It took them less than two hours to cross the entire state of Massachusetts.
Will had wanted to drive east before heading north. The ocean was so close, and he thought it would be nice to seethe beach as they drove wherever they were going. Emmy hadn’t seen any reason to disagree. She had to admit to herself as they sat at Peggy’s Diner, a little privately owned joint they’d discovered on the outskirts of Marblehead, that his instinct had been a good one. They were enjoying a late breakfast of pancakes, bacon, hash browns, and coffee while watching seagulls wing by out the window, their white bodies contrasting nicely with the vibrant blue of the cloudless sky. Emmy dabbed a bite of pancake into her syrup cup and wondered when it was that she’d been able to let go of the tension that seemed to have been with her since the moment she’d opened her eyes that morning.
Because Will’s parents lived on the outskirts of town, it had taken no time at all before they’d approached, then passed, the sign indicating they were leaving the nonexistent town of Cobalt, Massachusetts, population 2,944. Emmy had had to concentrate on keeping her eyes on the road ahead. If she’d whipped around to look behind them and see if the town disappeared, Will would definitely have noticed and asked what was up. She’d sat rigidly in the passenger seat, glad at least that she could be sure of his sobriety on this trip, and allowed him to pick the music.
At some point between leaving Will’s parents’ house and stopping at the quaint diner for breakfast, the tension had seeped out of her. Perhaps it was the idyllic vista outside the car window or the distraction of the radio. Or she could be honest with herself and admit that it was all Will. Every now and then in the past couple hours, he’d turned to her and just smiled, or touched her arm to point out a particularly beautiful glimpse of scenery. He’d made small talk as well, but for the most part, they’d sat back and enjoyed a fastride down an open highway. There was a freedom in it, once Emmy got past the worries and fears enough to enjoy it.
“Thinking big thoughts,” Will said, cutting into her quiet reflection.
“Hm?”
He gestured with his fork. “You’ve been staring at that piece of bacon like you expect it to get up and dance.”
Emmy snatched up the bacon in question and bit in. “I was just thinking about how I’ve never been to this part of Massachusetts before, so I couldn’t say if this is an exact replica of the real world or not.”
Will shrugged. “We’ll find our way to some kind of landmark eventually. The point is that this place is here. There is a world outside the town of Cobalt. I was starting to feel… claustrophobic, I guess.”
“I can understand that. I’m sorry for any part I played in your claustrophobia.”
He fixed her with his gaze, and she was immediately lost in the mixture of pain and compassion she saw there. His face was so damn expressive. It was why he pulled at her even when she did everything in her power to fight any and all attraction she felt for him.
“You didn’t play any part in it, Em. I hope I didn’t make you feel like I resented you.”
“You have every reason to. I upended your life.”
Will reached out and took her hand in his. “It needed upending.”
He didn’t lean toward her, didn’t increase their physical contact beyond his hand on hers, but she was reminded of their most recent kiss all the same. Neither of them had brought it up, and she was grateful to him for that.
Will looked on the cusp of doing or saying something, but his phone lit up with a text, and he let go of her hand. The moment was lost. She told herself she was relieved.
“Jared wants to know if we want to grab dinner with him and Bright tonight.”
“Will we get back in time?”Will we get back at all?
“Depends how far we go. We can just drive for another couple hours, then head back. If we time it right, we can meet them at The Drowned Catfish around six or seven.”
“The Drowned Catfish? How do you drown a fish?” Emmy asked.
“Ask Harlan. He owns the place. One of my favorite restaurants. You’re okay with Cajun food?”
“I am very okay with Cajun food,” Emmy assured him.
“Cool. It’s in town, so we won’t have a long drive home after. I know we’ll probably be done with long car rides by then.”
Provided they had a town anymore. “Okay. Sounds good. I like spicy food.”
“Then you’ll do Harlan proud.” He texted Jared back. “Ready to go?”
Emmy drained the rest of her coffee, then they headed to the counter to pay.
They drove up the coast, stopped to dip their toes into the Atlantic, ate lunch at a seaside shanty that boasted handcrafted beers and an ocean view. Emmy still couldn’t say if anything she saw would be exactly as it was in the real world, but she forgot to care. Everything was so beautiful and serene. It was an unexpected vacation that she hadn’t known she needed. They kept going north up I-95—that was a real highway, Emmy knew—and ended upin Maine. Though lunch was only a couple hours behind them, they couldn’t help but share a lobster roll. Will had Emmy in fits of giggles as he tried and failed to imitate the distinctive Maine accent, working his mouth around the word “lobster” like he was an alien trying and failing to assimilate smoothly into Earth culture.
It cost them an extra forty-five minutes, but they cut through Boston on their way back. Emmy had been there once when she was checking out some East Coast colleges. It had been years, but the city remained familiar enough. She’d spent a weekend there, exploring the sights and touring MIT. Her grades had been good enough to make it a viable enough reach school, but in the end, she hadn’t been able to convince herself to stray so far from home. Added to that, she wasn’t sure if STEM was the direction she wanted to go. She’d kept waiting for something to tug at her, some sense of rightness or belonging—like the proverbial lightbulb going on over her head. For years, she hadn’t felt a single tug, until the day she’d turned an old watering can into a planter in Will’s front yard. That bore some thinking on. Later.
Having confirmed that Boston was as it should be, they headed west toward home. With each passing mile, Emmy’s nerves increased. The fears she’d been able to forget—or at least set aside—returned. Will sensed it, she knew. He glanced at her every few minutes, but he didn’t attempt to engage her in conversation. Emmy twisted her fingers around in her lap and waited. She didn’t know how close they were, but she did know that Will had predicted they’d get back to town a little before seven, in time to meet Jared and Bright. Her eyes kept flickering to the clock onthe dash as the sun sank slowly behind the horizon ahead of them. It was almost full dark when the sign flashed past them.Welcome to Cobalt!She’d been so caught up in the anticipation, the tightness in her chest, that she’d nearly missed it. But it was there, and she felt her whole body go lax as she slumped back against the seat.
“I told you I wasn’t going to go driving off any cliffs,” Will said quietly, clearly noticing her relief. “I wouldn’t do anything to put you at risk. You have to know that.”
