beck smiled and gently pried the underwear out of my hands like it was evidence from a crime scene. “Listen. He’ll laugh. Or he’ll ask about the underwear. And you’ll blush. And you’ll tell him. And he’ll probably think it’s adorable. And he’s been here long enough to know that nothing about us is normal.”
I stared at him.
My brother gave me a sympathetic grin. “You’re worried.”
“I’m not worried.”
“You’reterrified,” he corrected softly. “He left town for a real reason. You’re not used to someone leaving and promising to come back. And now you found out hereallyis coming back.”
My throat tightened.
Because he was right.
I wasn’t used to this part—the in-between, the space where someone wasn’t physically near me but still held a place in my chest. The space where I cared more than I wanted to.
Beck nudged my shoulder. “And the fact you’re not already mapping out a six-month hike across Alaska? That’s growth.”
I snorted despite myself. “Barely.”
“No. It’s real.” He squeezed my arm. “You miss him. That’s okay.”
I swallowed. “Yeah. It’s… really weird actually.”
“Good weird.”
“I don’t know what to do with good weird.”
He smirked. “You live in it.”
I nodded slowly, letting that sink in.
Then, just as I started to calm, just as the embarrassment settled into something even remotely survivable—
My phone buzzed.
Mom’s name flashed on the screen, followed by a single text.
Sweetheart… you need to come back to the lodge right now.
There’s something on the front desk for you from Carson.
My heart dropped into my stomach.
Something from Carson.
Delivered after he left.
I didn’t know why, but something about those words made my chest go tight, and my pulse skip.
“What is it?” Beck asked.
I stared at the message, nerves coiling.
“I don’t know,” I whispered.
“But suddenly? I’m terrified to find out.”
Chapter Forty-Two
