“Friends. We could do that.” Maybe. Probably not. They’d never been friends. Not really. They’d been strangers before falling head over heels in love with each other.
Polly linked her arm through Maggie’s. “Luckily, there is no one better at being a friend than you.”
“I don’t know about that.” A crunch sounded behind them. Maggie swung her head around. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
She scanned the path. They’d entered a residential street and no one was there. “Maybe we should take a car next time. You know…with the missing women.”
“Both of them went missing on a hike. And they were both tourists who didn’t know the area. They probably just got lost.”
That was the same narrative Maggie had been telling herself. But then, why were they still missing? Shouldn’t someone have found them by now?
Five minutes later, they reached Polly’s house. The neighbors weren’t far, but the lots were big enough that everyone still had a little space between them.
“Wanna come in for a drink?” Polly asked. “Or maybe some mint chocolate ice cream?”
“I’m pretty tired. I think I’ll go to bed. Plus, you need to be up early to open Bloom.”
Polly scoffed. “Sleep’s for the weak.”
“And for the human. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Maggie chuckled as she rounded the house. The staircase to the apartment above the garage was at the back. She took the stairs two at a time.
Inside, she flicked a switch, lighting the small space. The kitchenette sat to the right, the circular table to the left, with the bed at the end of the apartment near the window. The bathroom opposite the bed was tiny, with no tub, and the entire apartment was so compact she could see everything from the door.
But she didn’t mind. This worked for Maggie for now. Especially while her life was in limbo. She had no job. No home base. All she had was a best friend and a few unopened boxes.
With a sigh, she moved into the bathroom to take a shower. Her phone dinged with a text.
Her breath caught when she saw who it was. She hadn’t seen his name on her phone for so long. Years. For the first few years, she’d blocked his number so she didn’t think about him. She wasn’t sure when she’d unblocked it, but by that time, he’d stopped texting.
Ethan: One of my very smart friends told me to give you some space, but I couldn’t let the evening end without telling you that it was nice to see you again, Mags. Really nice.
Her heart squeezed so tightly that it hurt to breathe. Her gaze traced the words again and again.
He didn’t hate her. How that was possible, she had no idea.
Sometimes she wondered what would have happened if she hadn’t ended their relationship. Would they have survived the distance and the time apart? His high-pressure job and their clashing schedules?
Or would their relationship have broken down slowly? Pieces of them falling off a little bit at a time. And would that have been more painful or less?
She’d done exactly what she’d set out to do—gotten out of Deep River and traveled the world. But without Ethan, or at least, without the connection to him, it had felt hollow.
Maggie: It was good to see you too, Ethan. I guess we’ll be seeing a bit of each other for a while.
Ethan: I can only hope.
She closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath.
Yes, he was dating someone else, but she could be friends with him. So he was the only man she’d ever loved? That didn’t matter. They were both adults and they’d make it work.
Or at least they’d try.
5
