She stops, and her brows pull together slightly as her eyes grow misty. “Ridge, I called a taxi.” She keeps her gaze away from my eyes. “I think we both know this will be a lot easier if we cut things off right now rather than do the whole thing … where you take me to the airport and give me a hug and a kiss and we pretend like we’ll never hear from each other again.”
“Would it really be that bad if we did?” I throw my arms out. “Are you that against anything going further? What is it? Are you too good for a small town in Maine? Or are you too good for a lobster fisherman from that small town?”
“You’re really going to say that to me?” she hisses through gritted teeth, her eyes finally finding mine, glaring into them. “After everything I told you about my upbringing, you truly think that I think I’m too good?”
I take a step toward her, keeping my fists balled at my sides. She gets under my skin. She has ever since I was working on my boat and she showed up at the wharf with her iPad tucked under her arm, trying to sell me and my father on something her company had convinced her we’d want. And now, she’s not just under my skin; she’s in every fucking part of me, and I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of her.
I stop when I’m half a foot away and stare down at her. “I don’t know what I think, Stella. You’re fucking impossible to figure out. One minute, you’re a bitch. The next, you’re sweet. Then you’re funny. Suddenly, you’re as cold as the fucking ice outside.” I shrug. “I don’t know what to fucking make of you because you are the most complicated creature I have ever met.”
She fights a sniffle before quickly wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
“What would you prefer I do, Ridge?” she whispers with her lips trembling. “Tell my boss to fuck off? Stay here and hope that it works out with a man I met two weeks ago?” Looking down, she wipes her eyes once more. “This isn’t a fairy tale, Ridge. Ora Hallmark movie. It’s real life.” Hazel eyes flash back to mine. “And in real life, people can’t just give everything up because they have feelings for someone. Especially not when they’ve worked so hard to get to where they are. They can’t just throw all caution to the wind just for a few feelings.”
“I didn’t ask you to give everything up,” I say, shaking my head. “We could both travel to see each other. We can text. Jesus Christ, at least fucking think about this.”
Inhaling a shaky breath, she chews her lip nervously to stop it from quivering. “I’m sorry I tried to get your family to sell your land. One thing I’ve learned since being here is that this land … this entire place … it’s not just a piece of the earth that you own.” She smiles sadly. “It’s a part of all of you. It’s what makes your family who they are. I’m so sorry I ever tried to take that away.” She breathes out a miserable laugh. “I’m sorry I ever thought Icould.”
Taking a step forward, she stands on her tippy-toes and brushes her lips against mine.
“I had the best Christmas with your family, Ridge Adams.” She kisses me before sinking back down onto flat feet. “I hope you never take them for granted because a group like yours?” She sniffles. “I would kill for a family like that.”
“Stella, just wait,” I whisper. “Please. Just let me take you to the airport. We can talk on the way.”
“What’s the point?” More tears fall, and she gives me the tiniest, saddest smile. “Goodbye, Ridge.”
As she walks away from me, I don’t know what it is or why … but I stand there, frozen.
Unable to speak.
Unable to yell.
And unable to run after her when the sound of a car pulls up and takes her away.
Pain shoots through my chest, radiating deeper inside of me and threatening to make me break down. I know I’m pathetic for feeling this way. I haven’t known this man long enough to experience these deep feelings. There’s so much about him that I have yet to find out. He could be the worst human on the planet, and I wouldn’t know it yet because we haven’t spent enough time together.
And yet here I am, driving away from his house in the back seat of a taxi. Running away while I still have a little bit of composure to do so.
For too long, I wasn’t in control of my own life. Now, I’m independent. I’ve proven to myself that I can make it on my own with no parents, no family. And only a few friends because before anyone gets close, I sabotage the relationship and push them away. That way, they can’t leave me first.
In the end, I know this is for the best. My whole life is in the city, and long-distance relationships only work when you have a goal in mind. What would our goal even be? We both like where we live and don’t want to leave.
Folding my arms across my chest, I hug myself tightly as I wedge my body against the seat of the car. There’s always beensomeone I could depend on to comfort me when things got rough.
Me. Because I’m the one person who can’t leave.
As I walk up the hill toward my truck, Jake and Connor quickly speed away from the small parking lot next to the bait shed, toward the driveway. Neither one of them was very excited to haul on New Year’s Eve, but we needed to get out to get all of our gear hauled through before the weather gets shitty in a few days.
I think once they realized they could go out tonight and get drunk and sleep in on New Year’s Day, they were okay with it. But this morning? Those two were miserable. Then again, I’ve been miserable for four days now. Ever since that damn city girl took off, taking my heart right along with her.
I get into my truck and start the engine, quickly cranking the heat up because it’s been sitting here since three thirty this morning and it’s fucking freezing in here. It’s something I do even though I know it’s stupid because my house is up the hill, about a quarter mile away. So, it’ll never warm up in here by the time I get there. But oh well. It makes me feel better.
Backing out of my parking spot, I drive away from the small parking lot at the wharf and toward my house. And as I turn down my driveway, my eyes narrow when I see my mom’s SUV parked in front of my garage.
“What’s she doing here?” I mutter.
It’s not that uncommon for her to swing by and let Marlin out, but normally not this late in the day when she knows I’ll be home soon.
Quickly getting out of the cold truck, I close the door and grab my lunch box from the back before heading inside. As I’m sliding my boots off, the sound of Marlin’s feet and his snorting has me smiling because no matter how long of a day it was, that guy is always excited to see me.
