Cole’s face was unreadable for a moment, and I see a flicker of disappointment in his eyes. But then something shifts. His shoulders relax, and he gives me that crooked smile I’ve missed so much.
“Friends, huh?” he says, his voice sarcastic, but there is a warmth behind it that makes my chest ache. “I guess I could do that. But don’t expect me to stop fighting for you, Sunshine.”
I let out a shaky laugh, the tension in my chest easing just a little. “I don’t expect you to. But I need to know that we can take this slow. That we can start over, not as the people we were before, but as the people we are now.”
He nods slowly, his expression softening again. “Okay. I’ll be here, Kenna. I’ll be patient.”
Our eyes met, and in that moment, the weight of the past lifted for the first time since he’d come into my office. The future’s uncertain, but I’m going to do what is best for me and my son.
And maybe, just maybe, a flicker of warmth ignited within me, a willingness to include him in the dreams I held for our future. This time, things needed to change.
“I need to get back to my family,” I say, stepping back and gathering my purse from the desk. “But I’ll think about what you said. Let’s take it one step at a time. Friends, okay?”
“Friends,” Cole repeats, his voice filled with a quiet intensity. “One stepat a time.”
I walk towards the door, but before I reach the handle, I turn back to look at him one last time.
“Cole,” I say, my voice soft but firm. “I’m not promising anything. But I will give you a chance. To be the man you want me to see. But it starts with friendship.”
He gives me a single nod, his face showing a mixture of relief and determination.
He smiles, crooked and familiar. “I can live with that.”
But even as I speak the words, the truth I haven’t said out loud thrums under my skin like a second heartbeat.
He doesn’t know about Cohen.
Not yet.
But he will.
I take one last glance at him before stepping into the hallway, the weight of the conversation heavy on my shoulders. The pull to stay, to run back to him, is strong. But I need to keep my feet grounded. We were starting over, and that meant setting boundaries.
As I drive home, I am full of so many emotions, but my heart feels quieter somehow, clearer.
Because maybe…starting over doesn’t mean forgetting the past. Maybe it means forgiving it.
One step at a time.
And maybe, just maybe, the first step is exactly where we were supposed to be—friends…with unfinished history and a future neither of us can quite imagine yet.
Chapter Two
A DOOR LEFT OPEN
COLE-PRESENT
The first fewdays back in Cherry Falls feel like I’m walking through someone else’s dream.
Everything in Cherry Falls holds memories I can’t escape. It’s like being stuck in a loop, the past always just a step behind me. The faces are familiar, but they’re not mine anymore. People look at me with that knowing stare, like they remember the Cole they used to know. The one who messed everything up, the one who got sent to prison. I can’t blame them. I’ve been gone for so long, and the world has changed, but I haven’t. Not really.
The ghosts I left behind still live in every shadow, whispering what could’ve been.
I want to see Kenna. God, I want to see her. But I don’t know if she’s ready for that. If I’m ready for that. We left things so…unfinished, and I’ve never been good at fixing what is broken.
But I feel her in everything. The way the town breathes, the way the light falls across the pavement at sunset. She’s still everywhere. Stillminein some small, foolish part of me that refuses to let go.
I’ve been trying to stay out of the spotlight, keeping to myself, walking around town like I’m just another guy. But when I pass Enchanted Locks, I feel a pull in my chest. I watch through thesalon window—people chatting with Kenna, laughing, getting their hair done—and a strange sense of pride rushes over me. Kenna built this. From nothing. She’s made a name for herself here.
