She saved it to her phone and started typing.
LIZZY
Hey. It’s Lizzy. So, funny thing, I’m in love with you.
She immediately erased it and started again. Typing and typing, her head down and her focus on the screen, as she walked home.
LIZZY
Hey. It’s Lizzy. I hope you don’t mind me texting you; I got your number from Jane. I should have gotten it sooner. I should have called as soon as I left Montauk and apologized for how I left things. I’m so used to doing everything myself that I don’t know how to ask for help. Or how to accept it. You’re maybe the only person I know who understands how that feels. Maybe that’s why you did what you did for Mary. And I can never thank you enough, Will. But I can say I’m sorry. For the way I left. For not trusting you with all of this. For not telling you how I felt from the very beginning. You’ve always been honest with me, so I need to be honest with you. I’ve been falling for you since I saw you on the beach that first day in Montauk.
She had just reached the house when she finished typing. Staring down at the glowing screen, she pressed send before she could think better of it.
A half second later, she heard a ping. The sound of a text message being delivered.
She looked up, confused. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness, but when they did, her heart stumbled in her chest.
Will Darcy was standing in the middle of the road in front of her house, his head bent down as he read a text on his phone.
CHAPTER 36
Lizzy stopped, her feet planted in the pavement. “Will.”
He raised his head to look at her. “Elizabeth.”
She glanced up to her yard. The house was dark, everyone clearly in bed. Then she turned back to the man in front of her. His black sweater and jeans made him blend in with the night. Blond hair fell around his face, messy and unkempt like he’d been out for a late-night jog.
“What are you doing here?” she asked slowly.
“Currently, I’m reading.”
Oh God.
“Listen,” she said, squeezing her eyes closed to ward off the embarrassment. “I wasn’t expecting to have to actually watch you read it, and to be honest, I don’t even know what I wrote, it’s so dark out—”
“Since Montauk?” he said, his voice low.
Her stomach dropped. “Um. Yeah. Yes.”
He lifted his head to meet her gaze. “I’ve been falling for you a lot longer than that.”
She stood frozen in place, questioning whether she’d heard him right.
He slipped his phone into his pocket and started toward her,stopping just inches away. A nearby streetlamp silhouetted his towering frame, highlighting every strand of his golden hair.
“Is that why you’re here?” she breathed.
“I would have come sooner. I wanted to. But that would have meant admitting something to you—”
“You got Mary out of jail.”
He released a deep sigh. “How did you know about that?”
“Your aunt was here. Just dropped me off about a mile down the road, actually.”
“What?” His soft expression suddenly wavered between shock and anger.
“It’s all right. I’ve never ridden in a Mercedes before.”
