My brother shakes out his hand.“I do feel better, but I still want those mochi donuts.I’ll be back in twenty and for god’s sake, please be dressed when I get back.Then you can feed me dinner since you ruined my evening.”
Then he’s gone, and the door clicks shut behind him.
Silas and I stare at each other in the sudden silence.He’s still holding paper towels to his face, standing shirtless in my living room, blood on his chest.
“He punched you,” I say.
“He did,” Silas agrees.
“Are you okay?”
“I think so?”He pulls the paper towels away cautiously.The bleeding has mostly stopped.“That actually hurt less than I expected.”
“I can’t believe that just happened.”
“Which part?The punch or the complete emotional devastation?”
I sink onto the couch.“All of it.”
Silas joins me, carefully, testing his nose.
I lean against him and kiss his cheek, careful to avoid his injury.“You can’t move here.”
“Bailey—” He turns his head and we’re nose-to-nose.
“I mean it.I won’t let you give up Here for me.”
“Then what do we do?”
My eyes roam over him, looking at his face.At the way blood is drying on his upper lip.At his glasses, which somehow stayed on through all of that.
“I don’t know,” I whisper.“But we’ll figure it out.Right?”
“Right.”He pulls me under his arm, pressing a kiss to my hair with his free hand still holding paper towels.“We’ll figure it out.”
I wrap my arms around his waist and we sit there in the quiet, holding each other.
And for the first time since this whole thing started, I let myself think the impossible thought that’s been growing in my mind since I saw those photos.
What if I’m the one who moves?
Bailey
“There’ssomething I need to tell you,” Silas says.My head is against his chest, but he nudges me to sit up.“You have to swear you can’t tell anyone this, okay?I shouldn’t be telling you either, but it’s not right for us to be making this decision if you don’t have the full picture.”
“Okay...”
His eyes meet mine.“Swear you won’t tell.Not even Hunter.”
“Sure, another secret kept from my brother.What could possibly go wrong?”I deadpan.
Silas pinches the bridge of his nose with his free hand.“I got a call from the Schaefers.”
I tilt my head.“Why would they be calling you?Do they need a photographer or something?”
“No.”The hand holding the paper towel to his nose drops.“They need a real estate agent.They want to sell the lodge.”
I recoil.Sirens Valley Lodge is the lifeblood of Here.It’s the biggest business, and even though it needs a lot of upgrades and most Herevians wish they’d keep it open in the summer as an adventure park or hiking and camping ground, it’s the cornerstone of what Here is.
