Between that and the incident with Whiskers, no wonder she’d been so down earlier. “Mistakes happen. It’s not the end of the world.”
“Yeah, but this was a pretty costly one.” Her eyebrows popped suddenly. “Hey, now that the Ogdens have left, I can offer the Willow Cabin to the Lawsons.”
He addedresourcefulto the list of adjectives describing Lauren. “Great idea.”
She jumped up, pulled her phone from her pocket, and seconds later was scheduling an early morning cleaning.
When she ended the call she grabbed her water and headed back through the pine grove. “Come on. We need to get back so I can call the Lawsons with the good news.”
Shaking his head, he followed even as a grin tugged his lips. “Anyone ever tell you you’re a workaholic?”
“I can think of worse things.”
True enough. They mounted their bikes and headed back to the resort.
Jonah felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He was relieved the apology was over with and that she’d handled it so well.
But as their conversation replayed in his head, he couldn’t help but wonder—now that the barrier between them had been removed, what would he do about those sparks?
Chapter 15
Present day
Three days after Lauren had texted Jonah, he was befuddled. There had been no more texts. He’d been busy with schoolwork this week, but he’d seen her in passing. Other than a stiff greeting, complete with an obligatory smile, she treated him no differently than before.
Jonah set his phone alarm and got into bed to wind down. The Patriots game played on TV and he tried to get into it.
A few minutes later his focus fell to the framed selfie Lauren had taken of them at Albee Beach. It had become their favorite place for evening picnics and stargazing. She’d taken the picture one evening in early August, the day before he’d said “I love you” for the first time. She hadn’t returned the sentiment right away—but then he hadn’t expected her to. Lauren didn’t let people in easily, and she certainly wouldn’t be quick to divulge her feelings. He was eager to hear her say the words, but she was worth the wait. And anyway, he could see her feelings in the way she gazed at him when they were alone, when her guard was down. She was falling for him, even if she couldn’t voice the thought just yet.
His attention flickered back to the TV screen, the fond memories falling away like dust from a centuries-old tome. All of that was gone now. He was starting from scratch and progress was slow, if not stagnant.
He recalled their first trip to the beach, that day she’d been so upset and he’d apologized. And that’s when it came to him—
That had happened shortly before Memorial Day weekend—she wouldn’t remember his apology or the change in his behavior afterward. The realization sent shivers down his arms. In her mind he’d never apologized for being such a jerk when she’d first arrived.
Excitement buzzed in his veins because this was something he could rectify. Something he could actuallydo. He pushed off the covers, eager to talk to her.
Then he stopped. What was he gonna do, run over there and knock on her door at ten o’clock at night? That would be weird.
It would have to wait until tomorrow.
But then he thought about how distant she was in person compared to how open she’d been with texting. That extra buffer between them felt safer to her. And though he’d rather apologize in person, maybe she’d be more receptive over text.
She was the one who’d opened this avenue of communication, and he was happy to communicate with her any way she preferred, be it texts, letters, or smoke signals.
***
“Go lie down,” Lauren told Graham.
The dog, head hanging low, retreated to his bedding in the corner of the room and lay down with a heavy sigh. Graham kept trying to get into her bed, but it was a twin, and he sprawled out like a starfish. She must’ve let him share the bed before the accident, but she needed her sleep.
She got comfy under the covers, grabbed her phone, and opened the latest Kristin Hannah novel on her reading app. But ten minutes later she was staring blankly at the screen, thinking of Jonah and the grief she’d witnessed on the basketball court the other day.
At the thought of his tears, her chest hollowed. She’d hurt him to the core with her inability to remember their relationship, with the way she’d treated him subsequently. She’d tried to do better the past few days, tried to smile and greet him as a friend might. But it was so hard to see him in a different way than the one in which she remembered him.
Giving up on the novel, she opened her texting app to the thread she’d started with him the other day. She reread their comments, her lips tipping up at the final GIF he’d sent. He’d been very kind. Which, of course, was so unlike the Jonah she remembered.
Her thumb paused over the screen. She itched to scroll up so she could read all the texts, back to the very beginning. But before she could satisfy her curiosity, her phone buzzed an incoming text.Jonah.
