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Mason: Could we meet at our spot by the river? I’ll bring coffee.
Something about the formality of the message made me feel uneasy. I knew he’d fill me in on the Whitney situation, but I couldn’t help but wonder if he was going to bring up my refusal to return his “I love you” last night. This conversation would be about me and him—not Whitney. I just knew it.
Daya was in the living room, frantically tying her shoes, when I started to leave. “Where you headed?” I asked her, picking my purse up from the coffee table.
“Indianapolis.”
I whipped around to face her. “You are?”
“Yes,” she said, pulling her shoestrings tight. “I can’t let Jamie slip through my fingers. I’ve just been passively watching her drift away from me and I have to stop it before it’s too late. Maybe it already is—I don’t know—but I have to at least try. You know? I could live in the city. And I will.”
I stared at her in stunned silence, thinking this was exactly the kind of passion Jamie needed from her. Daya hurriedly gathered her things, taking her jacket off the hook by the front door. “Good luck,” I said, and I meant it.
But when Daya tugged open the door, Jamie was standing on the other side of it with her key out. They stared at each other for a few seconds until Daya said, “What are you doing home?”
“I’m not going to move,” Jamie said, stepping inside.
Daya took a step back to give Jamie some room. “What? Why not?”
“Because it’s not worth it. I realized it’s not that important to me. I’d rather stay here, with you—you are my future.”
“But—but—that’s stupid.” Daya shook her head. “You’ve had this career goal for so long, and—”
“You and I both know it’s like the fourth time I’ve switched career goals. But my life goals have never changed. They always involve you. And if it means staying in Woodvale, well, I guess then that’s the plan.”
“No. That is not the plan. We’re not staying here.”
Jamie blinked. “Excuse me?”
“I’m not letting you give up on this just because of my stubbornness. We’re going to get a house in Indy where you’re going to be a pharmacist and I’ll find a job as a vet tech somewhere—literally anywhere. And we’re getting another dog. That’s our new plan.”
I’d never heard her sound so… decisive. Jamie smiled and took a step forward, placing a hand on Daya’s waist. “Okay,” she submitted.
They were about to kiss, but my excited clapping interrupted them. “Oh! You guys are going to make me cry!”
Without taking her eyes off of Daya, Jamie said, “You might want to find somewhere else to be for the next couple of hours, Blondie.”
Hours? Jesus. “I’m leaving now,” I said, draping my purse over my shoulder. “You kids have fun.”
**
Mason and I pulled up next to the river at the same time. He carried a coffee over to me, and we walked to the closest swinging bench together. “I hope nobody sees us,” I said, glancing over my shoulder. It was a relatively mild day, and we weren’t the only people with the idea of heading to the riverwalk.
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Mason said as we sat down. He was wearing a forest green flannel over a Nirvana t-shirt—but it ironically featured a picture of Hanson instead. Jamie would’ve had a heyday with that.
“How did it go with Whitney?” I asked, holding my caramel macchiato on my lap.
“If it’s okay, I’d rather not talk about her yet. I know you’re curious, but I just need to think about something different for a little bit. Is that okay?”
“Of course.” I was dying to know, but I squeezed his hand to let him know it was okay. “Just tell me when you’re ready.”
Mason nodded, sipping his coffee. He stared straight ahead at the river and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. Something was bothering him. I never would have predicted the next words out of his mouth, though. “Sarah knows about us,” he blurted.
My skin prickled with dread. “What?”
Mason looked down at the ground. “And Owen. His mom told them.”
This was a lot of information to process in a matter of seconds. “Wait, what? His mom? How did—”
