Meanwhile, Gallant was the one who’d reflected about the road not taken.
The wind gusted, blowing wet against Aubrey’s cheeks. She glanced around for rain, then realized she was crying.
She let it happen, because something was ending, right here in this moment. Some small, bitter death was taking place as the imaginary future she’d nurtured for seventeen years curled away into the shadows.
Nick glanced up, startling when their eyes connected. Aubrey offered a wilted smile. Hopefully he couldn’t see her tears from this distance.
He started for the door, but she hastened away. She turned a few aimless corners and, once certain he hadn’t followed, pressed her back against a building and pulled Gallant’s letter from her pocket. The wind tried to snatch the paper away, but she held on and fished out her cell, finally making use of the phone number he’d left at the bottom.
Gallant answered on the third ring. “Aubrey?”
“Hey.” The word sat softly on her tongue, rich with her tears.
“Uh, hey.” Cautious hope infused his voice. “How are you?”
“Good. I read your letter.”
“Oh.” A few beats of silence unfurled. “And?”
“And... what’re you doing? Right now?”
His breath caught. “Drinking wine. And wishing I had someone to drink it with.”
She screwed her eyes shut and took a fortifying breath. “Well, maybe you do. Could you come pick me up?”
“Of course. Where are you?”
She rattled off the intersection, then hung up and tipped her head back against the wall of the hair salon she’d taken shelter beside. Nick might be her past, but the time had come to move forward. To stop holding back. To stopwaiting.
Time to turn her gaze to the road ahead. And maybe, just maybe, it led to the man who’d written her this letter.
14.
On Saturday, Aubrey woke renewed. For the first time in weeks, she had a purpose. One that involved more than just doing job-related damage control.
She dressed in a fitted brown tunic sweater, jeans, and slouchy ankle boots. Today marked her first day volunteering for Henderson’s Harvest Days. And, she supposed, her third day dating Gallant Nobel.
Which sounded odd even to herself, so she focused on getting to her morning coffee meet-up on time.
The café was only a handful of blocks away, so she struck out on foot, tilting her face to soak up the cheery sunlight. High above, the sky glowed turquoise. Even the steel mill looked less dour today, sending spurts of silver steam into the blue.
By the time the café on Ivy and Harkness came into view—Windy’s Place, read the script on the window—Aubrey felt light inside. She reached the door just as Megan pulled up in a maroon Jeep.
“Hey, you!” Megan hopped out and wrapped her in a hug. “Thanks for coming.”
“Thanks for inviting me.”
Inside, they took their place in line, and Aubrey snuck asidelong glance. Megan was barely showing, and even then, probably only because of her diminutive stature. But there were other tells, like the airbrushed quality of her skin.
“You look phenomenal,” Aubrey said.
“Aww, thanks.” Megan blushed and smoothed her short dark locks. “No pregnant woman dislikes hearingthat.”
They ordered coffees and claimed a table near the window, where Megan clasped Aubrey’s hands over the polished butcher-block. “I’m so glad we’re finally catching up. I still can’t believe you’re here.”
“Me, neither. I think... I probably should’ve come back a long time ago. At the very least, I should’ve kept in touch. Seeing you again has already made this entire trip worth it.”
A sheen sprang to Megan’s eyes.
