Laurie
Would you want aisle seating or window? Merry early Christmas ;)
Booked you a train back early tomorrow. You deserve to end your awkward gingerbread house sabbatical on a high note.
Eliza simply stared at the messages. She didn’t know a Laurie. And her phone case wasn’t black—it was pink. And it wasn’t her phone. It was Lachlan’s.
“When were you going to tell me you were leaving?” Her hands shook as she twisted the phone around for him to see. She could barely get the words out. Betrayal laced around her heart like cold winter air. It felt like it had sunk into her lungs and weighed her down.
“What?” He knitted his brows together.
She tapped on the message, lighting up the screen once more. “Your sister. She texted you. Booked you a train, apparently. For tomorrow morning. So you don’t have to stay.”
Lachlan reached for the phone, reading the texts off for himself. He looked genuinely caught off guard. “She mentioned that the day after I got here, but I didn’t think it was still a thing.”
Eliza searched his eyes for any clues that he may be lying, not ready to give in so easily. “But you didn’t tell her to cancel it earlier.”
“I–I didn’t think I needed to.” He held his hands up in defense. “She mentioned it the first day I came here, but I reassured her it would work itself out and we’d get settled in different cottages.”
“But when we didn’t, you decided to ask her to book the first train ride you could out of here?” she asked.
He ran his hands through his hair, taking in a deep breath, before shrugging. “No. It wasn’t a part of my agenda for my sister to book me anything.”
Eliza thought of Davis and all of his schemes. His initial love bombing. She felt like she was being blindsided with the truth all over again. For two years, everyone had seen his red flags but her, apparently. She hadn’t noticed any with Lachlan, but what if that’s because she was purposefully choosing not to, the same way she once had?
She wanted to believe Lachlan, but she didn’t want to be played for a fool. Not again.
If it weren’t for the house keeping him here, maybe he would’ve left sooner. It was her fault for thinking he wasn’t here just because he was being held here against his will. It was her fault she assumed that he was actually growing to like her company and develop feelings, and not just convenient ones.
It was her fault she allowed him to get so close.
He was planning on leaving. He was always going to leave. Because he never had any real intentions of staying. Lachlan took a slow step toward her, like the floor was ice and at any second, he would hit a thin patch and fall into the freezing pond.
“Eliza.” He took another step forward. “I know you’ve been hurt before. I know you’re pushing me away because this between us is all so new and honestly a little terrifying. And yeah, that text from my sister certainly didn’t help. But I—” He stopped just shy of touching her, dragging another hand through his hair in frustration.
“I care for you, Eliza. More than I expected to. Embarrassingly, more than I should after less than a week’s time. And I don’t have any plans on disappearing. You’ve taken me by complete surprise. You and your wonderful baking, and your brilliant heart. I see a girl who’s been hurt and had her heart broken by a prick who wouldn’t step up and be the man she needed him to be. But I stayed. I showed up. I helped. I believed in you even when you didn’t believe in yourself. That’s what it would be like, even outside of here. I wouldn’t give you a reason to doubt us. But if you did, Eliza, I’d be here to remind you.”
“I’m not asking you to fix me, Lachlan.” Her cheeks burned scarlet. A lot of that just sounded like codependency. She didn’t need to hop from one relationship to the next. She needed to save herself from getting hurt again. She needed to protect herown heart, not give it away to Lachlan for him to have the power to shatter.
“I’m not trying to fix you. This is me trying to betherefor you.”
She stood, making her way over to the island, needing a second to cool down, to think clearly about what she wanted. What she actually wanted, and not what this stupid week-long retreat made her feel.
If she was being honest with herself, she wanted Lachlan. She wanted a shot at it with him. But things were never as simple as the magic let on.
She looked for Puffcake, missing his comforting warmth on her shoulder. He was nowhere to be seen, except for the tiniest sliver of his tail peeking out from underneath an upside-down mixing bowl. She couldn’t help but feel grateful that he was giving them at least a little privacy.
“That’s what scares me.”
“What scares you?” he asked.
“You say you don’t have any plans on leaving, and maybe you don’t. Not now, anyways. But what if one day you do? Maybe not next week, or even next year, but a couple from now. What if you realize I’m too complicated, too annoying, too much, or not enough?”
As if on cue, the front door popped open on an invisible flurry of wind. Snowflakes spiraled inside and melted on the warm cottage floor, even though the fire inside the hearth was dying.
Athumpsounded on the sofa. Eliza looked over to see Lachlan’s bag and all of his things zipped up in his luggage. His eyes were wide, seemingly just as surprised as she was.
Because even the house knew. Lachlan wanted to leave. Why else would it be giving him an out?
