She never came back.
And here’s the thing I keep trying not to think about: the wedding is in three weeks. That’s why he’s here. That’s the whole reason he came back to Twin Waves, for Dean and Jo. Not for me. He said it himself when he first arrived. “I’ll be here until May.”
Until May.
And then what? He goes back to LA, back to the label and Mia Monroe and women who look like they belong on magazine covers. Back to a life that has no room for a florist with a Honda and a dog who eats garbage.
The wedding was always the expiration date. I just didn’t want to see it.
What if Mia Monroe is just the beginning? What if every time he goes back to LA, there’s another photo and another headline, another woman who looks at him like he hung the moon?
I can’t do this. I can’t sit here and wait for him to break my heart.
Better to break my own. At least then I control the timing.
I write a note for Mom. Keep it short:Had to go. I’ll call you when I figure things out. I’m sorry. I love you.
I put it on the kitchen table, next to the casserole she made for me. The casserole that’s probably cold by now. The dinner we were supposed to share.
I think about all the dinners we’ve shared since I moved back, all the nights we sat at this table and talked about nothing and everything. All the times she looked at me like she was just happy I was home.
I’m about to ruin that too.
But I can’t stop myself.
I grab my bag, my keys, and my dog.
The Honda starts on the first try. Small mercies. The check engine light flickers on like an old friend welcoming me to another bad decision.
Ruffy is in the passenger seat, looking at me like I’ve disappointed him personally. Join the club, buddy.
I pull out of the driveway. Past the houses I’ve gotten to know over the past months, the Hendersons who always wave when they see me, the Carters whose daughter just got engaged. The old Victorianon the corner that someone’s been renovating for what seems like forever.
I pass the flower shop, dark now, closed up for the night. My mother’s shop. The one she chose over me, all those years ago.
And here I am, proving that I’m the one who couldn’t stay.
The pier comes into view, lit up by streetlights. The same pier where Levi kissed me when we were teenagers, where he told me about his mother, where we watched a fish escape into the water and I let myself hope.
I don’t slow down.
Past the marina where Jo got her bridal photos taken. Past the Salty Pearl, where we had dinner that night and I thought,Maybe this is it. Maybe I finally found where I belong.
Turns out I don’t belong anywhere. I just visit places until I wear out my welcome and then move on. Like a really sad traveling circus, but with fewer elephants and more emotional baggage.
My phone is still vibrating in my bag. I can hear it, muffled by fabric and leather. Levi’s voice, probably, on another voicemail or text asking me to talk to him. Another promise that he can explain.
I don’t reach for it.
The “Thanks for Visiting Twin Waves” sign appears in my headlights. Cheerful blue letters on a white background.Come Back Soon!
I slow down as I pass it.
I think about Jo’s wedding, which I’m supposed to do the flowers for, and book club next month with the book we were supposed to discuss. I think about Lucky Susan’s husband, who might actually propose now, and how I’ll never know if it worked.
I think about Mom, coming home from bridge club to an empty house and a note that explains nothing. And Levi, racing home on a private jet to find me gone.
And for a moment, just a moment, I consider turning around.
